Siwan Rhys: Ustvolskaya Solo Piano Works

There aren’t many piano compositions which leave the hands and arms of the pianist bruised.

It’s also not every day that a pianist has to make sense of a score which contains passages marked ‘very, very, very loud’, followed by ‘very, very, very, very loud’.

But pain and discomfort are woven into the music itself in Ustvolskaya’s compositions, which represent a violent expression of anger at the oppressive system of the Soviet Union she grew up in.

Siwan Rhys leads us through a journey of physical extremes, requiring true pianistic skill and endurance.