Born in Naples, Carlo Albanesi settled in London in 1882 where he successfully balanced a career as a piano soloist with that of professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music. His playing was distinguished by delicacy and this is a notable feature of his compositions, of which the sonatas are eloquent examples of his art, large in scale and Classical in form. The Sonata in D minor marries serenity with grandiosity, while the Sonata in B flat minor is wide-ranging and romantic. Renowned for her ‘beautiful tone and deep emotion’ (American Record Guide), acclaimed pianist Julia Severus performs works by an unjustly forgotten composer-pianist who was held in the highest esteem by colleagues, students and audiences alike.

Julia Severus graduated from the Berlin University of Arts and from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she studied piano with Mikhail Voskresensky and Lev Naumov. Her solo recordings of Rachmaninov’s piano transcriptions (Naxos 8573468), Franck’s early piano works (Naxos 8572901), Tchaikovsky’s opera and song transcriptions (Grand Piano GP795) and Bizet’s complete piano works (Naxos 857083132) have been highly praised. Her search for undiscovered piano literature led her on the trail of the Russian composer and pianist Adolf Barjansky, whose complete works for solo piano she has recorded (Grand Piano GP796 and GP881). Julia Severus lives and works in Paris and Berlin.