Vitezslava Kapralova: Works for Solo Piano. Performed by Leonie Karatas. EuroArts (2022). Total running time: 70 mins. Available from amazon.de, jpc.de, presto music, and other outlets. Listen to this introduction to the disc by Leonie Karatas on YouTube.
Recorded on June 16–18, 2021 at the Mount of Olives Church in Berlin, Germany. Released: June 10, 2022.
Producer: Luc Moser
Sound Engineer: Peter Weinsheimer
Booklet design: Anja Hoppe
Booklet text: Karla Hartl
“Unbelievable musicality!,” remarked Daniel Barenboim after hearing Leonie Karatas, nee Rettig, when she was only fourteen; today, she is considered "one of the great up-and-coming pianists,” according to the Norddeutscher Rundfunk. Karatas studied piano at the College of Music, Drama and Media in Hanover with the late Vladimir Krainev who was one of the last pupils of the legendary pianist and pedagogue Heinrich Neuhaus. Her repertoire is extensive, ranging from the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti to those of Henry Dutilleux and Vita Kapralova. The young pianist has had a busy international career performing at important festivals, such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, the MiTo SettembreMusica Festival in Milan and Turin, the Altmark Festspiele and pro:Musica concert series, and giving recitals and masterclasses in Canada, China, Argentina, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Ukraine, Cyprus and Switzerland. Karatas is also a published writer on music. You can find some of her writings on her blog A pianist's mind. For further information about Karatas the pianist, visit her website.
Please note that the music recorded on this compact disc is in print. Click here for the complete discography of Kapralova's music.
The pianist Leonie Karatas dove into [Kapralova's] work quite extensively, presenting an album that allows us to experience the fire, sincerity and outstanding talent of the young composer through every single keystroke. A match made in heaven!— Brigitte Magazine, August 17, 2022
Karatas's disc attests to the great value of multiple readings of the same works. Highly recommended!— amazon.de, September 22, 2022
She is clearly attuned to the composer’s sensibility, which is never static and inert, and always alert and alive.— Jonathan Wolf for MusicWeb International, September 2022
Kapralova’s personality has come to life again in Leonie Karatas’s collection.— George Henderson for Kapralova Society Journal 21, no. 1 (Winter 2023): 15.
Karatas displays a level of artistry and balance and a perceptive “feel” for Kapralova’s style that is not always present in Koukl’s recording. Her playing is nuanced and she effectively realizes Kapralova’s distinctive patterns.— Judith Mabary for IAWM Journal 29, no. 2–3 (July 2023).
The success of this recording hinges on the fact that Karatas is obviously fully immersed in Kapralova’s music, and possesses the artistry, imagination and vision to truly bring it to life. We hear an accomplished performer bringing new insights into the interpretation of Kapralova’s piano music, and in this way Karatas performs a great service to Kapralova’s legacy. The beauty of these scores is that every thoughtful performance brings new revelations, and new ways of advocating for Kapralova’s music. As Karatas concludes in her liner notes, “What her music brings about in the listener is nothing less than astonishment and speechlessness at the thunderbolt her music strikes in you.” One could say the same about the performances on this exceptional disc.— Erik Entwistle, July 2023
