Reviews (9)

Gabriela the Great!
I am so glad that someone recently "found" Gabriela and her work is getting published! This is some of the best piano solo I have ever heard.After hearing a spot on National Public Radio I bought the CD, and am delighted.

Absolutely beautiful
Gabriela Montero can do no wrong. She is a gifted pianist who intuitively interprets challenging piano pieces and often gives them a special twist of her own. I love her work.

Unique experience
After hearing a CD review from public radio, I decided to buy this CD. Listening this CD gave me a unique experience between classical and jazz music. This is something not to be missed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Artists    3. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    4. Collection of Dance-Based Music for Keyboard    5. Etude for Keyboard    6. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    7. Keyboard    8. Keyboard Music    9. Moment Musical for Keyboard    10. Opera    11. Orchestral & Symphonic    12. Prelude for Keyboard    13. Spanish/Portuguese 20th/21st Century Opera    14. Waltz for Keyboard   

Editorial Review

Leon Fleischer is the extraordinary pianist who lost the use of his right hand to a neurological ailment in 1964 at the height of his career. Undaunted, he took up teaching, conducting, and performing the left-hand literature so brilliantly that it was hard to believe he was using only one hand. When he returned to two-handed playing after years of medical treatments and determined, arduous rehabilitation, the public greeted him not only as a great artist but a conquering hero. This disc is his second two-handed recording (the first, Read more

Reviews (1)

A worthy successor to "Two Hands"!
Glad to note the recording's just that touch less distant and reverberant than "Two Hands" (far from dry!) that makes this sound so much like Fleisher does in concert, if closer, perhaps more ideally intimate than in real life. If anything Fleisher's playing now sounds even more technically secure again (jaw-dropping, actually, given his life"journey"), musically of course, I've become so partial to anything he's recorded at any stage in his career, I dare not say much: I can see why one critic has already referred to his interpretation of Mozart's K. 282 Sonata as "fussy" - it is indeed intricately detailed. So what? The better the stereo system one uses to listen to this, the more it becomes apparent no grace note's running against the flow - nothing wrong with seeing old warehorses in a new light, or is there? As to the Bach pieces, comparing the 'Traumatic' (!) Fantasy and Fugue to recordings by Edwin Fischer and Wilhelm Kempff (live on BBC Legends), I can only say that hearing it in another great interpretation is again improving my appreciation of what has always been one of the most fascinating, if never the easiest Bach to me to fully grasp. It's fascinating that Fleisher manages once again (as on "Two Hands") to set a mood for the whole disc (right away with Bach's "Arioso: Adagio" from the "On the Departure of a Brother" Capriccio, the whole of which he plays with genuine simplicity) and yet give each of these diverse compositions its due. The Bagatelle wrongly titled "Für Elise" receives one of its finest interpretation here (right now comparing it to Hungerford's more "daring" reading), for example. As happens to me so often with Fleisher, I'm also increasingly impressed with Stravinsky's Serenade, a piece I may so far not have taken seriously enough. In short, the riches here are once again far too many to enumerate...
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Subjects:  1. Bagatelle for Keyboard    2. Berceuse for Keyboard    3. Capriccio/Caprice for Keyboard    4. Chamber Music & Recitals    5. Classical    6. Classical Artists    7. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    8. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    9. Keyboard    10. Miscellaneous    11. Miscellaneous Music    12. Serenade for Keyboard   

Reviews (11)

Chopin: Favorite Piano Works
An excellent complilation of Chopin works which includes 3 of the pieces I am currently learning. Definitely has encouraged me to improve my piano skills and allow me to better appreciate his style of music.

Chopin: Favorite Piano Works (London 2 CD)
Beautifully done 2 CD of Chopin works.I've played it every weekend since I got it, loving every track.It's well performed and recorded, and is an excellent collection for anyone interested in Chopin or his adopted homeland of Poland.And, of course, you can't often go wrong with the London Label.

