Recordings by Michael Dussek
"Michael Dussek, whose innate musicality and
instrumental command are evident from first note to last."
BBC Music
Magazine.
York Bowen Piano Concerto No. 1, Violin Concerto.
Michael Dussek (Piano), BBC Concert Orchestra, conductor Vernon Handley.
Dutton Epoch 7169.
“Lorraine McAslan and Michael Dussek perform with fire and passion, bringing to Bowen’s unknown and under-appreciated concertos a sense of commitment that is indeed rare. Their incisive and insightful performances will not only focus attention on their abilities, but will surely raise the consciousness of the curious regarding this repertoire…This is a fine and much-needed addition to the collection of every Anglophile and one of the newest inductees in our Classical Hall of Fame.”
Fanfare magazine Hall of Fame Performance
"Michael Dussek negotiates the note-splattered Scharwenkian terrain with infectious bravado and sensitivity, and "Tod" Handley directs with all his customary sympathy and understanding."
BBC Music Magazine, 5-star recording.
"This performance is outstanding, with Michael Dussek admirably stylish and Handley offering the most malleable support. The Watford Town Hall production marries amplitude and warmth to realistic balance, making this a peach of a disc."
Classical Good CD Guide.
"Dussek's performance is brilliant and sensitive by turns - he is a pianist who, on this showing, certainly deserves to make many more records."
International Record Review
"Michael Dussek displays scintillating tone and a fine technique."
Fanfare Magazine
York Bowen Piano Concerto 2nd Concerto.
Michael Dussek (Piano), BBC Concert Orchestra, conductor Vernon Handley.
Dutton Epoch CDLX 7187
"All this is superbly performed by Vernon Handley while Michael Dussek (who teaches at Bowen's alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music) plays with brilliant facility and the warmest musical commitment."
Bryce Morrison, Gramophone.
"Michael Dussek is clearly equally at home whether as a chamber musician or as a flamboyant concerto soloist... The piano-writing is immensely demanding but it is also highly pianistic and for the most part even the most challenging of passagework lies under the fingers. Dussek (the pianist on no fewer than 21 CDs in Dutton's Epoch Series!) performs both concertos with real panache and élan, revelling in the stunning array of figurations and textures while coaxing out the most gorgeous extended melodic lines."
International Record Review
"That indefatigable champion of British music, Vernon Handley, here presents a strong case for one of the 20th century's semi-forgotten figures, enhanced by the pianistic panache of Michael Dussek. The music of York Bowen (1884-1961) is firmly rooted in the 19th century, both from the point of view of its harmonic palette and in the broad romantic sweep and bravura of the Piano writing. Its combination of succulence, brilliance and strong melodic threads, coupled with the sensitivity and spirit of these performances, ought to win new admirers for two imaginative concertos and a Symphonic Fantasia of Straussian lyricism and verve." The Daily Telegraph
“Michael Dussek once again proves an ideal pianist”.Amazon.com 5 stars
Dussek Sonata in G minor 1st movement
SommCD0657
Dussek Sonata in G minor 2nd movement
Dussek Sonata in Ab major, Le retour à Paris Op.70: 1st movement
Dussek Sonata in Ab major, Le retour à Paris Op70: 2nd movement
Dussek Sonata in Ab major, Le retour à Paris Op70: 3rd movement
Dussek Sonata in Ab major, Le retour à Paris Op.70: 4th movement
Chopin Fantasy op49
Polonaise-Fantaisie Op61
Classic FM Recording of the Week
“This is a tremendous disc, brimful of joy from the first note to the last…The (Dussek) Piano Sonata in Ab, “Le retour à Paris” is by any standards a masterpiece. And there is no denying that this highly inventive music provides as convincing as any bridge between the elegance of Viennese classicism and the exploratory yearnings of the Early Romantics.”
Pianodao Recording of the Month September 2022
“There is a lyrical outpouring that surely foreshadows Chopin, a link underscored by the sensitively shaded phrasing in this performance, alongside the intelligent application of rubato. Even more in the second movement one understands the connections between Dussek and Chopin”.
Fanfare March 2023
“Elegant and technically flawless playing.”
All about the Arts 2022.
Piano Sonata in G major Op. 35 2nd movement
Dussek Sonata in C minor Op35 No3 Intermezzo – 3rd movement
Chopin Ballade in G minor
Romantic Revolution Volume 1:
Somm CD0634
“Dussek’s music is highly imaginative and Michael Dussek is a superb advocate.”
