Rafael Music Notes

Panayiotis Demopoulos, piano (ddv24166) features in yet another fine release by Divine Art, a very fine pianist, as evidenced by his playing of the Three Intermezzi, Op.117 by Brahms and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

The artist excels in all three of these Romantic miniatures: delicate in the E flat Lullaby, elegant in the B flat minor, intense in the C sharp minor.

The seasonal connotations of the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter of Panayiotis’ composition Four Farewells for Piano are not of the weather variety, but of a sentimental nature, dedicated to the composer’s two most important mentors and each written at different times of the year. They provide a bracing contrast to the Brahms and Mussorgsky compositions that occupy the remainder of this CD.

Well-written program notes accompany this nicely packaged and carefully engineered CD.

—Rafael de Acha