chopins Mazurkas
this is a wonderful collection of the mazurkas but Ashkenazy plays a lot of them too fast my music teacher played these with more pathos he seems like he cant get done fast enough with some of them some introductions should be slower with more feeling otherwise all the mazurkas i wanted are in this disc just wish i had gotbetter artist like Claude Arrau ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Balladefor Keyboard    2. Barcarollefor Keyboard    3. Chamber Music & Recitals    4. Classical    5. Classical Composers    6. Classical Music    7. Etude for Keyboard    8. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    9. Keyboard    10. Mazurka for Keyboard    11. Nocturne for Keyboard    12. Polonaise for Keyboard    13. Prelude for Keyboard    14. Scherzo for Keyboard    15. Waltz for Keyboard   

Reviews (7)

Legend!
This is the greatest compilation of recordings ever made by the legendary pianist Van Cliburn. Although I am a cellist, I wear this cd out on a regular basis both at the office and home. I actually have an extra copy to play at the office. All of these recordings are superb in sound quality, performance and incredibly inspiring. The Schumann, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Liszt pieces are stellar and my personal favorites. I only wish there were dvd's with Cliburn's performances so those of us too young to have seen him in a live performance. CD is a must-have for any classical music lover's collection.

Probably the Best Piano CD ever!
If you like Piano music, this is the CD for you.Van Cliburn is at home with great songs that anyone will recognize.It is a masterfully performed set of songs for anyone.

An exquisite recording...read on!....
Contains a masterful rendition of Beethoven's "Fur Elise", which happens to be one of my favorite classical pieces -- I have a smooth-jazz-pop-dance version of this tune on my own album, "Classy Cool: Classical Favorites, Made Cool" (Google keyword "Motionizer" to find it) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bagatelle for Keyboard    2. Chamber Music & Recitals    3. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    4. Classical    5. Classical Artists    6. Classical Music    7. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    8. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    9. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    10. Intermezzo for Keyboard    11. Keyboard    12. Keyboard Work Entitled "Piece" or "Stück"    13. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    14. Moment Musical for Keyboard    15. Music for Four Hands at One Keyboard    16. Nocturne for Keyboard    17. Prelude for Keyboard    18. Waltz for Keyboard   

Reviews (7)

Fine picture of prodigality
Helene Grimaud is one of a number of very fine French pianists to emerge recently, and she has been quite productive so far in her short career.Her recent CDs have been critized for a lack of depth, but she has a certain powerful quality to her which can be quite engaging, and this is already evident in this, her debut recording.This disc was recorded at the age of 17, shortly after she won the First Prize at the conservatory of Aix-en-Provence.In spite of her youth, this is already playing of a high level, displaying an unusual level of understanding and maturity for one so young.It is not perfect, though.
Superb
First of all, Grimaud was only 16(!) when she recorded this, not 18 as was stated elsewhere.Taking that into account, makes the playing heard on this disc all the more imrpessive.The denon sound is flawless, and you can hear every note played cleanly and without any fear:very stunning technique.My favorite is the Chopain balalde on this disc, played extraordinarly well by Grimaud:passionate and fiery.I;m not realy a fan of the schumann, so I can't say much for that.the lizt is really diabolical, and isn't my fabvorite music to listen to, but Grimaud's performance of it seems to be a force to reckon with.Remember:she was only 16 when she recorded this, but she plays like a master on this disc.

Very good performance!
Miss Grimaud played the three pieces here very well, especially the Chopin. I like her early recordings at Denon when she was young and full of energy. This label seems to have given up its classical department and therefore Miss Grimaud's early discs are worth collecting. Congratulation to her having joined a bigger label recently. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Balladefor Keyboard    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists    4. Classical Music    5. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    6. Keyboard    7. Romantic Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    8. Suite/Partita for Keyboard   

Editorial Review

Claudio Arrau considered the Read more

Reviews (32)

Returning the "night" to the night piece
Arrau's playing of the Chopin nocturnes emphasizes the extent to which these wonderfully well-crafted works belong to the realm of the night in all its Romantic mystery and, especially, longing (what an odd-seeming word for the 21st century!). Despite what some have claimed, his exquisite rubato is always musically justified and recalls Chopin's pupil Mikuli's comment that "Chopin's rubato possessed an unshakeable emotional logic.It always justified itself by a strengthening or weakening melodic line, by exaggeration or affectation." Always observing a fine cantilena, Arrau repeatedly works wonders in these marvellous pieces, making each into its own unique little self-contained variegated musical universe. In doing so, he fully realizes Liszt's apt depiction of Chopin as "a divine aristocrat, a feminine archangel with prismatic wings!"

