1. Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 37: Moderato e risoluto

2. Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 37: Andante non troppo, quasi moderato

3. Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 37: Scherzo: Allegro giocoso

4. Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 37: Finale: Allegro vivace

5. Morceaux (6) for piano, Op. 51: Romance in F (No. 5)

6. The Seasons, for piano, Op. 37: May

7. The Seasons, for piano, Op. 37: June

8. The Seasons, for piano, Op. 37: August - Harvest

9. The Seasons, for piano, Op. 37: September - The Hunt

10. The Seasons, for piano, Op. 37: October - Autumn Song

It is wonderful to say now that I feel that the Tschaikovsky Grande Sonata is a great masterpiece, and I have this great CD to thank for it. I recently bought a group lot of CDs and I am so happy this was in it. Of course I was well-aware of what a terrific pianist Douglas is. But lately I have downloaded some concerts from Europe with him that pushed my interest even higher. A truly revelatory performance of the Reger Piano Concerto. Some Mozart concertos with an Irish Chamber orchestra very brilliantly played with contours usually missed by most. But this Grand Sonata is so outrageously well-played that it makes the earth move a bit. First of all the handling of the opening theme is great proof of the superiority of phrasing across the bar line. The fussiness of the authentic music crowd has had a really unfortunate effect generally. It has pushed performers who are not even in that realm to embrace little minute jerky phrasing, seemingly no more than a bar at a time. This Grand Sonata's opening moments then are usually played nowadays in very heaving little gestures. By contrast Barry Douglas plays them seamlessly and loud. It sounds exactly like bells ringing, a favorite motif for Russian composers anyways, and wonderfully evoked here. The rest of the performance is just as good. It takes an amazing artist to make continued fortissimos sound interesting. It is kind of incredible. The Seasons as filler for the rest of the disc are kind of a snooze, but who cares after a monumental revelation.