Northwest professor records piano melodrama CD

Northwest Missouri State University Associate Professor of Music Anthony Olson has released a new set of recordings dedicated to piano melodramas on a compact disc titled "The Melodramatic Pianist."

The disc, which features music written for piano and narration, includes works by Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and Richard Strauss.

The recording also contains Sergei Prokofiev’s famous children’s tale "Peter and the Wolf."

Olson recorded both the piano parts and the narrations for each composition.

"The Melodramatic Pianist" is available from major online music outlets or can be ordered directly from the artist at aolson@nwmissouri.edu.

Listen to Olson performing one of the tracks — Richard Strauss' "The Castle by the Sea" — at www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3mrSxbEbNk&feature=youtu.be.

The CD is Olson’s third in the last two years.

In March, Olson and lyric soprano Eva Peng released “From Mazurka to Mélodie,” which pays tribute to 19th century musicians Pauline Viardot and Frederic Chopin.

In 2011, the pianist completed a tribute recording featuring the music of 19th century American pianist and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk.

Olson joined the Northwest music faculty in 2000 and teaches courses in piano and organ.