Don't know what to make out of it
I've always had mixed feelings about Arrau's playing. While at times it can be indescribably beautiful and revealing, which is often the case with his sublime, if controversial, interpretations of Liszt, Arrau nonetheless seems to lack the necessary technique (I don't think that's the case) or the proper understanding to play certain works. Even though his uncanny ability to grasp the spirit of each composer whose music he plays is widely stressed, I think he's not that respectful of Chopin's music on this record - he does turn it into something else. To be sure, Chopin's works are obviously open to various interpretations and it would be risky to finger such or such pianist as having reached the 'true', 'real' Chopin - no one knows exactly what Chopin sounded like and the best we can do here is guessing - but this openness can't be understood as meaning that anything goes, that one interpretation is as good as the other, that there are no bounds or limits to interpretation. Here I think Arrau overasserts himself at the expense of what we know about Chopin's musical identity, as it were, though we can surely be proven wrong in the future. Who knows?

Undisciplined Sentimentality
Claudio Arrau takes vast artistic licence here.He is not playing what Chopin wrote, but an abstraction all his own.I know this to be true as I have studied and mastered all of Chopin's nocturnes.Chopin required his pupils to play accurately and in strict time, only adding rubato as was fitting.He despised arbitrary rubatos taken to the extreme, or dragging.Arrau does plenty of dragging. All of the runs are loose, unpolished, metrically uneven,
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Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Composers    3. Classical Music    4. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    5. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    6. Impromptu for Keyboard    7. Keyboard    8. Nocturne for Keyboard   

Reviews (3)

VALUE FOR MONEY
Dame Moura is my favourite pianist. Her great style and sublety of expression comes out in all her recordings. this CD is the best value for money ever!!

Good bang for the buck.
I was killing some time in the store the other day and was in the mood for a cheap CD for the car for the ride home. I ran across this and saw a few recognizable titles so for about $5 I figured I'd take a chance. I'm fairly impressed, I wasn't crazy about some of her dynamics in Un Sospiro plus her little added frill in there but still enjoyed it...I'd learned that piece myself years back, still can't play it and probably never will! Another piece I've known for years is the infamous Rachmaninov Prelude in C#m. Again, I wasn't crazy about some of the dynamics of her style but she still nails it without a hitch. Then I got to some other interesting pieces, I love the Debussy Golliwog's Cakewalk...really sticks in your head. Sort of a classisized (?) ragtime and it's cool enough that I'm going to dig through my music and see if I don't have it somewhere. I thought the Chopin Etude in C#m was absolutely fabulous, she just cooks through it from beginning to end. I probably have the music for that too...I'm not even going to attempt it! ;-) In fact, I liked all the Chopin she plays here, it seems she had a real flair for his music. Without going on forever here I'll just say that there are several tracks I listen to extensively on here and I'm fairly impressed. For a lousy $5 how can you go wrong? Just buy the thing! I'd never heard of her before so I just did a little 'net searching and I'm saddened to find that she just passed away about 8 months ago at age 88, truly a loss to the classical music world. In any case, even at twice the price I doubt anyone would be disappointed with this CD.

Really good price.
This is a great CD and you can't beat the price.These piano compositions are great for restful backgroud music after a hard day.I want to get a second one for when this one wears out. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bagatelle for Keyboard    2. Chamber Music & Recitals    3. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    4. Classical    5. Classical Artists    6. Classical Music    7. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    8. Etude for Keyboard    9. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    10. Keyboard    11. Keyboard Music    12. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    13. Minuet for Keyboard    14. Music for Four Hands at One Keyboard    15. Prelude for Keyboard    16. Rondeau for Keyboard    17. Suite/Partita for Keyboard    18. V/a Compilations    19. Waltz for Keyboard   

Features

• Box set

Reviews (9)

