Islamey, Oriental Fantasy
Mili Balakirev

"A magnificent piece, but one that is very difficult - few will be able to master it ..." Since this remark by Nicolaï Rubinstein - who nevertheless masterfully succeeded in creating the work -, this piece is wrongly endowed with the reputation of 'be' unplayable '. There is no doubt that the wild, almost demonic character of this "Oriental Fantasy" contributed to this: using popular melodies from the Caucasus and Armenia, Balakirev unleashes on the keyboard a real piano firework, which even provokes admiration of the titan of the piano that Liszt was. Today's pianists can not only trust the fidelity of our edition to the original, but they will also appreciate the perfection and clarity of the arrangement of the musical text.