Carmen Stefanescu

"Playing the C. Bechstein grand piano in the Ölberg Studio in Berlin was love at first touch. The magic that arises when the instrument surprises me with magic sound colours while I play enriched and inspired my recordings for The Voice of Piano."

Carmen Stefanescu

 

Carmen Stefanescu was born in Bucharest, Romania. After her family had to escape from Romania, she was accepted as a junior student at the Aachen University of Music. At the age of 18, she interrupted her piano studies to try out other musical genres. This led her to a ten-year long career as a keyboardist and studio musician for various rock and pop bands. She thus became a crossover artist between musical worlds. Carmen Stefanescu later resumed her studies at the Cologne University of Music and Dance and graduated with an artistic diploma with honours. She continued her training with Bruno Canino in Milan and masterclasses in song interpretation with Irwin Gage in Florence. She is a prizewinner of the International Grieg Piano Competition in Oslo and a scholarship holder of the German Music Council. In 2022, she released her debut solo CD ‘Kaleidoscope of Life’ with the 2nd Chopin Piano Concerto in the version for sextet and piano works from the Belle Époque. Her new double album ‘The Voice of Piano’ was released in July 2024.

Photo: © Marion Köll

The Voice of Piano: A musical journey

Prospero Classical

On her album ‘The Voice of Piano’, she presents a colourful musical mixture of works and arrangements by Bach-Busoni, Debussy, Poulenc, Rachmaninov, Winkler, Say, Schubert-Liszt, Mompou, De Falla and Grieg. The artist takes the listener on a musical journey through songs, and  chansons from Bach to Poulenc, as well as through arrangements for piano from Williams to Godowski to Volodos and Winkler.

"Carmen Stefanescu is truly convincing in every piece of this wide variety of styles. No matter, if it is romantic intimacy, impressionistic dream worlds, variants from folklore: she penetrates the respective forms of expression in a differentiated way. The diverse tonguing styles from Spain in Manuel de Falla, for example, are captivating. Or the Turkish lute sounds in Fazıl Say. A double album that makes you want to go on a sound journey again and again.’  (Ramón Weber, Concerti)

The Voice of Piano was recorded on a C. Bechstein concert grand piano D 282 and released in July 2024 on the Prospero Classical label.