A little rushed sometimes, but beautiful
To be honest, I can't really figure out how much I like Katchen's performance. It's hard to gauge because Brahms's piano music is inherently exceptional played by just about any performer.
Radiant and inspired recordings
If there is a more effervescent , idiomatic , innovative and resplendently performance of the Handel Variations , I have not heard it . Katchen emphasizes with colossal scrupulosity the wide doe and the diversity spectre of the orchestral instruments . You must marvel at the technical equipment of Katchen playing .
Simply Amazing
This recording is definitive. Brahms is known to be passionate, loud, and temperamental like Beethoven. Thus, the piano playing required would have to be as such. Katchen makes full use of the range of the piano, never subduing any bass note, but rather, amplifies it. Furthermore, you don't get the over-romanticized and muddy texture of Evgeny Kissin. It is crisp, powerful, direct, and highly artistic. Truly passionate and other-worldly. But loud passion is not the only thing here; my opinion of Brahms is that his orchestral works are his best, that is, the symphonies and concertos. Yet, his intermezzi are perhaps one of the best compositions for the piano, and Katchen plays with the most careful detail to each and every nuance and phrasing for these gentle, often tragic pieces. Definetly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Balladefor Keyboard    2. Box Sets (Audio Only)    3. Chamber Music & Recitals    4. Classical    5. Classical Composers    6. Classical Music    7. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    8. Intermezzo for Keyboard    9. Keyboard    10. Keyboard Work Entitled "Piece" or "Stück"    11. Music for Four Hands at One Keyboard    12. Rhapsody for Keyboard    13. Romantic Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    14. Romantic Variations for Keyboard    15. Scherzo for Keyboard    16. Variations for Keyboard   

Editorial Review

These performances mount the only serious competition as acomplete set to the Leon Fleisher/George Szell versions on Sony Classical. EmilGilels was an extraordinary virtuoso who decided to place his technical wizardryin the service of the most disciplined and demanding classical masterpieces. Nopiano concertos live up to this description more than the two by Brahms. Himselfa pianist, Brahms placed every purely musical stumbling block that he could infront of the soloist--only audiences never notice because there's no gratuitousdisplay at all. A performer who has not mastered these pieces doesn'tnecessarily miss notes; he or she just bores everyone to tears. Well, Gilels isnever dull, and neither is Eugen Jochum, whose spontaneous-sounding yetsensitive accompaniments support his soloist every step of the way. Read more

Reviews (28)

a truly great recording
To my mind neither Eugen Jochum nor Emil Gilels received the acclaim appropriate to their genius while they were living. Even now it appears they are appreciated mainly by a small clique of true classical music lovers.
FAVORITE PIANO CONCERTI
Brahms's monumental piano concertos are my very favorite piano concertos.Therefore, I own many recordings of same.Nevertheless, this recording with Gilels and Jochum is my absolute favorite!It is a recording that I've listened to, at least, once a week for many years. Gilels and Jochum truly play these "monsters of the form" wonderfully capturing Brahms's fierceness as well as his tenderness beautifully.
Heroic - and my favorite reading hands down
These readings are legendary. I searched and searched for a good set, first trying Bernstein-Zimerman (horrid recording quaity) then trying some older recordings (Serkin/Szell, Rubinstein/Ormandy), then going to an old favorite of mine on the keyboard (Pollini/Abbado), but I was not really a fan of a) either the ensembles' un-Brahmsian (in my opinion) accompaniment or b) the soloists' interpretations or execution. However, these recordings, when I first bought them in the old DG Galleria release, were a revelation. Gilels' playing can best be described as monumental, and Jochum's direction is Brahmsian to the core. The result is a rarity in that both concertos are amongst the greatest ever readings of the works (especially for #2, where there is no one else close). And now, with the new DG Originals transfer, the sound matches the performances; gone are the whiny strings and the somewhat hollow sound from the original transfer, and in its place we have a recording that sounds almost brand new, with great clarity on the brass, piano sound, and amazing definition in the strings. If you must only have one recording of these two concertos, than this is the one to get.
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Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Composers    3. Classical Music    4. Concerto    5. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    6. Keyboard    7. Piano Concerto   

Reviews (7)

Excellent for Massage!
I'm a licensed massage therapist, and I absolutely adore using this CD during my sessions!It's a great alternative to the new age-y music styles that are so pervasive in the relaxation music scene -- my clients find this CD soothing & relaxing, and not at all "weird".This music suports a "relaxed but focused" atmosphere -- it serves as excellent white noise in the lobby area, and I even use it at home as a soothing backdrop for reading/ sewing/ paperwork/ etc.Excellent arrangements & clarity -- DON'T MISS!

