Bells Across Europe by Konstantin Shamray

ABC Classic is proud to release Bells Across Europe, a major new recording from acclaimed Australian pianist Konstantin Shamray, one of the nation’s most celebrated virtuosos and musical thinkers.

More than a recital album, Bells Across Europe draws on over a decade of artistic exploration and doctoral research, tracing the rich symbolism and sonority of bells across the European piano tradition and revealing unexpected connections between composers, cultures and centuries.

Bells Across Europe invites the listener into a gallery of contrasting musical scenes: celebration in Liszt’s radiant Sposalizio, monastic contemplation in Borodin’s In the Monastery, spiritual awe in Messiaen’s Cloches d’angoisse et larmes d’adieu, and mystical transcendence in Scriabin’s visionary Seventh Sonata, the album’s culmination.

At the heart of the recording is an exploration of how different European cultures developed distinctive bell traditions. The pentatonic sonorities of Central Europe, the richly dissonant bells of the Russian Orthodox tradition, and the luminous colours of French impressionism each find voice in the selected repertoire.

The program also embraces the present day, with Kapel, newly commissioned for this album, by Australian composer Melody Eötvös. Inspired by the sparkling sound of melting icicles in spring, the work blends rolling water and pealing bells into a vivid contemporary soundscape, extending the centuries-old tradition into the 21st century.

Widely admired for combining formidable technique with profound musical insight, Konstantin Shamray first gained international attention when he won the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition, becoming the only pianist in the competition’s history to receive both the First Prize and the People’s Choice Prize, alongside six additional awards. Since then, he has established himself as one of Australia’s leading pianists, performing with major orchestras and appearing regularly at the country’s foremost concert venues and festivals.

Bells Across Europe showcases Shamray’s exceptional ability to reveal the emotional and psychological worlds hidden within the piano repertoire. Far from mere imitation, the bell sonorities in these works become powerful vehicles for memory, mystery and imagination.

Tracklist

1  ALEXANDER BORODIN In the Monastery, from Petite Suite

2  FRANZ LISZT Sposalizio (Wedding), from Years of Pilgrimage: Year 2, Italy 8’48

3  FRANZ LISZT Carillon, from Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas Tree)

4  CLAUDE DEBUSSY Cloches à travers les feuilles (Bells through the Leaves), from Images, Book 2

5  OLIVIER MESSIAEN Cloches d'angoisse et larmes d'adieu (Bells of Anguish and Tears of Farewell), from Préludes

GEORGE ENESCU Piano Suite No. 3:

6  VI. Choral                                                                                                                                                              

7  VII. Carillon Nocturne                                                                                                                                  

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Études-tableaux, Op. 33

8  No. 7 in E-flat major                                                                                                                                      

9  No. 9 in C-sharp minor                                                                                                                               

10  MELODY EÖTVÖS Kapel

11  FRANZ LISZT Ave Maria (The Bells of Rome)

12  ALEXANDER SCRIABIN Piano Sonata No. 7, ‘White Mass’

Bonus tracks on digital album:

CÉSAR FRANCK Prélude, Choral et Fugue:

I. Prélude

II. Choral

III. Fugue

Artists

Konstantin Shamray piano