Hans Winterberg (1901-1991)
Sonate pour piano n° 1
Sonate pour piano n° 2
Sonate pour piano n° 3
Sonate pour piano n° 4
Sonate pour piano n° 5

Jonathan Powell, piano

Hans Winterberg, born in Prague in 1901, studied with Alexander Zemlinsky and Alois Hába. He worked as a conductor, pianist and composer until the annexation of the Czechoslovak Republic by Nazi Germany in 1939. As the scion of a Jewish family that had lived in Prague for centuries, he survived – after forced labor and deportation to Theresienstadt – through a series of miracles. Winterberg, whose compositional legacy has been rediscovered only recently, combines various influences in his music to create an original and exciting personal style. He takes up stylistic elements of Janácek but is also influenced by the Second Viennese School and French Impressionism. eda records dedicates a focus to this important CzechJewish composer, who saw himself as a bridge-builder between the cultures of Eastern and Western Europe.