Editorial Review

Taking as her base 12 works of Bach, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero proceeds to play variations on each. The works are familiar and most Classical fans will recognize their melodies instantly. But Montero, who is closer to a jazz improvisationalist than a classical pianist merely embellishing, alters rhythm as well as melody, and the results are invariably both surprising and delightful. The Presto from the Italian Concerto is positively wacky, but "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" sticks to the piece's mood with truth and originality. Montero plays "beyond" Bach with good taste and respect, and always with intense musicality. The results may seem improvised, but I doubt they are---they seem to well worked through---but that is more of a plus than a minus. You'll revel in hearing old favorites "interpreted" and find some unexpected pleasures here. Read more

Reviews (4)

True improvisations -- a wonder!
I struggle for the words to express how thrilled I am. Ms Montero is resurrecting the art of spontaneous improvisation in the field of classical music. Robert Levine, the Amazon site reviewer, hopefully has listened to the NPR interviews or the podcast and is now aware that Ms Montero did indeed improvise these on the spot. The only preparation lies in the fact that Gabriela Montero has been playing in this spontaneous way since before she was 3 years old! She was given a toy piano when she was 7 months and soon started picking out the songs her mother sang her to sleep with. Her talent today truly is astonishing! Give her a tune or theme never heard before, and she magically weaves a new piece out of it. We have read of Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Gershwin all doing this -- it's a wonder and a fresh delight to hear how marvellously she does it for us. Kudos!

Very gifted pianist playing beautiful music
I have her CDs playing in my car and in my home.Her improvisation skills are top notch.Beyond Bach is one of my favorite pieces in this collection.Her other pieces are excellent as well.You can also find her interview on NPR.

Bach, Mozart and Beethoven Would Be Delighted...
It's an often neglected fact that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were master improvisers, and I often wonder how they would feel about 'classical music' having become so exclusively addicted to reproducing the notes on the page. It seems that the latter of the three important legs of a musician's stool -- technique, interpretation, and improvisation -- has been forgotten in lieu of endless variation on the former two legs.
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Subjects:  1. Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra    2. Cantata    3. Choral    4. Classical    5. Classical Artists    6. Concerto    7. Concerto Grosso    8. Contrapuntal/Improvisatory Keyboard Music    9. Invention for Keyboard    10. Keyboard    11. Keyboard Concerto    12. Keyboard Music    13. Miscellaneous    14. Miscellaneous Music    15. Orchestral    16. Orchestral & Symphonic    17. Toccata for Keyboard    18. Violin Concerto   

Editorial Review

Classical music people, critics in particular, have a reputation for being grumpy, and this disc illustrates why. It's called Read more

Subjects:  1. Barcarollefor Keyboard    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists    4. Classical Music    5. Keyboard    6. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    7. Rhapsody for Keyboard    8. Romantic Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    9. Scherzo for Keyboard    10. Toccata for Keyboard   

Reviews (4)

The Definitive Kreislerianna
Everything on this disc is what you'd expect from one of the greatest pianists of all time: superb. But the treasure is the Kreislerianna, of which this is the definitive recording. I've searched in vain for a more recent, sonically better version. There is, for example, a decent recording of the piece by Perahia, a mediocre one by Brendel, and an awful one by Argerich (arghhh!), but nothing matches this. Radu Lupu's comes the closest, but it lacks the definition and vision of Horowitz's, especially in the opening section. People sometimes berate Horowitz as too much a technician, much as they did Gould. But how they can say that in the face of a deeply felt interpretation such as this is beyond me. I first heard this recording when I was about 16 (luckily, since this isn't your average bedtime classical sampler, and it needs the right interpreter) and have loved it ever since. The Kreislerianna, incidentally, is also among Schumann's most lovely works, melodic, and complex.

Horowitz was good...only.
Horowitz in my opinion epitomized the typical virtuoso pianist expected by the unknowledged majority. Horowitz was great with some of the most difficult pieces of music. His technique was grand, but his musicality lacked purity and warmth. A great man once said that it is ok to drop your voice at the end of a sentece, but too loose it completely was simply pushing the boundries. Horowitz is not my choice for playing the Kinderzenen, but the rest of the program was his to conquer.

