My new CD, Women and the Piano, a sort of audio companion to my 2024 book on the same subject, is released today by Hyperion Records.

Why didn’t it come out at the same time as the book, I hear you ask? Well, that would have been nice, but it’s hard to bring a writing project and a lot of new concert repertoire to fruition at the same moment. Most of the music on the disc I only came across when I was researching the book. I had to learn all the pieces, bring them up to concert standard, and try them out in front of audiences before I ventured into the recording studio.

Then, of course, we had to co-ordinate the availability of a great producer, sound engineer, piano, and recording venue. All of that took time.

Even if you haven’t come across the book, I hope the album is enjoyable in its own right. I’ve included piano music from the 18th to the 20th century,  from the lively, elegant work of Marianna Martinez (a friend of Mozart and Haydn) to the sparkling light music of Raie da Costa, a super-syncopator of the 1920s. I’ve also written the programme notes for the album.

You can listen to excerpts here.

The album is available as a physical CD – don’t laugh; CDs are finding favour with a new generation! – and on the usual streaming platforms. You can download single tracks, or listen to the whole album.

It’s rather startling to think that it’s just over forty years since I recorded my first disc for Hyperion – at that point I was the pianist of Domus, whose 1985 disc of Fauré Piano Quartets won a number of awards. Since then, I’ve made umpteen discs for Hyperion, almost always with the splendid Andrew Keener as my record producer. I’m excited to have a new Hyperion album coming out!