Composers: Tchaikovsky/Rimsky-Korsakov/ Khachaturian/Shostakovich/Prokofiev
Performers: Joshus Pierce, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, RTV Symphony Orchestra of Slovenia, Slovak National Symphony Orchestra
Conductors: Paul Freeman, Kirk Trevor
Program: Piano Concerto in B-Flat Minor OP. 23, Piano Concerto No.3 in E-Flat Major, OP.75, Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, OP.30, Piano Concerto in D-Flat Major, Piano Concerto No.2 in F Major, 0P.102, Piano Concerto No.1 in D-Flat Major, OP.10

"A fine tribute to Pierce’s pianism with considerable élan and technique to spare" ...more - Mark J. Estren, Infodad.com, May 2016

"Performed with idiomatic flair and pathos by renowned pianist Joshua Pierce. One won't hear more emphatic, honest and engrossing performances of these masterpieces than those featured here." - Rob LaPorta, A&R of MSR Classics

"Scintillating, Warm and Vigorous, Beautifully Paced" - American Record Guide, July/August, 2016

"In a "classic" program of concertos by J.S. Bach, Haydn and Mendelssohn, pianist Joshua Pierce in his usual manner imbues each work with a combination of technical precision and a warm, musical spirit; these recordings feel perfectly, naturally "right". - Rob LaPorta, A&R of MSR Classics

"Joshua Pierce is a supreme example of a top-flight concert pianist who‟s chosen to take “the road less traveled,” and he‟s done well with it"

I admire New York City native Joshua Pierce because (a) he's so very talented at communicating the essence of a work of music to us with boldness and conviction, and (b) he's a supreme example of a top-flight concert pianist who's chosen to take “the road less traveled,” and he‟s done well with it. The breadth of his repertoire over the past several decades has been immense, and he has more than 60 albums to his credit. For whatever reason, he has preferred a life as a world traveler instead of just hitting the double-handful of big time concert halls in North America and Western Europe. Maybe he has chosen worldwide mobility over instant acclaim because he acquired, earlier in his career, the reputation of being a “John Cage specialist” (and Cage, as we know, can be a hard rap to beat!)

At any rate, Pierce, with the collaboration of longtime partner-in-crime Kirk Trevor at the podium of the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, further enhances his reputation as an artist of the broadest sympathies. I'd mostly thought of him as an explorer in search of the red meat of the romantic and modern repertoire, so it's refreshing to discover how scintillatingly precise, how right-on the-money he can be in such 18th century items as Bach's Concerto in F minor, BWV1056 and Haydn's Concerto No. 11 in D major. Pierce's fresh new accounts of these familiar standards are the bookends to a program that includes Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto in A minor (1822), a somewhat neglected work that is certain to acquire new friends with this performance.

The Haydn is taken with bracing but not breakneck tempi, allowing the galante elements in the music and the delicious interplay between soloist and orchestra plenty of opportunity to be enjoyed. The noble arioso in the Adagio is particularly notable for its gracious expression. That makes the strongest contrast imaginable with the spirited finale, billed as Rondo all’Ungarese (Hungarian Rondo) but actually based on an authentic Bosnian / Dalmatian folk dance. This rousing finale builds to an exciting climax with antiphonal effects between soloist and orchestra. At one point, the pianist makes a stunning shift in registration that is somewhat harder to do on the piano than when this concerto is played in the alternate version for a two-manual harpsichord.
- Phil Muse, Audio Video Club of Atlanta, May 2016

"Here’s an imaginative bouquet of three baroque concertos played by a pianist with wide-ranging sympathies but a special reputation in music of the 20th century… rhythms are consistently engaging: there’s plenty of zip where required (say, in the finale of the Bach or the piano’s vital entry in the Hindemith), and the dance qualities of the Hindemith…have an infectious lilt. Add to this the sparkling textures and the pianist’s sure technical control, and you have a trio of performances that offer plenty of musical rewards." - Peter J. Rabinowitz, Issue 37:2, Fanfare Nov/Dec 2013

NEW!

