UltraAnalogue Recordings - 2 new solo piano tapes of Van Cliburn winner, Vadym Kholodenko

[Edward Pong]

I'm very happy to announce the release of 2 new solo piano tapes by Vadym Kholodenko, on the website very soon!
It's repertoire rarely heard:
1) Schubert Piano Sonata No.7 D.568 and Skoryk Melody (with Alena Baeva)
2) Prokofiev Four Pieces Op.32 and Piano Sonata No.7 Op.83

These are my 1st recordings using a pair to NOS 1956 WE437a in the microphone pre-amp, along with the pair of 1956 NOS WE300b output tubes.
Very natural timbres with all high frequencies completely resolved...stunning!

Near the end of the Prokofiev Sonata No.7, I thought my piano was going to explode, as I've never heard dynamics at this level in my space!
On the tape, these levels are all resolved - a testament to the total signal path, from the master recording to the duplication electronics...

I hope you will enjoy these!

Ed

 

[astrotoy]

I received my copies of the two new tapes from Ed. First, the sonics of the piano are spectacular - I agree with Ed's assessment of the dynamic range, but also the quality of the piano sound, a Steinway B IIRC.

Vadym Kholodenko is a remarkable pianist. He won the prestigious Van Cliburn competition about a decade ago and he has the prodigious technique of a pianist trained in the Russian school. (I was blown away by his earlier album of the fiendishly difficult transcriptions of Chopin's Etudes by Leopold Godowski, that Ed released a year or two ago). But his piano playing has real soul also. The two tapes feature the piano sonatas number 7 by Schubert and Prokofiev, showing Vadym's artistic range. As a bonus, Vadym's wife Alena Baeva joins him in a violin piano duet which serves as an encore. I'm not sure whether Alena met Vadym through Ed or not, but Alena is another superstar artist who records for Ed. She won the famed Wieniawski violin competition when she was 16. 20 years ago. That competition was first won by Ginette Neveu (my all time favorite violinist) who was also 16 in 1935, beating out the overwhelming favorite, the much older David Oistrakh. She then went on to win two more international competions by the time she was 20. I got to see her in concert with the Oxford Philharmonic in 2019, with Ed and his wife Amy, whom we met up with in London.

Ed just let me know that there will be very special concert in late November with Ed's third superstar, cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, joining Alena and Vadym. Narek won the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 2011. They will be playing several piano trios, including Beethoven's Archduke. Can't wait for those tapes.

Larry

 

[Steve Williams]

I received my copies of the two new tapes from Ed. First, the sonics of the piano are spectacular - I agree with Ed's assessment of the dynamic range, but also the quality of the piano sound, a Steinway B IIRC.

Vadym Kholodenko is a remarkable pianist. He won the prestigious Van Cliburn competition about a decade ago and he has the prodigious technique of a pianist trained in the Russian school. (I was blown away by his earlier album of the fiendishly difficult transcriptions of Chopin's Etudes by Leopold Godowski, that Ed released a year or two ago). But his piano playing has real soul also. The two tapes feature the piano sonatas number 7 by Schubert and Prokofiev, showing Vadym's artistic range. As a bonus, Vadym's wife Alena Baeva joins him in a violin piano duet which serves as an encore. I'm not sure whether Alena met Vadym through Ed or not, but Alena is another superstar artist who records for Ed. She won the famed Wieniawski violin competition when she was 16. 20 years ago. That competition was first won by Ginette Neveu (my all time favorite violinist) who was also 16 in 1935, beating out the overwhelming favorite, the much older David Oistrakh. She then went on to win two more international competions by the time she was 20. I got to see her in concert with the Oxford Philharmonic in 2019, with Ed and his wife Amy, whom we met up with in London.

Ed just let me know that there will be very special concert in late November with Ed's third superstar, cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, joining Alena and Vadym. Narek won the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 2011. They will be playing several piano trios, including Beethoven's Archduke. Can't wait for those tapes.

Larry

I almost fell off my seat at the end of the Prokofiev tape