Buriedtreasure

Pianist Mari Kodama shares a selection of the recordings she thinks you should discover

Stravinsky The Soldier’s Tale

Sting, Vanessa Redgrave, Ian Mckellen; London Sinfonietta/kent Nagano Pangaea PEA 461048 2

I got this when it first came out in the late 1980s. It was an edition which corrected a discrepency, so everything was much clearer; today, I believe everyone is playing this version, but it was very new then. It’s an amazing convergence of really exceptional artists, so it’s really very special. I have many other versions, which I studied when we did the trio version, but I always go back to this.

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies etc

Alfred Brendel (piano)

Vanguard Classics OVC 4024

Of course Brendel’s recordings of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and some of the Liszt are known, but I didn’t know how wonderful his Hungarian Rhapsodies were until recently. He played a short recorded excerpt in one of his lectures, and I asked him who was playing and he told me it was him! It’s quite amazing; he plays it with huge élan and there’s a sense of freedom in his timing.

Messiaen Visions de l’amen

Yvonne Loriod, Olivier Messiaen (piano) Disques Adès 13.233-2

We all grew up in the Paris Conservatory with Messiaen; we know how he should sound – the colour, the harmonies – and he was of course a great organist. What we couldn’t guess is how lively a performer he was. This recording, with him playing the second piano (his wife Yvonne Loriod plays the first), is extremely colourful but also has great clarity. He didn’t really play piano that much – this is one of the only pieces he plays himself on a recording.

Mari Kodama’s new recording of Brahms and Clara Schumann sonatas is out on Pentatone on 18 November