No comments about Liszt: Famous Piano Works.

No comments about J. S. Bach: Favourite Piano Works.

No comments about Christmas from Covent Garden.

5 comments about Carnegie Hall Debut Concert.

1. Kissin's playing is often emotionally flat, occasionally forced, but this performance is lofty and inspired. The Symphonic Etudes are sublime, and his rendering of Prokofiev is the finest I've ever heard. I never resonated with Prokofiev before, but this performance taught me how to listen to him. The entire recording captures the wonder of what was obviously an unforgettable performance, and I never tire of listening to it.



2. I have a great deal of affection for this two cd set. I was one of the fortunate few who was in attendance that stunning night at Carnegie Hall in September of 1990. We had all heard about the brilliant young talent from Russia, being duly impressed by his advance notices and the recordings we had already heard. None of the advance word, however, could prepare one for the performance Kissin gave that evening. His technique held the audience breathless throughout the entire program, informing one & all that an astounding new performer was making his claim for the top spot among the world's finest pianists. The performances of Schumann, Liszt, Chopin and Prokofiev are grand. This two disc set from BMG Classics' RCA Victor Red Seal is a wonderful reminder of what a stellar night September 30, 1990 really was. One of the great benefits of the digital era is the opportunity to capture such a historic moment in time for musical posterity. This set will always be looked to as evidence of when the legacy of Evgeny Kissin was properly born in America.



3. I agree with other reviewers that this is one of the truly exceptional live recordings - reminiscent of Horowitz at Carnegie Hall so many years ago (except that Kissin does not miss a note!). His technical skill and command of the piano are amazing - just listed to Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody or the Transdendental Etude. I saw Kissin in Berlin when he made his West European debut in '87 and still vividly remember that performance. This recording, only a few years later, has the same remarkable quality. And to think the guy was so young when he performed this recording!



4. What can one say about a recital like this one? You loose words when you front such a stunnig performance in every way. I just wonder how many pianists smashed their instuments in anger and restlessness after having heard that teenager whoop of some of the most demanding works of the piano repertory in such a flawless way. The teqnical bravura is unbelivable and the deep insight and understanding of the works performed shines throughout. I once saw Kissin live myself and my advice to you is to do it also (if that situation pops up). You'll be far richer.



5. This recording signaled Kissin's 'arrival'. There is so much to priase here, but one must remember that this is the playing of a teenager at his debut in the world's premier concert hall; imperfections are to be expected. Almost shocking, then, is the near-perfection of Kissin's playing, and not merely in getting round the notes, but in his complete command of every piece here.

   While the Prokoviev is hair-raising, the real 'genius' piece here is the Liszt Spanish Rhapsody, by far the best I've encountered. Such power, control, singing line, humor, everything one might ask for in big Liszt playing. Anyone doubting Kissin's greatness need only listen to this. No matter how you slice it, one of the great debut recordings, in the same league as Argerich's (an exalted league to be sure).

2 comments about 25 Piano Favorites.

1. I have ordered these items (two music CD's) a month ago. I have not received the items yet (10-12-08). Not the service I expected.



2. While I'm not a serious classical music aficionado, I do enjoy classical piano and violin concerts. This CD gets a lot of use at my house and is an important part of my quiet time most days of the week. I am familiar with most of the music pieces which makes it even nicer. If you'd like to start or add to your cd collection, "25 Piano Favorites" is a great choice especially for the price.

2 comments about Music from the Royal Court.

1. Over the years from time to time I bought some CDs with baroque brass ensemble music, always hoping it would be so fascinating as what I knew from my fathers PJBE vynil records. What I bought so far all are nice but also somewhat boring after short time. Unfortunately I never bought something from the PJBE until now, and this is the first time that a complete CD (and in this case even two of them) of baroque music for brass is surprising and fascinating me with every 'song', showing facetes and diversity I always missed on my other records. Finally nothing is like the original PJ!



