Reicha Rediscovered Vol.2 – Ivan Ilic

   in Piano International (Nov, 2018)
Ivan Ili?’s revelatory first disc of piano music by Antonín (or, as here, Antoine) Reicha concluded with the preludial first study from the 34 Études dans le genre Fugué Op 97 (1815-17). That collection is essentially a set of preludes and fugues, modelled to a degree on Bach’s sets, but with considerably more formal freedom in the preludes, which range from simple and not-so-simple Airs – as in Nos 4, 5, 9 and 12 – to the set of 12 tiny variations of No 3. The calm motion of No 1 (incidentally, a few seconds faster on Volume 2 than on the previous disc) takes on a different context when …