Piano Heroines
Hensel - Wieck - Beach - Price
Claire Huangci (piano)
This absolute treat of an album is not only a celebration of four female composers we've come to know and love in the last 15-odd years. It also offers a feast of impressive pianism that helps...
Piano Heroines
Hensel - Wieck - Beach - Price
Claire Huangci (piano)
Purchase product
This absolute treat of an album is not only a celebration of four female composers we've come to know and love in the last 15-odd years. It also offers a feast of impressive pianism that helps...
About
After a 'spellbinding' album for Alpha devoted to her American roots (Alpha1071), pianist Claire Huangci now celebrates female composers, acknowledging: ‘The realities these women faced are difficult to imagine for any modern woman in the field.’ Clara Wieck (who became Schumann after her marriage to Robert in 1840) was a mother of eight and the main breadwinner, constantly on tour. Fanny Hensel composed largely in private, often publishing under her brother’s name. Amy Beach’s career was practically silenced during her marriage; only upon her husband’s death did she return to the stage. Florence Price faced both racial and gender discrimination and later raised two children alone. Across the centuries, the voices of these women reach us thanks to musicians like Claire: 'In their music, we don’t just hear history. We hear transformation. Heroines is my way of listening back—and adding my voice to theirs.'
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
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Awards and reviews
February 2026
This absolute treat of an album is not only a celebration of four female composers we've come to know and love in the last 15-odd years. It also offers a feast of impressive pianism that helps to reveal underrated aspects of their music, notably their sheer brilliance and flair...Colour and eloquence pour out of the piano, while clarity and beauty of tone abound.
February 2026
Hensel's delightful Capriccio in B minor has the same melodic spirit of her famous sibling, with the second movement silk-spun by Huangci...Huangci imbues Wieck's juvenilia (Polonaise from the Soirées musicales) with slick professionalism.
