Mahler: Symphony No.1 "Titan" (Piano Solo Transcription) available on February 25 2015 from Amazon for 14.07
UPC bar code 824791000120 ξ1 registered February 25 2015
Product category is Audio
Manufacturered by Pro-Piano Records
Product weight is 0.2 lbs.
Mahler: Symphony No.1, "Titan" piano solo transcription is the first release for the Chateau label. The transcription for solo piano was done by Chitose Okashiro herself, based on the 4 hands version transcribed by Bruno Walter. It is not common knowledge that Walter transcribed Mahler's first and second symphonies for 4 hands piano though it is widely known that he was among Mahler's most prominent protégés. After an intensive one-year transcription process, you are sure to discover quite a musical surprise and revelation upon listening. The following is the sneak preview from "An Interview with Chitose Okashiro" of Mahler "Titan" CD liner note: ".....To bring out the vivid fullness of this music at the keyboard, though, one must address many issues in the original orchestral score. Just as one example, at the beginning of the first movement, there is an ostinato of "A,Efor 56 measures by strings before the theme enters with the cellos. As you know, the sound of the piano decays rapidly after you hit the note. The structure of the instrument, how it makes sound, is based on the fact that the hammer strikes a string, unlike instruments of the violin family, which can resonate with the bow stroke. So, I had to face this huge problem at the very beginning of my transcription work.......Bruno Walter was a great conductor, he knew how to operate his army, the orchestra, to create what he wanted. His idea of Mahler in transcription is not based upon the piano instrument, though, so I needed to solve these problems by making it sounds "pianistic.EThen, the obvious question arises: what does "pianisticEmean? Why does Mah! ler have to be pianistic? The key is not trying to keep all the notes as written in the score, but trying to re-create Mahlers fundamental thought and render it on the piano by solving the riddle of why these notes; what is behind them; what is the purpose of all of his notations in the score; why he had to write this piece, etc. "
