“Vytautas Bacevičius: Piano Music, Volume Three,” released in July 2025, is the third and final installment in a series of Bacevičius’ (1905-1970) piano music recorded by Gabrielius Alekna and brought out by the ever-inventive British label Toccata Classics. The recording presents compositions written between 1926 and 1959 and shows the evolution of this visionary Lithuanian composer’s musical language from the post-Skryabin style of the early works, via the influence of Debussy, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, to a highly individual modernism that can occasionally nod to the jazz of his adoptive New York.
About the performances in this release, reviewers note: “The celebrated Lithuanian pianist Gabrielius Alekna plays with crisp, incisive authority, offering subtlety and songfulness“ (Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide); “this is clearly a passion project for Lithuanian-American pianist Gabrielius Alekna. He plays the music with great sensitivity…” (Henry Fogel for Fanfare); and “Editor of several pieces on the album, the virtuoso Lithuanian pianist Gabrielius Alekna, benefiting from a crystal-clear recording, is one of the absolute benchmarks when it comes to performing this demanding music with the color, phrasing, and conviction it deserves. Highly recommended.” (Justino Losada, Ritmo). The reviewers also praised “excellent”, “informative” and “scholarly” program notes written by the pianist himself.
This is Gabrielius Alekna’s fifth CD of Bacevičius’ music – among them the critically acclaimed complete piano concertos for Naxos, with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee conducting (2015 and 2024). This body of work includes many first recordings and constitutes the most comprehensive Bacevičius catalogue of any pianist.