Abdel Rahman El Bacha
Lebanon's Abdel Rahman El Bacha is among the leading pianists to have emerged from the Middle East in the 20th century. He has an unusually large repertory of concertos and solo works stretching from Bach to Prokofiev.
El Bacha was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1958. His father, Taufic El Basha, was a noted composer and conductor, and his mother, known as Widad, was a popular Lebanese-Jewish singer who was frequently heard on Lebanese radio. She did not read music, and El Bacha pointed to that as an influence on his belief that it was important to learn music by ear. She was one of the few Jews to remain in Lebanon through its civil war, but El Bacha, after a recital at the American University in Lebanon when he was 13, was offered scholarships to study in Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France, selecting the latter. Enrolling at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1974, he studied with Pierre Sancan. El Bacha scored a major breakthrough when he won the 1978 Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium. That led to a recording contract with the Forlane label, where he released his first album, Early Works of Prokofiev, in 1983. That recording was awarded the Grand Prix of the Académie Cros; El Bacha was presented with the award by Prokofiev's widow, Lina.
Through the 1980s and '90s, El Bacha became an increasingly powerful concert draw internationally. He has appeared in such top venues as the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, traveling as far afield as Russia, Japan, and North and South America. El Bacha has a repertory comprising some 60 concertos and numerous solo works, including the complete concertos of Beethoven, Prokofiev, and Bartók, the complete solo works of Chopin and Ravel, and the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven, which he has performed as a group several times. In 2011, he recorded Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, for the Triton label, but many of his recordings focus on Chopin and on the Russsian virtuoso school. He has recorded for the Rewind, Fuga Libera, and Mirare labels in addition to Forlane and Triton; on Mirare, he released the album Chopin: Préludes, Fantaisie, Berceuse & Barcarolle in 2022. El Bacha lives in Brussels, Belgium.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos. 6-8
Classical - Released by MClassics on Mar 8, 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete piano sonatas
Classical - Released by Mirare on Sep 9, 2013
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin : Préludes, Fantaisie, Berçeuse et Barcarolle
Classical - Released by Mirare on Oct 14, 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Scherzi & Ballades
Classical - Released by Mirare on Mar 12, 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Oeuvres pour piano
Classical - Released by Mirare on Jan 9, 2012
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
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Abdel Rahman El Bacha: Arabesques
Classical - Released by Mirare on Feb 9, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Journal musical de Chopin
Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Anne Queffélec, Iddo Bar-Shaï, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Momo Kodama, Philippe Giusiano
Classical - Released by Mirare on Jan 12, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto pour piano
Gérard Poulet, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, David Lively, Orchestre Colonne, Pierre Dervaux
Classical - Released by Naxos on Aug 29, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maurice Ravel, Piano Concerto For The Left Hand In D Major
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, Waltz No. 14 In E Minor, Bi 56
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Piano Concertos 1, 4 & 3
Classical - Released by Outhere on Oct 23, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Journal musical de Chopin (Frédéric Chopin)
Classical - Released by Mirare on Jan 12, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Queen Elisabeth Competition, Piano 1978
Classical - Released by Muso on Aug 26, 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, Polonaise In G Minor, Bi 1
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maurice Ravel, Miroirs
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sergey Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 1 In F Minor, Op. 1
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 21 In C, Op. 53 (Waldstein)
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann, Piano Sonata No. 2 In G Minor, Op. 22
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata No. 18 In G, Op. 78 D. 894
Classical - Released by Classical.com Music on Feb 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The five Piano Concertos
Abdel Rahman El Bacha, The Monnaie Symphony Orchestra, Kazushi Ono
Classical - Released by Fuga Libera on Jan 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo