A Child's Dream Alexandra Dariescu & Academy of St Martin in the Fields

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Rondo in D Major, K. 382:
• 1 Mozart: Rondo in D Major, K. 382: I. Allegretto grazioso 06:09
• 2 Mozart: Rondo in D Major, K. 382: II. Adagio 02:18
• 3 Mozart: Rondo in D Major, K. 382: III. Allegro 02:17
• Emmy Schäfer Klein: Christmas Album, Op. 8:
• 4 Klein: Christmas Album, Op. 8: I. Child's Dream 01:54
• James Lee III (b. 1975):
• 5 Lee III: Humble Birth 02:23
• Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979): 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano:
• 6 Boulanger: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano: I. Moderato 02:46
• 7 Boulanger: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano: II. Sans vitesse et à l’aise 01:58
• 8 Boulanger: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano: III. Vite et nerveusement rythmé 02:41
• Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896): 3 Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22:
• 9 Schumann: 3 Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22: I. Andante Molto 02:59
• 10 Schumann: 3 Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22: II. Allegretto 02:49
• 11 Schumann: 3 Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22: III. Leidenschaftlich schnell 03:50
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Prelude in B Minor, BWV 855a (Arr. for Piano by Alexander Siloti):
• 12 Bach: Prelude in B Minor, BWV 855a (Arr. for Piano by Alexander Siloti) 03:17
• Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980): A Map of Laughter:
• 13 Mazzoli: A Map of Laughter 02:08
• Amy Beach (1867 - 1944): Children's Carnival, Op. 25:
• 14 Beach: Children's Carnival, Op. 25: VI. Harlequin 01:11
• Florence Price (1887 - 1953): The Goblin and the Mosquito:
• 15 Price: The Goblin and the Mosquito 00:59
• Germaine Tailleferre (1892 - 1983): Romance:
• 16 Tailleferre: Romance 03:17
• Leokadiya Kashperova (1872 - 1940): Songs without Words No. 5 (Arr. for Piano by Graham Griffiths):
• 17 Kashperova: Songs without Words No. 5 (Arr. for Piano by Graham Griffiths) 01:44
• Carl Filtsch (1830 - 1845): Premières pensées musicales, Op. 3:
• 18 Filtsch: Premières pensées musicales, Op. 3: III. Mazurka 03:32
• Tudor Ciortea (1903 - 1982): Joc țigănesc:
• 19 Ciortea: Joc țigănesc 02:21
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959): A prole do bebê, W140 No. 1:
• 20 Villa-Lobos: A prole do bebê, W140 No. 1: VII. O polichinelo 00:56
• Total Runtime 51:29

Info for A Child's Dream

Ein lebendiges Porträt der Musik als Traum, Erinnerung und Erneuerung: und eine seltene Gelegenheit, einige funkelnde Neuheiten zu hören, die alle mit Dariescus gewohntem Charme und Humor präsentiert werden.

Dieses Album zeichnet die Reise der Pianistin Alexandra Dariescu durch Entdeckung, Erinnerung und Feier nach und vereint Meisterwerke mit vernachlässigten Juwelen und Weltpremieren. Mozarts strahlendes Rondo in D-Dur, KV 382, eröffnet das Programm, gepaart mit Emmy Schäfer Kleins längst vergessenem „Child's Dream“ und James Lee III.s neu komponiertem „Humble Birth“. Musik von Clara Schumann, Nadia Boulanger, Florence Price, Amy Beach, Germaine Tailleferre, Leokadiya Kashperova und anderen hebt die Stimmen von Frauen aus verschiedenen Jahrhunderten hervor. Dazwischen sind persönliche Favoriten eingeflochten – Bach/Silotis Präludium in e-Moll, Villa-Lobos' spritziges O polichinelo – neben jugendlichen Schätzen von Carl Filtsch und Tudor Ciortea. Zusammen bilden sie ein lebendiges Porträt der Musik als Traum, Erinnerung und Erneuerung.

Alexandra Dariescu,Klavier
Academy of St Martin in the Fields (Tracks 1-5)
Richard Harwood, Cello (Track 5)
Tomo Keller, Violine (Track 8)

Alexandra Dariescu
the visionary pianist behind "The Nutcracker and I", brings fearless curiosity, innovation and deep artistic integrity to her programmes and performances. From cherished classics by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Rachmaninov, Ravel and Chopin, to the rediscovered works of Clara Schumann, Nadia & Lili Boulanger, George Enescu and Doreen Carwithen, she stands out as a distinct and original voice on the international piano stage. A sought-after soloist worldwide, Dariescu has forged strong relationships with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Detroit Symphony and Melbourne Symphony. Eminent collaborations include London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, London Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen Philharmonics and the Sydney, Houston, Detroit, Seattle and Vancouver Symphonies. Among the renowned conductors Alexandra has worked with are Ádám Fischer, Cristian Măcelaru, Alain Altinoglu, Sakari Oramo, John Storgårds, Fabien Gabel, Vasily Petrenko, Ryan Bancroft, James Gaffigan, and JoAnn Falletta.