International Piano
“What can I say about (Chopin) Ballade No. 1 in G minor, except that it is simply awesome and supremely played. You’ll want to play it again immediately; that says it all.”
International MusicWeb
“The core of the project is a fascinating exploration of music that is eminently worth a second hearing.”
Gramophone
“The presto coda and thrilling octaves round off a most exhilarating and satisfying rendition of this potent Chopin opus.”
Fanfare
Funfair from Holiday Diary
Waltz number 2
Benjamin Britten Holiday Diary, 5 Waltzes, Notturno (Night Piece), Temporal Variations, Two Insect Pieces, with Sarah Francis, Oboe.
Hyperion CDA 66776
"One of the most magical discs of Britten yet made."
Fanfare.
"Michael Dussek proves a magnetic interpreter of the solo Piano music, bringing out the sparkle of the boyhood waltzes (or "Waltztes" as the boy Britten called them) and the Holiday Diary. He then finds intense poetry and magic in the Night Piece."
Penguin Guide to Compact Discs.
"Michael Dussek s'y montre remarquable, notamment dans Holiday Diary, qui marie humour, tendresse, truculence, raffinement avec une vivacité, une plénitude, une liquidité de toucher d'une lumière extraordinaire, en une rare affinité poétique avec l'oeuvre, culminant dans les résonances immobiles, le chatoiement sensuel de Night, où l'on admire un jeu de pédale d'une clarté et d'une fluidité miraculeuses. Dans les Valses, schubertiennes d'inspiration, Dussek déploie un superbe cantabile, nuancé de demi teintes flottantes, remarquablement inspirées (variations de la Cinquième), au gré d'un discours très ferme qui donne puissance et corps à des pages facilement évanescentes."
Répertoire.
Prelude on a theme of Cyril Scott
Edmund Rubbra: Complete music for Piano solo, with Rachel Dussek, Piano.
Dutton CDLX 7112
Here is an example of a record company getting everything right. An outstanding artist playing worthy yet neglected repertoire in beautifully recorded sound... It would be hard to imagine a more congenial, sensitive and perceptive advocate of this music than Michael Dussek, whose innate musicality and instrumental command are evident from first note to last. Everything is natural, nothing is forced, and the blend of lyricism, contrapuntal clarity and the underlying harmonic rhythm is exemplary. And the recorded sound is so perfectly matched to the spirit and texture of the music that it must be counted as an act of interpretation in itself."
BBC Music Magazine
"Michael Dussek, whose father studied with Rubbra at Worcester College Oxford, performs his usual selfless and flawless mission in facilitating access to works by deserving British composers."
Piano Journal
Recommended in The Good C.D. Guide
Clifford Benson Piano Works; Landor Records LAN 283Classic Album Recommendation, Classic FM
“Clifford Benson, one of the finest accompanists and chamber musicians of his generation, died in August 2007 aged 61. He was to have made this recording of his piano works himself to celebrate his 60th birthday. In the event, the effects of an inoperable brain tumour, diagnosed in December 2006, made it impossible for him to play, and the project turned into a race against time. His friend and colleague Michael Dussek, who has made so many fine recordings of English piano music for Dutton, stood in. Warmly recorded (Potton Hall) and played with affection and consummate artistry by Dussek, the programme reflects the personality of an engaging and much-missed musician.”
Gramophone
“Michael Dussek kindly stepped into the breach and with Clifford’s help produced this enchanting recital of indelible miniatures. Perfect late-evening listening.”
Classic FM Magazine
“There is much to savour on this disc, with performances from Dussek that display the utmost subtlety and technical finesse.”
International Record Review
“Splendid playing, and superb recording quality as can be expected from Tony Faulkener make this a CD well worth exploring.”
Audiophile Audition
Nielsen Music for Wind and Piano, including Three Piano Pieces op.59;
New London Chamber Ensemble; Meridian CDE 84580
“Michael Dussek emerges as fully equal to the latest advances in the piano music on disc. This is one of the best Nielsen discs ever made.”
MusicWeb International Recording of the Year
“Michael Dussek fully justifies the apparently anomalous inclusion of the late Three Piano Pieces with a reading whose intelligence and empathy yield to no rivals.”
Gramophone
“Michael Dussek is both an admirable partner and a splendid soloist in his own right in the fine Op.59 set.” International Record Review