Anyone planning to give the gift of music for Christmas should seriously consider Aristo Sham’s new solo piano album.
Timeline, released by Universal Music Hong Kong on November 7, is a thoughtfully compiled selection based on the current world tour by the 2025 Van Cliburn gold medallist. At its core are transcriptions by Ferruccio Busoni, flanked by two unadapted works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Edvard Grieg.
Concert pianists generally avoid recording Bach in the pure form, possibly for fear of being described as “unauthentic” or too romantic. Sham embraces the baroque spirit, and his arresting and vividly captured Toccata in C minor would keep the purists happy.
