Paul Dukas (1865-1935) was born in Paris, France. He was a student at the Paris Conservatory where he studied piano, harmony, and composition. He won the Prix de Rome for a counterpoint and fugue in 1886 and again in 1888 with the cantata, Velleda. He was the music critic for the Revue Hebdomadaire and Gazette des Beaux-Arts and at the same time, he was a professor of orchestration at the Conservatoire. His strong critical sense led him to destroy a number of his compositions and only allow a relatively small number of works to be published. He remained influential and respected as a teacher. Dukas’ output for the piano includes just five works: the Piano Sonata and the Variations, each of them a homage to a past master, to Beethoven and (more explicitly) to Rameau. The Sonata can be considered as a sort of French Hammerklavier Sonata, for its colossal dimensions, its structural and harmonic complexities and its virtuoso writing. It is a masterwork of immense scope, one of the greatest French piano sonatas ever written. Italian pianist Vincenzo Maltempo, one of the most interesting pianists of the young generation, made his name in his staggering recordings of unjustly forgotten romantic repertoire: Transcendental Studies by Lyapunov (Piano Classics, PCL0124) received 5 stars in several classical magazines (a.o. the French Diapason). His recording of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies received rave reviews, a Gramophone Editor’s Choice: “extraordinary breadth and nobility...little short of perfection...”, “9/9, close to ideal” (Jed Distler Classicstoday.com). His recordings of Alkan have “confirmed his place in the restricted circle of Alkan’s best performers, 5 stars” (Diapason), “Exhilarating, thrillingly demonic, 5 Stars” (Andrew Clement in The Guardian).