2. Après nous avoir fait plaisir avec le Greatest Hits, voici un double CD qui nous enchante avec les principales pièces de la Renaissance du sublime Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Il y a longtemps que nous attendions la mise en CD de ces oeuvres, et nous voila comblé. Pour plusieurs pièces, c'est Elgar Howarth qui les a arrangé. Un grand moment de musique pour cuivres avec de grands compositeurs, délicieusement arrangées.
   Pour éléver encore plus ces 2 cds, saluons encore la présence du London Festival Brass Ensemble dirigé par Elgar Howarth (dont la plus part des membres sont du PJBE), alors quoi de plus normal d'avoir inclu leur préstation.

1 comments about Itzhak Perlman: Violin Encores.

1. Great CD. It's now the fav CD on my stereo. We like the second CD better though.

5 comments about Glenn Gould Edition: Berg, Krenek, Webern, Debussy & Ravel.

1. 
   This is certainly one of the best recordings from GG Edition. Gould is completely at home in this sort of music, and listener can sense the immediacy of his playing, there is no barrier between the music in his mind and the sound coming out of the piano. The brilliant performance of Ravel's La Valse concludes the recital.



2. As an artist who sometimes chooses music while in the studio working I can't find another CD which I enjoy so much. There is such artistry coming from Glenn Gould the music is like being on another plane. Most enjoyable to me are the silences he acheives while holding the entire work together as a totality. The pieces are not typical western music, even the Ravel and Debussy are played like you have never heard them before except small glimpses of melodic line. Great interpretation.Then there is YouTube where you can actually watch him play, what a hoot.



3. The idea of Gould as a chamber-music performer had always seemed to me as unlikely as the idea of Michelangeli in that role, yet here he is in a Debussy rhapsody with clarinet and in the Webern concerto for 9 instruments. It is a serious mistake to type-cast Gould, I am finding increasingly. As a player of Debussy he won me over right from his first couple of bars, the style somewhat reminiscent of Gieseking, not at all like Michelangeli and far more sympathetic than Ashkenazy. In the Webern he is the absolute model of an ensemble-player too, perfectly in balance with his collaborators.
   
   I hope that the names of the composers represented here do not frighten off too many nervous music-lovers. In fact the three biggest names of the second Viennese school, Schoenberg Berg and Webern, are three very distinct musical personalities. Webern is the biggest problem for me, and I believe for many. There are various ways one might approach him. Gould himself heard him as some kind of successor to Mahler, and I think I can just about follow that, at least in the variations. There is a pretty obvious jazz element too, heard here in the last movement of the concerto. This may indeed be cerebral music, more intended for reading than for hearing, as Gould also suggests. I suppose that particular concept makes at least a little more sense than painting intended to be listened to, but in fact Webern works best for me as background music, taken in impressionistically rather than in any kind of intellectual way. One saving grace is that he is at least brief - the variations take not quite 5 minutes and the concerto not quite 6. As a bonus we are given a certain amount of Gould's famous vocal obbligato in a context where a little extra melody does not come amiss. Berg's sonata is another matter entirely, the friendly face of atonalism like most of its composer's work. I had already owned Gould's performance via the Great Pianists of the 20th Century series, and by now it is something of an old friend, with a nostalgic end-of-era feel to it more than any sense of the vanguard of some revolution, and played with real affection and sensitivity. The third sonata by Krenek (1900-1991) is new to me. It does not put me off in the least despite a more vigorous and aggressive idiom than Berg's. It is not, to my ears at least, all that revolutionary or uncompromising, and ought to have something to say to anyone who can even cope with Stravinsky or Prokofiev, hardly avant-garde these days. The last movement in particular, an adagio, is played with real spirituality, the short scherzo is given with bracing clarity and bite, and it hardly needs saying that the entire work benefits from such superlative piano-playing.
   