In the 2025/26 season, Alexandra performs with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, followed by season opening concerts in Tallinn with the Estonian National Symphony and Olari Elts, and in Belgium with the Brussels Philharmonic and Kazushi Ōno. These performances will feature the powerful Fantasies by Nadia Boulanger and George Enescu, alongside Clara Schumann’s piano concerto, a signature piece for Dariescu. New debuts include performances with the Pacific Symphony and Tianyi Lu in the US, as well as engagements in Scandinavia with the Malmö and Aalborg Symphony Orchestras. In the UK, Alexandra reunites with the Royal Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, and makes her much-anticipated debut in the Southbank Centre’s Piano Recital Series. She will close the season in Poland with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under Krzysztof Urbański, followed by a UK tour, including performances in London and Birmingham.

In the 2024/25 season Dariescu made her debut with the Seattle Symphony, under the baton of Tianyi Lu. She then embarked on an Australian tour alongside Fabien Gabel, making her return to the Melbourne Symphony and debut with the West Australian Symphony Orchestras, followed by recitals in Sydney and Canberra. In Scandinavia, Dariescu made her anticipated debuts with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Danish Philharmonic Orchestras, whereas in the UK she gave subscription concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Two significant highlights further complemented Dariescu’s season: her debut with the London Symphony Orchestra as part of the LSO Discovery series in the education project she co-created with Tim Redmond "Count Me In", and her participation as presenter of the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition, where she supported The Alexandra Dariescu Award for an outstanding performance of a piece by a female composer. This is the first time for such an accolade to be introduced in an international piano competition, underlining Alexandra’s commitment to changing cultures, inspiring the younger generations and promoting gender equality in the classical music industry. The season marked yet another international tour of “The Nutcracker and I”, celebrating its 100th performance at Barbican Centre’s Milton Court. Further presentations took place in Paris at La Seine Musicale, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Opéra de Dijon, Megaron Athens Concert Hall and the Macao International Music Festival.

Testament to her ethos of championing a more inclusive repertoire, recent milestones in Dariescu’s career include opening the 2023/24 season for the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in the UK premiere of Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie Concertante. In the same season, Dariescu gave the world premiere of a new piano concerto written for her by James Lee III - "Shades of Unbroken Dreams" - in honour of the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech, with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic. In 2022, Dariescu made the world premiere recording of a newly discovered piano concerto by Leokadiya Kashperova (1900) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for BBC Radio 3’s acclaimed programme ‘Composer of the Week’. Further discoveries and important premieres of unjustly neglected concertos Dariescu has given include Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie Variée, the recently unearthed piano concerto by George Enescu, Concierto argentino by Alberto Ginastera, Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie Concertante, Doreen Carwithen Concerto for piano and strings and four piano concertos written for Dariescu: Emily Howard’s “Mesmerism”, Daniel Dhondy’s “In Touch”, Iris ter Shiphorst’s “Sometimes” and James Lee III’s “Shades of Unbroken Dreams”. In 2017, Dariescu took the world by storm with her successful piano recital production “The Nutcracker and I”, an original ground-breaking multimedia performance for piano solo with dance and digital animation, which has since enjoyed international acclaim and has drawn thousands of young audiences into concert halls across Europe, Australia, China, the Emirates and the US, realising Dariescu’s vision of building bridges and making classical music more accessible to the wider public.

Dariescu has released nine albums to critical acclaim, the latest disc being Clara Schumann and Grieg Piano Concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Tianyi Lu. The discography includes a Decca album with Angela Gheorghiu, a Trilogy of Complete Preludes series consisting of Chopin, Dutilleux, Shostakovich, Szymanowski, Messiaen, Faure and Lili Boulanger as well as Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Darrell Ang (Signum Records), in addition to “The Nutcracker and I” audio book.

Alexandra Dariescu is the first ever female Romanian pianist to perform at the Royal Albert Hall and performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Staatsoper Vienna, Konzerthaus Vienna, BOZAR Brussels, Staatsoper Berlin, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Sydney Opera House, Beijing National Centre for Performing Arts, Shanghai Grand Opera, Tokyo Musashino Hall, Dubai Opera, Wigmore, Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall, Barbican amongst many others.

Mentored by Sir András Schiff and Dame Imogen Cooper, Dariescu studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Nelson Goerner, Alexander Melnikov, Dina Parakhina, Mark Ray; at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Ronan O’Hora; and in her hometown Iasi with Mihaela Constantin and Cornelia Apostol. She was a Laureate of the Verbier Festival Academy, receiving the UK’s Women of the Future Award in the Arts and Culture category. Dariescu holds many special accolades including Cultural Ambassador of Romania, Officer of the Romanian Crown from the Royal Family and Young European Leader by Friends of Europe. In 2020, Dariescu received the Order 'Cultural Merit' in the rank of Knight from the Romanian President and became an Associated Member of the Royal Northern College of Music, where she also held the distinguished position of Professor of Piano for two years. From September 2024, Dariescu begins a new tenure as Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Booklet for A Child's Dream