CCMusic.com

"Pianist Achúcarro plays pure magic... Achúcarro knows exactly what to do at all times. He simply brings to bear his wonderful sense of pace, his neatness and clarity, his strong grasp of structure and his intuitive choice of the precise dynamic. And the result is pure magic." (The Toronto Star). Born in Bilbao, Spain, Achúcarro won a number of international prizes in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland during his student days, but it was his victory in England at the Liverpool International Competition, and the rave reviews in the London papers after his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, that marked the beginning of his career. Since then, Achúcarro has had an exceptional, uninterrupted international career that has earned him global recognition. The pieces Joaquin Achúcarro has selected from the works of Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Grieg are musical pages that have accompanied him throughout his lengthy international career and that in recent years have gained particular traction within his ample repertoire, which ranges across every period and style. But the six composers share something else besides their romantic sensibility: each of them, from their particular standpoint, has explored the sonorous and expressive possibilities of the piano to their furthest reaches. The recital at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offers the unique occasion to hear six piano music composers in visual counterpoint to the creation of leading artists of the 20th century whose works are housed in the Bilbao museum. The DVD includes an extensive interview with Joaquin Achúcarro where he plays and explains the background of the music pieces performed in the recital.