MOZART FOR MEDITATION
Excellent CD. Love to have it playing in the background of my daily schedule.Soothing.Gentle.Contemplative.HIghly recommend it.

Mozart for Meditation
It is not as meditative as I would have liked. Doesn't do the job I wanted it to do. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chamber    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Classical Music    5. Classical Period Serenade/Cassation/Divertimento    6. Classical Period Symphony    7. Classical Pop    8. Concerto    9. Concerto for Two Solo Instruments    10. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    11. Flute Concerto    12. French Horn Concerto    13. Keyboard    14. Meditation    15. Mood Music    16. Piano Concerto    17. Symphonic    18. Violin Concerto   

Editorial Review

Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia should have recorded all of Mozart's piano music forfour hands, which includes several neglected masterpieces. This disc reflects their ideal partnership,two artists of great sensitivity collaborating in performances that feature constant interplay of parts,alertness to each other's work, and superb playing as individuals. The Concerto for Two Pianosripples along without a care in the world, just as it should, and the English Chamber Orchestradoesn't seem to care that nobody is conducting it. The pieces without orchestra are a bit lesssignificant (as is the Concerto for Three Pianos), but the playing is so beautiful you won't care. Read more

Reviews (5)

Great Mozart
This is a very good recording of these pieces. Lupu and Perahia take Mozart seriously and play with energy and lyrical power. The chamber orchestra fits very well into the picture. This is a safe bet for these wonderful pieces.

Mozart: Music for 2 and 3 Pianos
Wow...this is a wondeful recording, plain and simple.
Sheer piano lust!
This is one of my all time favorite piano works. I have several different versions of K365 and this seems the best combination of punch/musicality/flow. Fantasia K608 is a masterpiece on its own and probably a one of a kind interpretation since it was originally written for the organ, then re-writeen (not by Mozart) for 2 pianos, and last edited by Perahia and Lupu for its final form. Read more

Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Composers    3. Classical Music    4. Concerto    5. Concerto for Three Solo Instruments    6. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    7. Keyboard    8. Piano Concerto    9. Variations for Keyboard   

Features

• Box set
• Collector's Edition

Reviews (7)

Magical Music...
This is probably the most beautiful piece of music done by Mozart heroine Uchida! If you are looking for a complete Mozart sonata set, this is the one to choose!

Please ignore the low reviews on this set!
There are already several excellent reviews of Uchida's performance of Mozart's piano sonatas, so no need to repeat or elaborate on these well done efforts.But I must warn against putting much credence into the lowly ratings (of 1 to 2 *) - these should be stricken from the reviews listing.I bought this set when released based on having own several single discs in the past, the excellent reviews received in several of the publications already mentioned, and opinions of those I respect in the Good Music Guide forum (good-music-guide.com); if fact, there is an ongoing thread there w/ a poll, and Uchida is receiving about a third of the votes (dozen or so pianists listed) as the top cycle for these compositions.Surprisingly, Klara Wurtz's box set of these pieces on the Brilliant label (i.e. a great value) is in second in the poll - indeed, I purchased this as a 'second' set elsewhere for only $20 - just superb (5* ratings on Amazon), and will need several more hearings to see who I prefer.But, I don't believe you can go wrong w/ either of these box sets.

Weird, weird recording
I only gave this 1 star because its a required feild, I can't enter 0.
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Subjects:  1. Box Sets (Audio Only)    2. Chamber Music & Recitals    3. Classical    4. Classical Artists    5. Classical Music    6. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    7. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    8. Keyboard   

Subjects:  1. Allegro for Keyboard    2. Andante for Keyboard    3. Chamber    4. Chamber Music & Recitals    5. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    6. Classical    7. Classical Artists    8. Classical Period Music for Voice and Keyboard    9. Classical Period Variations for Keyboard    10. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    11. Keyboard    12. Keyboard Work Entitled "Piece" or "Stück"    13. Minuet for Keyboard    14. Music for Four Hands at One Keyboard    15. Music for Glass Harmonica    16. Rondo for Keyboard    17. Variations for Keyboard    18. Vocal   

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Tone Poem/Symphonic Poem    2. Bagatelle for Keyboard    3. Baroque Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    4. Baroque Variations for Keyboard    5. Berceuse for Keyboard    6. Cantata    7. Canzona for Keyboard    8. Chamber    9. Chamber Music & Recitals    10. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    11. Choral    12. Chorale Prelude or Chorale Treatment for Keyboard    13. Classical    14. Classical Collections-Artist Desc.    15. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    16. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    17. Collection of Preludes for Keyboard    18. Concerto    19. Contrapuntal/Improvisatory Keyboard Music    20. Etude for Keyboard   

Reviews (12)

Who cares if the music's good or not, buy it for the album cover
Why? Cause HELENE IS A HOTTIE! Anyone got her address? I need to FedEx a marriage proposal!