Horowitz plays two early Schumann piano works
This album has Vladimir Horowitz performing two piano pieces written by the young Robert Schumann during the period when he was courting Clara Weick, the concert pianist who would become his wife."Kinderszenen" ("Scenes of Childhood") for Piano, Op. 15 (1838) consists of thirteen piano pieces of which No. 7, "Traumerei" ("Dreaming") is clearly the most popular.These pieces are among the most charming and accessible of all of Schumann's work (and they are about children, rather than for children, unlike his "Album f�r die Jugend" ["Album for the Young"])."Kreisleriana" for Piano, Op. 16 (1838) consists of eight untitled piano fantasies, which were inspired by the character of Johannes Kreisler in a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, the influential early Romantic writer.Unlike the "Kinderszenen," which are rather peaceful and happy melodies, "Kreisleriana" is much darker and arguably the composer's most atypical work.Certainly an interesting mix to put together on one album, but they were composed sequentially.Note: Schumann dedicated "Kreisleriana" to Chopin, who dismissed Schumann's work as being too bizarre and disorganized.Not to be outdone, Chopin dedicated his Ballade in F Major to Schumann.Sometimes you just have to separate these Romantic composers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Composers    3. Classical Music    4. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    5. Individual Dance for Keyboard    6. Keyboard    7. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    8. Toccata for Keyboard   

Features

• Enhanced
• Live

Reviews (8)

A historical legacy!
Despite I am not a Horowitz admirer, it 's worthy to underline and emphasize the colossal pianism and thunderous fingering around every one of its different performances.
Masterpieces played by the great Horowitz
This Carnegie Hall return recital is one of the greatest recordings by Horowitz. With a huge audience, Horowitz did not disappoint. He plays the Bach/Busoni as only he can play; it is eternally beautiful. Schumann has some mistakes, but those mistakes make the playing even more fascinating. The Scriabin is also excellent.
Insert Here Any Superlative You Can Think Of
For those of you who don't enjoy reading long drawn-out reviews: This is the best CD set I could possibly imagine buying before I bought it. After I bought it, I wept twice in the first listening of just the second disc. The Chopin recordings on this disc are simply legendary, definitive, and indescribably beautiful.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    2. Balladefor Keyboard    3. Chamber Music & Recitals    4. Classical    5. Classical Artists    6. Classical Music    7. Etude for Keyboard    8. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    9. Keyboard    10. Keyboard Music    11. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    12. Mazurka for Keyboard    13. Music for Organ    14. Suite/Partita for Keyboard    15. Toccata for Keyboard   

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music    2. Baroque Incidental Music for Orchestra and Voices (or Sem    3. Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra    4. Cantata    5. Chamber    6. Choral    7. Classical    8. Classical Artists    9. Classical Music    10. Concerto    11. Keyboard    12. Keyboard Music    13. Miscellaneous    14. Miscellaneous Music    15. Orchestral    16. Romantic Incidental Music for Orchestra    17. Romantic Music for Voice and Keyboard    18. Symphonic    19. Symphony    20. Te Deum   

Editorial Review

A lot of pianophiles have been waiting for the reissue of this 1980 LP, Argerich's only Bach recording. She played the same Partita at her Carnegie Hall recital in the Spring of 2000, suggesting that she just doesn't play much Bach. These performances have the pianist's typical intensity of approach. Her fingers do the talking, with some dazzling clear articulation reminiscent of Glenn Gould on a good day, and she seldom blurs any of the textures. She also has a very good feeling for Bach's dance rhythms; the closing Gigue of the Partita makes you want to jump up and put on your dancing shoes. Argerich uses an unusually wide dynamic range for Bach, and some of the dreamy slow movements won't be to the taste of all listeners. Nobody, though, will be able to ignore these performances; while they are playing, they seem like the only way to do it. The 1980 sound is still fine, and although the disc is LP length (50 minutes), the price is right. Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (17)

