These two CDs feature performances by Nikolai Demidenko, recorded during the 'Piano Masterworks' concert series at London's Wigmore Hall between January and June 1993. Conceived by Ates Orga and under the patronage of Lord Birkett, the series was sponsored by Lloyds Private Banking and spanned 250 years of piano music—from Scarlatti to Gubaidulina.
The concept behind these performances was inspired by the Romantic practice of the 19th century. In Paris, between 1873 and 1877, Charles-Valentin Alkan regularly organized 'Petits Concerts de Musique Classique'—six concerts each year, encompassing repertoire from Couperin, Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti to Weber, Chopin, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. Later, the Russian pianist Anton Rubinstein created a cycle of seven Historical Recitals, with which he bid farewell to Europe in the mid-1880s. These individual concerts each lasted over three hours and encompassed a repertoire ranging from Byrd and John Bull to Balakirev and Tchaikovsky. Ferruccio Busoni, like Franz Liszt, was also historically aware; his programming ranged from Bach to Liapunov.