{"product_id":"gioia","title":"(2026) Gioia","description":"\u003ch3 class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eFRIBOURG – LEIPZIG – COPENHAGEN : THE NORTH AND ITS CHILDLIKE FRESHNESS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eNo bicycle journey this time – unlike \u003ci\u003eDuende \u003c\/i\u003ein 2020 (which took \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\"\u003eTeo Gheorghiu\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.claves.ch\/fr\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e to the Spain of Albéniz and the France of Debussy – \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\/products\/duende-teo-gheorghiu\"\u003eClaves CD 3021\u003c\/a\u003e), or \u003ci\u003eRoots \u003c\/i\u003etwo years later (in search of paternal roots through the music of Enescu, Bartók and Mussorgsky – \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\/products\/roots-teo-gheorghiu\"\u003eCD 3052\u003c\/a\u003e). Instead, a third cardinal point guides this new discographic voyage: the North. First, the nearby Fribourg of Olivier Lattion – also Gheorghiu’s home since 2018. Then, Romantic Germany – embodied by Robert Schumann. Finally, the “true” North – of fjords and northern lights – through Edvard Grieg. At the close of the 19th century, Grieg – as a Norwegian – was seeking his own voice among the nations of Europe, and did not hesitate to sharpen it by drawing on the musical wells of the Old Continent (studying in Leipzig under Carl Reinecke and Ignaz Moscheles). A shifting thread, then – but one that, beyond geography, tells stories: of Teo Gheorghiu’s intimate bond with each of the three works on this album – stories of life, friendship, and (inevitably!) nature. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eFribourg is the alpha and the omega of this adven­ture. It was in the city of the Zähringen dynasty that Teo Gheorghiu first encountered Olivier Lattion’s music – through his daughter Gioia, who attended the same school as the composer’s son : a childhood connection, how symbolic ! – but it was in Fribourg’s Equilibre Hall on 30 January 2025 that the founda­tion of this album was laid : Grieg’s A minor Piano Concerto, marking his long-awaited meeting with Gábor Takács-Nagy – a conductor he has long admired, both through recordings of the famed Takács Quartet and through the maestro’s masterclasses in Verbier – and whose “youthful spirit” and “ability to touch everyone through the passionate, intense radiance of his baton” Gheorghiu cherishes. “A live recording is always a challenge,” he confides. “You can’t predict whether it will work. It might have failed – and we’d have found another launchpad for the album. But the stars aligned perfectly. I even feel the Fribourg Cham­ber Orchestra – which I’ve come to know better since taking over as head of the Fribourg Concert Society in 2023 – has never played so well! Especially welcome for a work as frequently recorded as Grieg’s Concerto: I believe we’ve succeeded in giving it a freshness and spontaneity that’s rather rare.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eThe next step was to extend the magic – particularly that of the live performance – without resorting to the same “all-or-nothing” single-take gamble. In May 2025, the pianist and his recording team travelled to the Toggenburg region of St. Gallen to discover a brand-new musical space: the Klanghaus (literally “House of Sound”) in Unterwasser. A timeless wooden vessel nestled in breathtakingly pristine nature – lake and gently rolling wooded hills – it was the ideal set­ting for an artist who thrives on feeling pure air on his skin and grass beneath his feet between intense recording sessions. It was love at first sight – and the date was set to immortalise the two solo piano works on this “Nordic” album: July of that same year. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\"\u003eTeo Gheorghiu\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.claves.ch\/fr\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e had the brilliant idea of inviting family and friends to join him for the final, complete takes – those pivotal moments when tension eases, and the essence of what will be kept often emerges: the arc of breath that holds everything together. “It was the first time my family witnessed these very special moments – and I find that deeply symbolic. My little Gioia lies at the heart of this new project: her youth echoes Schumann’s \u003ci\u003eScenes\u003c\/i\u003e, her childhood games led me to Olivier Lattion and enabled me to feel close to the deep spirituality of his music … and also because her presence in my life meant, for the first time in a long while, I didn’t hop on my bike to reach the destinations of my album!” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eRobert Schumann’s \u003ci\u003eKinderszenen \u003c\/i\u003e(Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15, was composed in 1838. “Before Mussorgsky (\u003ci\u003eChildhood Memories\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eChildish Joke\u003c\/i\u003e), and before Bizet (\u003ci\u003eJeux d’enfants\u003c\/i\u003e) or Debussy (\u003ci\u003eChildren’s Corner\u003c\/i\u003e), Schumann speaks of children … to adults,” wrote Jean Gallois in the liner notes of a previous Claves album (CD 2601-02). Indeed, the composer had in mind scenes of children, not scenes for chil­dren: though the work does not demand the same unleashed virtuosity as the \u003ci\u003eKreisleriana\u003c\/i\u003e, written at the same time, “the cycle calls for delicacy, attention to detail, and natural expression – a real challenge even for the most seasoned performers” (Jonas Pulver). Schumann clearly follows in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach and his \u003ci\u003eKlavierbüchlein\u003c\/i\u003e, designed for learning through play. He wrote to Clara: “Is this an answer to what you once wrote – that I sometimes struck you as childlike? You will see that this child has grown wings, for I have written around thirty curious little pieces, of which I have selected a dozen – calling them \u003ci\u003eKinderszenen\u003c\/i\u003e. You will enjoy playing them – but you must forget you are a virtuoso.