   I would like to have been told more, indeed told anything, about the other performers. The clarinettist is an accomplished virtuoso if somewhat unseductive tone-wise. There is no clue at all either as to who the other 8 performers were in this 1977 broadcast of the Webern concerto. In fact these are all broadcast performances except for the Berg and Krenek sonatas, both of which were studio-recorded in New York over the same two days in 1958. The last item on this disc is Gould's piano transcription of La Valse - it appears he was not too thrilled by Ravel's own attempt at that. This is simply celestial. For the one and only time in my life, I think, I would have mistaken the player for Michelangeli if this had been played to me without attribution. Superlatives fail me - the melody properly masked amid the swirling, whirling accompaniment, the combination of spontaneity with cunning in the rhythm, above all the sublime, sumptuous tone-quality, so rich that - incredibly - I did not miss Ravel's wonderful scoring.
   
   The recorded quality is perfectly good without being exactly amazing. Look rather to the piano-playing for amazement here. The total playing-time of the disc is only just over an hour, but at least it includes the total oeuvre of Webern for the instrument.



4. Gould's distaste for what I loosely call "smooth" music is not apparent in his transcription of "La Valse." It is an astounding tour de force that after the Berg and Webern pieces, seems like a scoop of ice cream on a simmering day in August. Who knew that Gould could infuse this work with such passion? The Ravel alone is worth five stars. For those somewhat atypical listeners who actually like Berg and Webern, those poets of dissonance, this disc rivals his interpretations of Schoenberg, another discordant chap.



5. For those of you who know Glenn Gould's music by his Bach recordings, you are in for a shock on this CD. This music, by 20th Century composers, has more in common with avant-garde jazz pianists like Cecil Taylor and Marilyn Crispell than old J.S. The music is very complex, often discordant and abrasive, and even atonal. That is not to say it does not have its own moments of splendor. Passages, in the Krenek and Webern particularly, are beautiful, but beautiful in the way that a sunbeam breaks through storm clouds, not beautiful as in a field of daisies. However, all of the music here is not so harsh, and in fact the Debussy and Ravel are pretty straightforward. After the first three pieces, they may even sound as refreshing as Bach to some listeners. In all, a very good recording as long as you know what to expect.

2 comments about Lily Pons-Opera Arias.

1. Lily Pons succeeded Amelita Galli-Curci as the reigning coloratura soprano at the Met. While this CD has a scratchy sound, that's par for the course for recordings from 1928-1939 (the time frame of Pons' career covered by this CD). This work shows Pons' technique very nicely. It is a different style of singing from Sutherland on to Dessay, whose work I prefer, but Pons' approach has its own virtues.
   
   Some illustrative cuts include the following, about which I'll briefly comment.
   
   From "The Magic Flute," Pons sings "Ach ich fuhls" (in French). She shows the listener a light and agile voice. She floats a sweet sounding high note and exhibits a very smooth line in her singing. Rossini's "Una voce poco fa" is characterized by sweet singing and, again, an agile voice. The florid singing is fine, with well done appoggiaturas. She hits the high notes well, although the final one does sound a bit strained.
   
   Then there is the "Mad Scene" from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Ardon gl'incensi" and "Spargi d'amaro pianto." The former is smoothly sung and melodic. There is some trill technique (although, overall, Pons does not seem to have a really strong trill, based on her singing on this CD). In "Spargi d'amaro pianto," we hear, again, a smooth, light, and agile voice. The first time through is well sung with standard ornamentation. The repeat features more florid singing, but not at the level of ornamentation of Sills or Sutherland (tastes in singing have probably changed over time). There is an unpleasant sound in the middle of the repeat. She hits the high notes well (for the most part).
   
   Delibes' "Lakme" features the well known "Bell Song." She takes this at a fast pace (she seems to favor faster tempos than what we hear today in a number of the cuts on this CD, displaying the remarkable agility of her voice).
   