Dramatic infusion
Given Martha Argerich's career, you would not expect Bach to be at the forefront - and it isn't - but when she put her mind to the Baroque master in this recording, the result was brilliant.Right from the opening first few bars of the C-minor Toccata, Ms. Argerich sets a tone of great excitement and anticipation of what is to come - and by the time she is into the great fugue, you realize you a hearing an exceptional approach to Bach.Her tone here is one of supreme confidence and a feeling of authority that brings to the imagination the historical images we have of Bach's daughting and larger-than-life keyboard playing.
Highest Recommendation for Bach on Piano
This recording would make an interesting blind listening test, given the pianist's reputation for passion. Those who assume Martha's Bach will be spoiled by romantic excess are in for a big surprise. This CD is as good as any Bach on piano I've ever heard, and rivals Savall's Art of Fugue as an essential Bach recording.
Superb Bach!
Bach keyboard recordings tend to be of two kinds: recitals or complete sets, e.g. the complete Partitas, the complete Well Tempered Clavier etc.
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Subjects:  1. Chamber Music & Recitals    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Classical Music    5. Keyboard    6. Prelude and Fugue for Keyboard    7. Suite/Partita for Keyboard    8. Toccata for Keyboard   

Subjects:  1. Baroque Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists    4. Concerto    5. Intermezzo for Keyboard    6. Keyboard    7. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    8. Nocturne for Keyboard    9. Orchestral & Symphonic    10. Piano Concerto    11. Prelude for Keyboard    12. Scherzo for Keyboard    13. Toccata for Keyboard   

Features

• Box set

Subjects:  1. Chamber Music & Recitals    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers   

Reviews (1)

Earthy, Vital Performances--but Short Measure
It is not at all faint praise to say this performance of the Piano Concerto reminds me very much of Alicia de Larrocha's, one of the finest recordings of the work from the stereo era--maybe the finest. Like DeLarrocha and her conductor Raphael Frubeck de Burgos, Alberto Portugheis and Khachaturian specialist Loris Tjeknavorian pace the work rather broadly, the better to infuse it with the rough-cut, pesante quality that I believe Khachaturian had in mind. In both performances, the piano's first chords are big, brash, detache--and this is pretty much the approach throughout. The broad tempi give maximum emphasis to the exotic melodic contours and coloristic effects of the concerto. Whereas the trumpet solo in the finale is sometimes glossed over, the London Symphony's fine trumpeter is the perfect partner for Portugheis's own solo work. But the high point of the concerto is clearly the slow movement, with its weird, movie-musical solo for the flexatone. This is music that sticks in the mind, even if you initially want to reject it as too easy, too populist. But after all, Khachaturian was a successful Soviet composer because he paid proper homage to the People. On the other hand, he was a successful composer of international stature because he was such a fine craftsman, such a remarkable melodist. And memorable melodies abound in this work.
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Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Concerto    5. Keyboard    6. Orchestral & Symphonic    7. Piano Concerto    8. Toccata for Keyboard   

Reviews (6)

"Best Harpsichord Recording"
I have always loved the sound of the Harpsichord and for many years hearing poorly recorded or played Harpsichord this treasure is a must have. From the fine compositions to the good sound quality this CD is definately a keeper.
Great
This CD is very very good just what I was looking for. I highly recommend this CD if you are planning on purchasing a Harpsicord CD, this one is the best.

a must-have for harpsichord lovers
I love the sound of this most unusual instrument, the harpsichord. Especially the fast intricately melodic songs. Very enjoyable. This "Greatest Hits" includes many compositions perfectly suited to this wonderful old predecessor to the piano. There's even a little funny trivia thrown in: on the song sheet is written: Q:"what did the famous conductor Sir Thomas say that the harpsichord sounds like? A: "Like two skeletons screwing on a hot tin roof":)Read more

Subjects:  1. Baroque Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    2. Baroque Variations for Keyboard    3. Chamber    4. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    5. Classical    6. Classical Collections-Artist Desc.    7. Classical Music    8. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    9. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    10. Hornpipe For Keyboard    11. Individual Dance for Keyboard    12. Keyboard    13. Keyboard Music    14. Medieval/Renaissance Virgnal Music    15. Minuet for Keyboard    16. Miscellaneous    17. Miscellaneous Music    18. Pavane for Keyboard    19. Prelude and Fugue for Keyboard    20. Renaissance Polyphonic Song   

