Brahms's Paganini Variations in Building a Library with Kenneth Hamilton and Andrew McGregor
Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by Charlotte Gardner and Kenneth Hamilton, who picks his favourite recording of Brahms's Paganini Variations.
Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by guest reviewers Charlotte Gardner and Kenneth Hamilton.
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Music critic and journalist Charlotte Gardner talks through her pick of the week's new releases.
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Building a Library: Kenneth Hamilton surveys recordings of Brahms's Paganini Variations and picks his favourite. Published as a set of Studies for Pianoforte, the work consists of two books, each of which opens with the theme, Paganini's 24th Caprice in A minor, followed by 14 variations. Fiendishly difficult and harmonically complicated, the Variations are one of the pinnacles of the piano repertoire, requiring 'fingers of steel, a heart of burning lava, and the courage of a lion', according to one critic.
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