Rachmaninoff 3 - Prokofiev 2 - CD

Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev open two different paths toward the summit of pianism: one, a spiritual, profound, and tragic journey; the other, a macabre dance between irony and despair. Both, in their own way, are Everests that only a few manage to reach, but whose summit, once attained, transforms the one who plays. Playing the Third Concerto is, without a doubt, an epic journey, not only for it's technical difficulty but for the emotional depth it demands. Every time I perform it, I feel that I am drawing closer to that unfathomable mystery that is Rachmaninoff's music, a music that seems to contain within it all the pain and all the beauty of the world. Playing the Second Concerto is not only a challenge but an immersion into the perception of what music can or should be. Prokofiev mocks expectations, leads us to the edge of chaos, and then leaves us hanging, without a clear answer, as if telling us that in life, in the end, all that remains is the empty echo of applause.Josu de Solaun, praised by critics such as Nikolaus Frey of Fuldaer Zeitung for his "poetic sense of sound, bold artistic vision, and virtuosity," has won the International Classical Music Awards twice-2021 for chamber music and 2023 as Best Soloist. The ICMA jury recognized him as "one of the most impressive discoveries of the past decade," noting his boundless interpretive imagination and technical mastery.