Editorial Review

This seems to be RCA's attempt to create the perfect Horowitz sampler. It's a pretty good try. The Tchaikovsky First Concerto, considered definitive in its day, seems more of a technical than musical accomplishment today, but there's no denying the hyper-excitement generated by Horowitz and Toscanini. The Rachmaninov Third is one of Horowitz's great accomplishments, stunningly played and superbly accompanied by Reiner. The solo disc generally plays to Horowitz's strengths, with marvellous playing of such specialties as Schumann, Scriabin, Scarlatti, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Clementi. (Horowitz was the only major pianist to appreciate Clementi, bless him.) The Chopin items include an unfortunately steely-sounding Read more

Reviews (6)

Best of Horowitz
Those of us who were fortunate to SEE as well as hear pianist Vladimir Horowitz perform in concert will long remember the quiet, nervous, and rather timid man who slowly walked on the stage.When I saw him at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland in 1978, he hadn't played on the West Coast in many years.Actually, Horowitz was absent from concert halls for years, only making recordings, either for RCA Victor or Columbia.
Truly Legendary...with icing on the cake...
This cd is one of the best Horowitz compilations that exists. It is indeed Legendary. The recording of the Rach 3 here is the top, greatest reading of the piece, how Rachmaninoff himself would have approved. The Tchaikovsky with Toscanini is my favorite, even though Horowitz does not take many chances in tempo and whatnot because, afterall, he was playing with his great, fiery-tempered father-in-law. Now, on to the second disk. Despite what some people say about the Polonaise-Fantaisie, I believe it is a great reading, and Horowitz never drags the tempo like Ashkenazy often does. The Mazurka is beautiful indeed (the 1965 version is better) and the forever famous Nocturne can bother people who are used to Rubinstein's interpretation. The reading of the Nocturne is somewhat like Cortot's - different. The schumann Traumerei is beautifully done (it was toped, however, by the version in Horowitz in Moscow). The Scriabin preludes are full of color, but what really is fascinating is the Etude op.8 no.12 (not op. 18, as the cd cover says). This version is slower than Horowitz's usual tempo, and there are finger slips and mistakes. There are some "neurotic" sections, and all this is explained by the fact that Horowitz, at the time, was going through a period of uncertainty and failure, I guess you could say, because of all the medicine he was taking. It is, however, beautiful instead of powerful, and Horowitz is in control. The favorite encores Etincelles and Carmen variations are excellent, and the Rachmaninoff prelude is the most beautiful, deep, and searching reading I have ever heard. The Mephisto Waltz is a showpiece, and Horowitz plays it like it is intended to be, a little out of control in some places however.
Highs and Lows
Although the Tchaikovsky is "viscerally exciting" as one reviewer put it, it is unfortunately much too fast.While Horowitz certainly has the technical skills to pull this off, some of the grandeur of this concerto is lost along the way.It's too bad they couldn't instead have included Horowitz's incredible 1943 performance (also with Toscanini) of the concerto, which has all of the power and none of the rushing.
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Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Variations for Keyboard    2. Baroque Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    3. Capriccio/Caprice for Keyboard    4. Chamber Music & Recitals    5. Classical Artists    6. Classical Music    7. Concerto    8. Etude for Keyboard    9. Keyboard    10. Keyboard Music    11. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    12. Mazurka for Keyboard    13. Nocturne for Keyboard    14. Piano Concerto    15. Polonaise for Keyboard    16. Pop    17. Prelude for Keyboard    18. Romantic Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    19. Toccata for Keyboard    20. Waltz for Keyboard   

Editorial Review

If you want to judge a pianist's versatility, listen to his or her recording of the Schumann Piano Concerto. It requires virtually everything a pianist should have to offer: poetry, virtuosity, expansive expression alternating with poised restraint. What a glorious test piece this is. Richter, who was famous for his Schumann playing, passes every test here. His meltingly beautiful delivery of Schumann's melodies touches the heart, and his execution of the most difficult passages is so smooth and effortless that it never calls a bit of attention to itself. In this piece and the Introduction and Allegro, the excellent orchestra also covers itself with glory. The solo pieces are no less wonderful. The way Richter plays the difficult Toccata is almost scary in its combination of power and velocity. The Read more

Subjects:  1. Classical    2. Classical Composers    3. Classical Music    4. Concerto    5. Keyboard    6. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    7. Piano Concerto    8. Toccata for Keyboard   