That poor piano
She just bashes the piano. It is actually hard to listen to me. Sometimes she plays soooo fast that you cannot hear all of the notes, while sometimes she plays so slow you lose a sense of rythm.
Wonderful and moving
This is one of my top 2 favorite CDs from Ms. Grimaud.I really wish I could hear her perform a recital of this disc.It's great, I don't know of many recordings for these works.Too bad Brendel won't record them, that would be fun to hear.Anyway, Grimaud's playing on this disc really made me take notice of Brahms' music more than ever before, so I must thank her for this.These works from Brahms are some of the most persona;/intimate masterpieces ever written for solo piano, and that intimacy comes across very well in this recording.Much better than Grimaud's Beethoven recordings. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Artists    3. Classical Music    4. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    5. Intermezzo for Keyboard    6. Keyboard    7. Keyboard Work Entitled "Piece" or "Stück"   

Reviews (2)

The first of Hewitt's monumental Bach cycle
Recorded in 1994, this is the first recording in "Canadian" pianist Angela Hewitt's traversal of J.S. Bach's major keyboard works.The program here ranges from the more simple of Bach's compositions (Two-Part Inventions) to some of the more trecherous, virtuostic masterpieces (the two fantasias).Written by Bach for his son and students around 1723, the Two-Part and Three-Part Inventions form the foundational know-how and skills of Bach's countrapuntal keyboard art.For centuries now these works have been essential for any piano student learning the "basics" of figuration, melodic line, smooth legato, clarity of two and three voices and so on.The Three-Part pieces are fairly advanced pieces possessing complex voicing and passagework. As such they are pre-requisite for learning the more complex preludes and fugues of "The Well-Tempered Clavier."Like the pieces in the WTC, both sets of Inventions show Bach as both a master educator and deft lyricist with their range of emotive qualities.There is delicacy, pensiveness, vivacity, virtuosity and sorrow expressed in these miniatures - all while building the foundational skills (like seamless legato w/o use of the pedal) necessary for performing the major piano repertoire.Pianists worldwide owe a world of gratitude for Johann Sebastian Bach for such foundational compositions.
Sophisticated, understated Bach
I have several recordings of the Inventions and Sinfonias, both on harpsichord (Gilbert, Koopman) and piano-- but this is easily the most satisfying. Less quirky than Gould's, Hewitt's performance is the furthest thing from flashy or idiosyncratic and really allows the clarity and contrapuntal elegance of Bach's keyboard writing to shine through. The result is the furthest thing from didacticism, always a risk with works that have such a central position in every pianist's early training. While eschewing every excess, Hewitt is also unafraid to take some liberaties-- hear, for example, the octave-doubling in the f-minor Sinfonia, easily a highlight of the set and of this performance in particular. Excellent fill-ups as well, the virtuosic c-minor Fantasia (though performed, as is almost always the case, without its fragmentary companion fugue) and the "Chromatic" Fantasie & Fugue. Unhesitatingly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Composers    3. Classical Music    4. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    5. Invention for Keyboard    6. Keyboard    7. Keyboard Music    8. Sinfonia for Keyboard   

Features

• Box set

Reviews (11)

Mozart-A prisoner of his own time.
If you were to clump all of the composers of the classical era together, mix them up, and listen to them willy-nilly in a blind hearing test, you'll never be able to tell the difference between them... until you hear Mozart. Mozart's era was not rich in harmony. To me, Haydn wrote the same symphony over and over. Stamitz and Gossec... love 'em, but they were also prisoners of this classical harmony. But Mozart was able to put his fingerprint on all of his music. You can pick his music out blindly with ease because it is unmistakingly Mozart. That's why we have a mostly Mozart festival and not a mostly Kraus (who?) festival.
Good music and good value
Bought this for my son who is learning to play piano. Lots of good music, not too expensive.