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eOlivier Lattion’s \u003ci\u003eÀ l’unisson du Ciel \u003c\/i\u003efor solo piano, created by the composer on 18 August 2016 at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zea­land, is presented here in his own words: “For me – and probably for any composer who experiences some form of spirituality – the act of creation is not as solitary as it may seem. When I revisit one of my pieces months or years after writing it, I sometimes feel I am not its sole author – that it is, in fact, impos­sible for me to be its only author! To be ‘in unison with Heaven’ therefore means being connected to that source which overlays my existing capacities – technique, knowledge, sensitivity, and so on – with an extra layer of transcendence, one that can only come from a far higher creative energy … I especially felt this sense of connection in this piece, with its strongly marked mystical accents. It is written in homage to Jehan Alain – a composer of profound spirituality, whose work and personality resonate with me very deeply.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eEdvard Grieg was only 25 when, in 1868, he penned what would become his most popular – if not iconic – work. He was then staying in Denmark. At the time, Copenhagen was considered the centre of Scandina­vian literary and artistic life. It was under the influence of Niels Gade – the Danish composer who succeeded Mendelssohn as director of Leipzig’s Gewandhaus – that Grieg, who until then had composed only small pieces, resolved to write something more ambitious. His Concerto immediately evokes Schumann – whose A minor Concerto Grieg had heard performed by the composer’s widow. His Op. 16 is characterised by rhythms, melodic formulas, and phrasing articulations drawn from Scandinavian folk traditions – especially in the third movement. In 1870, Liszt performed the work without having previously read it; its powerful Romanticism and deep nationalist sentiment moved him profoundly. Such praise helped place Grieg among the most prominent composers of his time – par­ticularly admired by Brahms and Tchaikovsky. The Concerto premiered in Copenhagen on 3 April 1869, performed by Edmund Neupert, with Grieg absent – detained by commitments in Christiania (now Oslo) – but in the presence of Gade and Anton Rubinstein. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eAntonin Scherrer \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eTranslation : Michelle Bulloch – \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/musitext.ch\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMusitext\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\" lang=\"EN-US\"\u003eTEO GHEORGHIU \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\" lang=\"EN-US\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\"\u003eTeo Gheorghiu\u003c\/a\u003e enjoys considerable popularity in Switzerland and has established an international reputation in recent years. The magazine \u003ci\u003ePiano News \u003c\/i\u003erecently described him as “a splendid, mature, and intelligent pianist.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\" lang=\"EN-US\"\u003eAt the age of twelve, Teo Gheorghiu made his debut performing Schumann’s Piano Concerto at Zurich’s Tonhalle. Since then, he has built an extensive repertoire and performed with major orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, Danish National Symphony, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, and Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra. He maintains regular collaborations with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Winterthur Musikkollegium. His recitals have taken him to all major Swiss cities, as well as to London (Wigmore Hall), Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie), Tokyo (Suntory Hall), Milan (Società del Quartetto), Santiago, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Dvořák Festival in Prague, the Louvre, and festivals in Bucharest, Gstaad, Verbier, Lucerne, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\" lang=\"EN-US\"\u003eIn 2020, Claves and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/teo-gheorghiu\"\u003eTeo Gheorghiu\u003c\/a\u003e launched a long-term collaboration. Their first release, \u003ci\u003eDuende\u003c\/i\u003e, was enthu­siastically received by audiences and critics alike, earning a Diapason d’Or (“Teo Gheorghiu does nothing like everyone else”). Inspired by a bicycle journey through France and Spain, the album features solo piano works by Albéniz, Granados, Ravel, and Debussy. Teo Gheorghiu then answered the call of his roots, cycling from his native village in the Zurich Oberland to Romania, the land of his ancestors. His new album, \u003ci\u003eRoots\u003c\/i\u003e, is deeply imbued with this experience. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\" lang=\"EN-US\"\u003eBorn in 1992, Teo Gheorghiu has Romanian origins and holds dual Swiss and Canadian citizenship. In 2004, he won first prize at the San Marino International Piano Competition, and the following year at the Interna­tional Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar. In 2010, the Beethovenfest in Bonn awarded him the Beethoven Ring. After spending most of his life in London, where he studied with Hamish Milne, he now resides once again in Switzerland. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\" lang=\"EN-US\"\u003eTeo Gheorghiu is not only a keen cyclist but also enjoys playing football, travelling, and seeking out new discoveries in the world of popular music.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/teogheorghiu.net\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\" lang=\"EN-US\"\u003eteogheorghiu.net \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Claves Records","offers":[{"title":"CD 3116 \/ 1 \/ Teo Gheorghiu","offer_id":56765847273858,"sku":"3116","price":18.5,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":true},{"title":"Orchestre de Chambre Fribourgeois \/ orchestra \/ Teo 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