Shchedrin plays Shchedrin: 12 Preludes from Polyphonic Notebook

It's not excessive to describe Rodion Shchedrin as a living legend: arguably the single most prominent Russian composer since the death of Shostakovich, and an artist whose intense awareness of his musical heritage is tempered by a playful – often subversive – humour. In his prime, he was also a pianist of remarkable agility and charisma, and the definitive interpreter of his own music. His recitals were one of the highlights of the gloriously eclectic 1985 Munich Klaviersommer, and this one finds him playing twelve of the 25 preludes in his Polyphonic Notebook, with all his accustomed (and understated) insight, poetry and wit.