Five and a half hours of joy for not much bucks
This is just about the best money I've ever spent on music. I love Eschenbach's interpretations: tenderness and emotional intimacy in spades---and dazzling effects without self-consciousness or "athletic" display of technique. I would say that he "lets Mozart be Mozart," except that these interpretations have so much personality that Eschenbach's own life-energy must be coming through. I just think that his own personality complements Mozart's perfectly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Box Sets (Audio Only)    2. Chamber    3. Chamber Music & Recitals    4. Classical    5. Classical Composers    6. Classical Music    7. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    8. Duo for Two String Instruments    9. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    10. Keyboard   

Reviews (15)

Beautiful!
This is a beautifully played collection of Chopin's work. It was a birthday gift,
Well worth the money.Wonderful!Wonderful!
I am not a classical music expert but I am an expert when it comes to a great product.I have listened to the works of rubenstein and Horowitz, but nothing is comparable to this great collection of polands favorite son.The nocturnes are dreamy and romantic.The other pieces though not as mesmerizing have plenty of depth and feeling.This is a collection that you will listen to over and over again.Although this music is great anytime, it's especially meaningful during a light rainfall.Go ahead and make this investment.It's only $100.00.For the next 100 days save a dollar and you will have it paid for.I promise you won't be sorry.Excellent!Excellent!

Best investment to make
In my opinion, this is the apex of classical music. You will not find a better CD for Chopin or any piano recordings. There may be plenty of comparable CDs, but nothing can claim to surpass this.
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Subjects:  1. Allegro for Keyboard    2. Balladefor Keyboard    3. Barcarollefor Keyboard    4. Berceuse for Keyboard    5. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    6. Classical    7. Classical Composers    8. Classical Music    9. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    10. Collection of Dance-Based Music for Keyboard    11. Collection of Etudes, Studies, or Exercises for Keyboard    12. Collection of Preludes for Keyboard    13. Contradance for Keyboard    14. Ecosse/Ecossaise for Keyboard    15. Etude for Keyboard    16. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    17. Fugue for Keyboard    18. Galop for Keyboard    19. Impromptu for Keyboard    20. Individual Dance for Keyboard   

Features

• Extra tracks
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (2)

The Full Keyboard - More Mozart and Schubert!
The credentials of both of the two soloists here - Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu - are impeccable as individual interpreters of the works of both Mozart and Schubert and so it should come as no surprise that as they sit at the same keyboard the result is nothing less than satisfying.
Highly rated
A superb collaboration of two great pianists recently remastered for better sound quality.Masterful music but perhaps a divergent coupling.This performance was given high marks by major reviewers (Gramophone).See original CD issue for more reviews on Amazon. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chamber Music & Recitals    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists    4. Classical Music    5. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    6. Keyboard    7. Music for Four Hands at One Keyboard    8. Music for Two Keyboards    9. Variations for Keyboard   

Editorial Review

This is a dazzling recital, taped live at Carnegie Hall in November 2003--complete with applause. Lang Lang's virtuosity is almost frightening: the Liszt "Reminiscenses du Don Juan" is a showpiece when played "normally." Here, Lang plays it to its extremes, with soft passages amazingly soft and subtly delineated and the bigger moments heaven-thundering. And it is played so fast, and so accurately (a cascade of notes in mid-"La ci darem la mano" sounds like a waterfall), that it leaves the listener breathless--surely just what Liszt wanted. In a Haydn sonata, Lang's classical line is impeccable, but he's not afraid to shine through the music and embellish occasionally. The Schumann "Traumerei" is suitably dreamy and hushed; Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasy, a real crowd-pleaser, is just that--beautifully played, familiar yet fresh sounding. And an encore, with Lang's father playing a two-string fiddle called the erhu, is a fascinating look into Eastern music. There's more (this is a 2-CD set), and it's stunning--and highly recommended for all admirers of great piano playing.Read more

Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Artists    3. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    4. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    5. Keyboard    6. Keyboard Music    7. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    8. Miscellaneous    9. Miscellaneous Music    10. Nocturne for Keyboard    11. Orchestral & Symphonic    12. Romantic Variations for Keyboard    13. Transcription for Keyboard