Piano Works

• Paul Hindemith is still a rather neglected composer, but unjustly so, as is once again testified by the four fascinating works on this CD. He was regarded by none other than the legendary Glenn Gould as one of the major composers of all time, as can be read in the informative introduction in the booklet of this CD.

• With his recording for Globe of Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis (GLO5044), lvo Janssen has established an international reputation as one of the best Hindemith interpreters of our time, and this recording will only enhance that.

• There is hardly any competition in the international CD catalogues for this repertoire and we are sure that there is absolutely no competition whatsoever as far as Ivo Janssen's interpretations are concerned!

• A major piano CD in brilliant sound, which should become an even bigger seller than Ludus Tonalis!

 

lvo Janssen was born in Venlo in 1963 and moved to Amsterdam in 1980 to study with Jan Wijn at the Sweelinck Conservatory. He graduated with distinction in 1987 while also having taken lessons with György Szebök and Andrzej Jasinski. In October 1986 be bad already won first prize in the celebrated Tromp Piano Competition and not long after he was a semi-finalist in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. In the spring of 1988, lvo Janssen was awarded a number of prizes, the Jacques Vonk Prize (a scholarship for studies abroad) and the Elisabeth Evers Prize (an important distinction for young musicians) among them.

In 1988 he made his recording debut for Globe with Ravel and Chopin (GLO 5010). His second recording for Globe was devoted to Sergey Prokofiev (GLO 5015), about which the American Record Guide reported: "If we're going to have only one recording for years to come, we can be grateful it's by lvo Janssen". He also recorded Brahms (GLO 5036 and GLO 5096) and Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis (GLO 5044), which was regarded by far the best recording of this work by the Hindemith Institut in Germany.