Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Prélude, op. 12 n° 7

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prélude en si mineur, BWV 855a (trans. A. Siloti)

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Prélude, op. 32 n° 12

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Le Tombeau de Couperin

Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931)
Prélude, op. 17 n° 14

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Prélude n° 2 sur des mélodies grégoriennes

Serguei Ivanovitch Taneiev (1856-1915)
Prélude en fa majeur

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Prélude, op. 103 n° 3

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Prélude, op. 28 n° 8

Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)
Prélude en forme de Largo

Anton Stepanovitch Arenski (1861-1906)
Prélude, op. 63 n° 1

Samuel Feinberg (1890-1962)
Prélude, op. 15 n° 3

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune, extrait de Préludes, Livre II

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Préludes pour piano "Un reflet dans le vent"

Alexandre Scriabine (1872-1915)
Prélude, op. 11 n° 2

Karim Shehata, piano

This sensuous and poignant CD by pianist Karim Shehata, his second CD on the Genuin label, is more than just a prelude: it is a collection whose pieces flow into each other, comment, prelude and postlude so seamlessly that, without the booklet, it is hard to believe that these are exclusively preludes—pieces conceived as preparation for something essential. The list of composers is a "Who is Who" ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to Olivier Messiaen. The young and yet already mature Karim Shehata plays all this with such ease and depth that one would like to rank him among the greats! Absolutely recommendable.