   A delightful and enjoyable final cut is her version of Strauss' "Blue Danube." This is well sung, with some nice ornamentation. This is a lot of fun. There are a couple high notes well hit at the end of this waltz.
   
   All in all, a good representation of the work of Lily Pons. It is obvious that coloratura technique was different in the early part of the century (and see CDs of Galli-Curci) than since the era of Sutherland and Sills to Dessay and Jo. Comparing the earlier techniques with those of the recent past and today is a good learning experience.



2. Lily Pons is a French lyric-coloratura soprano who rose to prominence at the time when radio broadcasts came into the mainstream, being one of the first opera singers to capitalize on this new medium to forward her career. She did not have a big voice, but a uniquely distinctive one and all but charmed audiences with her very attractive figure and exotic facial features, unique among a profession of frequently plump women.
   
   Bel Canto opera was not in great fashion during her time as it is now. Operas on complex subjects based on the precedent of Wagner had come to almost outshadow what was considered fanciful and even silly, repetitive singing of the Bel Canto era. Wagnerian operas showcased the richer voices of the lyric and dramatic soprano, which were thought superior to the canary-like, flexible voices necessary for fast,high, and ornamented passages of Bel Canto opera.
   
   Maria Callas would however later forever change that notion in the 1950's. With her darker tone and penetrating acting ability, she demonstrated that Bel Canto could indeed be moving and powerful. Callas would also forever dispel the notion that the music of Donizetti, for example, was fanciful, portraying through voice and acting all levels of Lucia's psychological collapse in his Lucia di Lammermoor. Callas virtually created the vocal range what would become known as the "dramatic coloratura," later picked up by more recent greats such as Joan Sutherland and Edita Gruberova.
   
   It is almost unthinkable to hear a coloratura sing the Mad Scene nowadays without comparing her to Callas or pointing out how the contemporary singer might have been influenced by her standard. Yet, Lily Pons was the reigning diva before Callas before this example was ever set. It can be argued that Pons represented the culmination of a long tradition of bel canto coloraturas starting from the age of when the operas were actually composed in the early 1800's. In her interpretation Pons built upon a century long tradition and basically perfected it. Listening to Pons sing is the closest current listeners can get to how the Bel Canto composers originally intended their arias to be sung.
   
   Lily Pons will amaze you with her very, very secure high notes that she can sing at all volumes, not just either fortissimo or piannisimo. She has a finely developed vocal technique and can glide through two+ octave runs with perfect facility. Her vibrato is unlike that which is taught to more recent lyric coloraturas such as Beverly Sills and Natalie Dessay. Pons has a much faster one, and it gives just the right richness to her tone while not sounding too wobbly. Her voice is indeed high, but it is well supported and not shrill. There is something quite enchanting about her voice.
   
   This recording was compiled from perfomances from the 20's and 30's, so stratchiness is quite loud. However, it does not detract too much from enjoying her voice. Additionally, the CD is a quite nice compilation with all the great arias she was known for. Some of the best tracks include "Una voce poco fa" from the Barber of Seville, the Mad Scene, all the passages from Rigoletto, and most notably the Bell Song from Lakme. (Some critics consider Pons's interpretation of Lakme considering both voice and acting on stage to be the absolute greatest of all time.) Avoid the Odeon Recordings CD since those arias were recorded while Pons was still relatively unexperienced and before she made it big. This recording is more than enough to enjoy all her splendor.

1 comments about Hans van Manen: Nederlands Dans Theater, HET Nationale Ballet [DVD Video].

1. These six wonderful works offer us a deeper experience of the work of Hans van Manen in addition to Concertante on another dvd. Music by Britten, Part, Bach, Scarlatti and even listenable Cage provide the inspiration for the movements. The dancers are amazing and the choreography top drawer world class fantastic. Two discs of terrific works. Solo, for 3 male dancers done to Bach's Partita for solo violin is my favorite, truly dazzling, athletic, and so right with the music. Deja Vu for male and female sparkles. There's more. Try it.