Joshua Pierce Plays
Bach, Hindemith and Bloch
(MS1415)
MSR     AMAZON 

Composers: Bach, Hindesmith and Bloch
Performers: Joshua Pierce, Capella Istropolitana, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Kirk Trevor
PROGRAM: KEYBOARD CONCERTO NO. 1 IN D MINOR, BWV 1052, THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS - THEME AND VARIATIONS FOR PIANO & STRINGS, CONCERTO GROSSO NO.1 FOR STRING ORCHESTRA WITH PIANO OBBLIGATO

"Here’s a refreshing program, crisply and smartly played…" - Hansen, American Record Guide (January/February 2014)

"A particularly note worthy release: "Legacy of Songs", featuring premiere recordings of works (many of which are unpublished) by Vincent Persichetti. Baritone Lee Velta and soprano Sherry Overholt bring these gems to life, with sensitive and authoritative support from pianist Joshua Pierce." - Rob LaPorta, A&R of MSR Classics

"Velta and Overholt both handle the music skillfully and with careful control and considerable sensitivity, and Pierce’s pianism is exemplary throughout." - Mark J. Estren, Infodad, June, 2016

Composer: Vincent Persichetti / Poetry by Various Authors
Performers:  Lee Velta, Sherry Overholt,  Joshua Pierce
Program: 
1. Two e.e. cummings Songs, Op. 26 (1945)
2. Two Chinese Songs, Op. 29 (1945)
3. Three 17th Century English Songs, Op.49 (1951)
4. Four Sara Teasdale Songs, Op. 72 (1957)
5. Two Carl Sandberg Songs, OP. 73 (1957)
6. Three James Joyce Songs, Op. 74 (1957)
7. Two Hilaire Belloc Songs, Op. 75 (1957)
8. Two Robert Frost songs, Op. 76 (1957)
9. Four Emily Dickinson Songs, Op.77 (1957)
10. A Net of Fireflies - Song Cycle, Op. 115 (1970)

“The music on this disc is first-rate and is unavailable elsewhere. For that reason I give the recording an enthusiastic recommendation.... Joshua Pierce’s accompaniments are skillful and sensitive—virtually ideal renditions of the music... I strongly encourage readers to become acquainted with these songs.
- Myron Silberstein, Fanfare [May/June 2016]

John Cage 100 / Various artists (Wergo)
"Wergo’s handsomely produced box set was assembled for last year’s 2012 John Cage centenary. Fans will lap it up, and one hopes that curious newcomers will take the plunge and open their ears to this extraordinary, approachable music. Joshua Pierce’s 1970s album of the Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano still sounds definitive. Cage’s Table of Preparations is included in the booklet, listing in alarming detail the position, size and orientation of every bolt, washer and screw inserted in Pierce’s piano. Inevitably, you start to wonder if the bell-like sounds and echoes of gamelan music would come across differently if the screws were placed at random. Still, the wonder lies in hearing these tiny pieces packing an expressive punch out all proportion to their miniature scale."

Graham Dickson,  www.theartsdesk.com February 2, 2013, United Kingdom

---

"Almost the first thing you'll notice about Pierce's playing is the steady, calm yet totally confident command with which he paces and navigates through the intricacies of some of the composer's most engaging and enticing works for solo piano. Tenor Robert White also sings with a nice mix of precision and conviction, projection and restraint in the interlude, Act One – VII of Four Walls and the Three Early Songs [CD.2 tr.s 20-22]. The American Festival of Microtonal Music Ensemble makes the "Piano Sextet – Prelude for six instruments" [CD.1 tr.21] equally memorable. But Pierce's depths and reach as a performer extend much further. He manages to follow Cage's contours without emphasizing them; to accentuate the rhythmic without losing spontaneity; and to introduce color without over-sweetening the harmonics."

Read Mark Sealey's December 12, 2012 Classical.Net review here

---

"The highlight on this set is the transcendent live performance by Pierce of Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano."

Read Lewis Whittington's Concertonet.com review here

---

John Cage 2-CD set was featured on Q2 Music's (WQXR's online station for contemporary music) Album of the Week for August 24 - August 31, 2012.

"There are few pianists as equipped to tackle the polarizing music of John Cage as powerfully as Joshua Pierce...Pierce’s balance of careful technique and violent abandon throughout offer a profound and accessible portrait of the landscape-changing composer." - Read the entire review here

For more reviews of John Cage: A Tribute, click here