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“ Ekstase pur, das verspricht Maurice Ravels La Valse. ... Mit seiner Einspielung löst Gabriele Leporatti dies fulminant ein. “

  [25.05.2019 KLASSIK-HEUTE.COM]

” Leporattis exzellente Interpretationen sind jedoch hervorragend. “

[7/2019 OPUSKLASSIEK.NL]

” Fascinating ... the works's momentum beautifully tracked. “

[Oktober 2019 INTERNATIONAL PIANO]

” Dieser [der Wiener Ton] äußert sich in einer ausgefeilten Kantabilität und feiner Anschlagskultur. “

[September/Oktober 2019 PIANONEWS]

Ever since the launch of his new label ETERA (the Etruscan word for servant), the Italian pianist Gabriele Leporatti has been attracting the attention of connoisseurs and lovers of unexpected insights. In his previous solo album, in which Schumann and Respighi made a surprising pairing, he played with “wonderful musical sensitivity and transparent finesse” (PIANO News) and his recording of duos with the Russian viola player Yuri Bondarev was named CD of the Month by the French portal ResMusica.com at least partly for their “ultimate Shostakovich”.

The latest concept of this resourceful pianist, who has been teaching at the Düsseldorf Rubinstein Academy since 2012, has the ambitious title “Wien” (“Vienna”). Leporatti’s unusual choice of works pays homage to the “royal and imperial city on the Danube” and its love of dance – through the eyes of Ravel, who initially intended to name his “La Valse” after the Hapsburg capital. The rococo era is brought to life by its late reflection expressed in Beethoven’s two Rondos op. 51; following these is a tribute by the mature Schubert, whose Sonata D958 may be seen as a creative homage to Beethoven’s explosive genius, taking as its inspiration the kernel of the 32 Variations in C minor. And finally “Träumerei”, composed by the early Richard Strauss in the impressionist manner, comes across in this context as the pipedream of a young prodigy: that he might one day himself conquer this quintessential “city of music”.

Leporatti sees the progression Beethoven-Schubert-Strauss-Ravel as both juxtaposition and sequencing, not so much emerging from intellectual calculation as resulting from his familiarity with these works. He perceived similarities and subtle lines of communication opening up to weave a network to which creative minds have contributed for centuries. Thus the programme must be listened to without a break, because this is the best way to comprehend the genius loci of this unique city and appreciate its power to attract, influence and change, and also to understand why no one who remains there for any length of time can fail to remain under its spell even after leaving. This phenomenon is not, of course, unique to Vienna, but it is particularly strong here, where so much musical, artistic and intellectual history has been written - and is still being written….

Eckhardt van den Hoogen