Chin, Kapustin, Lyapunov & Szymanowski: Piano Etudes

Pianist Clare Hammond’s Etude opens with three studies from Sergei Lyapunov’s 12 Études d’exécution transcendante; modeled directly on Liszt’s set, they epitomize the drama and passion of late Romanticism fused with a distinctly Russian color. Szymanowski’s 12 Studies suggest affinities with Debussy’s études. Nikolai Kapustin’s Five Études in Different Intervals fuse formal classical structures with jazz idioms. Unsuk Chin’s six Études are natural successors to those by Ligeti, with whom Chin studied, and reflect her fascination with virtuosity and playfulness.