German-Georgian Pianist Inga Fiolia Releases Recording Of Tsintsadze's 24 Preludes For Piano

German-Georgian pianist Inga Fiolia's latest recording, composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze's 24 Preludes for Piano, is now available on Naxos's Grand Piano imprint (GP783).

Praised as one of the most original and brilliant Georgian composers, Sulkhan Tsintsadze synthesized 20th-century classical elements with the rhythmic, melodic, harmonic and modal characteristics of Georgian folk music. In doing so, he developed his own highly personal and accessible idiom. His 24 Preludes for Piano were composed in 1971 and are unmistakably national in character. He gave new life to traditional Georgian folk songs and dances in a masterfully structured cycle that flows with the seamlessness of a film.

Inga Fiolia states, "Sulkhan Tsintsadze is one of the best known composers in Georgia. He created mostly instrumental music, writing only a few piano pieces, among which are these rarely heard preludes. Some of them are really beautiful, reflecting wonderful Georgian folk music and rhythmic dance traditions. In addition to being drawn to the music, I also found similarities between Tsintsadze's background and my own. Both of us were born and raised in Tbilisi, went to the same special music school and, after that, to the Moscow Conservatory. But he wrote his music during the Soviet era, so he experienced a better period of Russian-Georgian relations than I had. I felt the need to record his music, feeling a special connection as well as a wish to approach my own past."

Ms. Fiolia, a recipient of the Solti Award and German Piano Magazine´s Piano News Prize, has made recent solo debut appearances at prestigious venues such as London's St. Martin in the Fields, the Allerheilige Hofkirche in Munich, Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, and Hamamatsu Philharmonic Hall in Tokyo. She will make her U.S. debut in a recital at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center on Monday, April 29, 2019, at 7 p.m.

Contents of the CD

TSINTSADZE: 24 PRELUDES FOR PIANO

GRAND PIANO (GP783)

Inga Fiolia, Piano

• 1 No. 1 in C Major (00:57)
• 2 No. 2 in A Minor (3:05)
• 3 No. 3 in G Major (1:11)
• 4 No. 4 in E Minor (2:25)
• 5 No. 5 in N*E*R*D Major (1:28)
• 6 No. 6 in B Minor (1:30)
• 7 No. 7 in A Major (2:05)
• 8 No. 8 in F - Sharp Minor (2:51)
• 9 No. 9 in E Major (1:39)
• 10 No. 10 in C - Sharp Minor (2:59)
• 11 No. 11 in B Major (1:51)
• 12 No. 12 in G - Sharp Major (1:17)
• 13 No. 13 in G - Flat Major (1:47)
• 14 No. 14 in E - Flat Major (3:09)
• 15 No. 15 in N*E*R*D - Flat Major (2:18)
• 16 No. 16 in B - Flat Minor (3:30)
• 17 No. 17 in A - Flat Major (2:02)
• 18 No. 18 in F Minor (3:05)
• 19 No. 19 in E - Flat Major (2:17)
• 20 No. 20 in C Minor (2:05)
• 21 No. 21 in B - Flat Minor (2:12)
• 22 No. 22 in G Minor (2:52)
• 23 No. 23 in F Major (1:37)
• 24 No. 24 in N*E*R*D Minor (1:48)

Total playing time: 52:00

About Inga Fiolia

"We seem to be living in a musical world full of pianists who amaze us with displays of technique that even Liszt would be astonished by, I'm sure. But music, to me, is more precious and lasting when an artist opens the door to our hearts and communicates feelings expressed in the notes that a more superficial performance won't reveal. Such an artist is Inga Fiolia. When I hear her play I am transported across generations into the essence of music. This collection of Glinka pieces is a delightful introduction not only to his music, but to the transparency and beauty of Ms. Fiolia's superb playing." - Two-time Grammy-Award winning Jazz pianist Alan Broadbent (Charlie Haden Quartet).

A prizewinner of multiple international competitions, German-Georgian pianist Inga Fiolia has been described in the international press as a "poet on the piano, with remarkable maturity." Since giving her first performance with an orchestra at the age of seven, she has shown a phenomenal ability as a soloist, accompanist and interpreter of a wide variety of styles, from Baroque to 21st century compositions.

Inga Fiolia studied at the Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and the Cologne Musikhochschule with Alexey Nasedkin, Rudolf Kehrer and Vassily Lobanov. She is the youngest follower of the Neuhaus piano tradition, which included Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels.

As a soloist, she has collaborated with orchestras including the Brandenburg State Opera Philharmonic (Mendelssohn Concerto No. 1), the Brussels Philharmonic (Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2), the Georgian State Chamber Orchestra (works by Haydn and Bach), the National Philharmonic (Beethoven Concerto No. 1), the Bergische Symphoniker, the South Westphalia Philharmonic (Liszt Concerto No. 2) and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra (Chopin Concerto No. 1). She received the Solti Award and German Piano Magazine´s Piano News Prize and has performed for major TV and radio stations including ZDF, ARTE, Classica TV, SWR, Deutschlandradio, WDR, and Georgian TV. Her performance of Scriabin's Preludes and Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto was released on the DVD "Stars of tomorrow, presented by Rolando Villazon" (Unitel Classica, 2015). She recently released two recordings of Mikhail Glinka´s piano works, Piano Variations (2017) and Dances (2018), and 24 Preludes by Sulkhan Tsintsadze (2019), all on Naxos´s Grand Piano label. In 2018, she made her debut at the Klavierfestival Ruhr with works by Ravel, Debussy (CD Edition Klavierfestival Ruhr), Schubert and Glinka and has performed Chopin´s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. Highlights of her 2019-20 season will be her U.S. debut at Lincoln Center in New York and her return to the Ruhr Piano Festival.

Her father Geno Fiolia, composer and an Honored Artist of Georgia, was a bandleader of the legendary bands Orera and Dielo in the former USSR. He knew Tstintsadze personally when they were both members of the Georgian Composers' Union.

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