Piano for Kids [CD]

What has not been tried over the years in order to twin over children and young people to classical music? There is a veritable market devoted to attracting and luring the young. Pianist Corinna Simon always found one aspect of this endeavor rather strange: Why on earth expose small children at the outset to large-scale works, why expect them to sit still through the entire overture to Mozart's Magic Flute? We've all been there. However, there is actually a wealth of small-scale gems, specially crafted for children's ears and hands, whose format will not overwhelm or wear out the young listeners. And this treasure trove is now presented on this two-album set by pianist Corinna Simon: Filled with fascinating and diverse material from the undiscovered and vast domain of piano music composed for children, "Piano For Kids" aims to awaken young listeners' curiosity and to tempt them off the beaten track. In fact, this recording is an enjoyable, easy listening experience not only for children, but for everyone who is interested in piano music. For this recording, Corinna Simon has selected piano pieces from three centuries, ranging from Bach to Haydn and Schumann to Shostakovich and even to the film music composer Nino Rota. That said, many famous composers have indeed written piano works for children. Some of them are well known, such as "Little Preludes" by Johann Sebastian Bach or the "Album for the Youth" by Robert Schumann which are all to be found on this album. However, after many years of experience also as a piano teacher, pianist Corinna Simon has discovered many other fascinating works, which stayed largely unknown, by composers all over the world such as "Six Children's Pieces" by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, "Dances of the Dolls" by Dmitri Shostakovich, "For Children to Eavesdrop" by Paul Juon, "In the Shoe Store" by Joaquin Turina or "Puppets" by Bohuslav Martinu - just to name a few.