Yamaha Entertainment Group Releases Frederic’s Chiu’s Distant Voices

Chiu's is the first classical release for the burgeoning label

Pianist Frederic Chiu is an acclaimed artist who has pushed boundaries in the world of classical music - from performance protocols and recording, to teaching and technology. He is in the spotlight yet again with a new "first":  a recording that combines state-of-the-art audio and video technology, masterpieces of the Western classical music canon, and contemporary works rooted in the East.  This is the inaugural classical music release from Yamaha Entertainment Group of America.

Frederic Chiu: Distant Voices, Piano Music by Claude Debussy & Gao Ping includes both an audio CD and video DVD of the longtime Yamaha artist performing a unique combination of iconic favorites and groundbreaking newer music from the piano repertoire, along with commentary from Chiu about his background and music-making.

Frederic Chiu's first recording of Debussy features 10 selections by the composer (the six pieces of Images, Books I & II; two selections from Estampes; "Clair de Lune" from Suite Bergamasque, and Rêverie) that are among the most beloved in the piano repertoire, interspersed with six pieces by the 45-year-old Szechuan-born pianist/composer Gao Ping, that collectively reveals musical globalization occurring at both ends of the 20th century – Debussy's horizons stretching beyond Europe, and Gao's music, while firmly in the Western tradition, grounded in his Chinese background.  And three of Gao's pieces introduce a new genre: music for vocalizing pianists, as demonstrated in bravura fashion in Chiu's performance of  "Katyusha, Homage to D. Shostakovich," that manages in the space of two minutes to combine virtuosic piano writing, a madcap riff on "Tea for Two" (and Shostakovich's arrangement of that song) and singing, whistles, and yells. (Complete program listing is below.)

"The opportunity to create Yamaha's first classical piano album, exploiting the possibilities of Yamaha's new CFX concert grand and the latest in Disklavier technology, immediately brought Debussy to my mind," says Chiu, who has been a Yamaha artist since 1988. "Debussy explored the unique qualities of the piano like no composer before him, and few since. His music is a test for the artist and the instrument both. The DCFX – a CFX Disklavier – passed with flying colors – this is a true revolution for the recording studio." 

The exceptional performance was captured on the Yamaha Disklavier, a true acoustic piano that incorporates fiber-optic sensing systems and state-of-the-art technology to record and reproduce every note of Frederic Chiu's Distant Voices, Piano Music by Claude Debussy and Gao Ping with unparalleled precision.  Disklavier technology made it possible to not only create the film in a mere three days, but also to produce a special Disklavier program that will enable those with a Disklavier piano to replicate the performance on their own instruments.

"It is an honor to not only debut our label's first classical album with such an acclaimed and inspirational artist as Chiu, who is always willing to push boundaries, but to also be able to capture his every nuance for our Disklavier subscribers," says Chris Gero, founder and vice president of Yamaha Entertainment Group.  "With Yamaha's Disklavier technology, Chiu's intention, his velocity - it is all captured and played back exactly as he originally played it. In essence we are sharing a piece of history for the world to hear and see."

Purchase Information: http://4wrd.it/CHIU-CD-DVD

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMnatMp4AKE