Features

• Box set

Subjects:  1. Baroque Variations for Keyboard    2. Box Sets (Audio Only)    3. Chaconne for Keyboard    4. Choral    5. Chorale Prelude or Chorale Treatment for Keyboard    6. Classical    7. Classical Artists    8. Classical Period Symphony    9. Concerto    10. Concerto for Three Solo Instruments    11. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    12. Italian Baroque Opera    13. Keyboard    14. Keyboard Music    15. Music for Organ    16. Oboe Concerto    17. Opera    18. Oratorio    19. Orchestral & Symphonic    20. Passion   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (4)

Definitive?
This version of the underappreciated work of Alkan should, in deference to Marc Andre Hamelin's amazing versions, should probably be the standard by which others are judged... in addition the album includes a great collection in one purchase.
WELL worth getting.
This CD has what is still my favorite interpretation of Alkan's Concerto out of the three I've heard (although regrettably I haven't heard Jack Gibbons' version). Ogdon and Hamelin seem to kind of rush parts in order to impart a greater sense of technical bravura whereas Smith lets the power and majesty of the piece come through.
A Great Remastering!
I own the original LP recordings of some of these works and the CD version.In a previous review I remarked how the CD sound quality was not the best, but adequate.
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Subjects:  1. Chamber Music & Recitals    2. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    3. Classical    4. Classical Composers    5. Collection of Dance-Based Music for Keyboard    6. Concerto    7. Etude for Keyboard    8. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    9. Keyboard    10. Keyboard Work Entitled "Piece" or "Stück"    11. March for Keyboard    12. Nocturne for Keyboard    13. Piano Concerto    14. Prelude for Keyboard    15. Toccata for Keyboard   

Editorial Review

The polychoral and antiphonal works of Giovanni Gabrieli sound bestperformed in the acoustics for which they were conceived, such as the ScuolaGrande di San Rocco in Venice, where this splendid collection was recorded.Whether in extroverted pieces like the Sonatas 18 and 20, or the introspectiveand harmonically rich Read more

Subjects:  1. Chamber    2. Choral    3. Classical    4. Classical Composers    5. Classical Music    6. Keyboard    7. Magnificat    8. Medieval/Renaissance Organ Music    9. Miscellaneous    10. Miscellaneous Music    11. Renaissance Instrumental Polyphony    12. Renaissance Motet    13. Suite/Partita for Keyboard    14. Toccata for Keyboard   

Features

• Box set

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music    2. 20th/21st Century Tone Poem/Symphonic Poem    3. Adagio for Orchestra    4. Bagatelle for Keyboard    5. Ballet    6. Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra    7. Chamber    8. Chamber Music    9. Chamber Music & Recitals    10. Choral    11. Clarinet Concerto    12. Classical    13. Classical Period Serenade/Cassation/Divertimento    14. Classical Period Symphony    15. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    16. Concerto    17. Concerto Grosso    18. Environmental    19. Flute Concerto    20. Folk Dance for Keyboard   

Reviews (4)

The Mad Barber
I last listened to this CD years ago, and now that I'm working on the Barber sonata myself, I checked it out of the library again after spending some time alone with the piece.Now that I'm listening to it with new ears, I was shocked at how different it was from how I remembered it!It's a great performance which can be a little bit too hard-edged at times.
Pure, Unadulterated Horowitz...
This recording makes it clear why Horowitz is so often referred to as "king of the piano". His staggering technique is more than evident, and his seemingly limitless tonal palette is constantly in effect. The Barber Sonata is a most electrifying experience, especially in the insanely virtuosic fugue, and definitely the best on record. The Prokofiev Sonata has more rivals (Richter, Argerich, Pollini, etc.), and to no one's surprise, it stands with the best. The last movement may not be as exciting as Argerich's version, but on the whole, the performance is top-notch. The Toccata is taken in a record four minutes flat, but does anyone notice that Horowitz makes a cut several pages from the end? Still, this account in one of the most stunning on record (the only real competition coming from Argerich on her debut CD). It is interesting how Horowitz slows down the tempi in certain sections to prepare for more heart-stopping climaxes. The rest of the CD is also enjoyable, but it is composed of less well-known repertoire such as a Kabalevsky Sonata and a short Poulenc piece. This CD is strongly recommended, at least until some one of Horowitz's abilities decides to record the Barber Sonata (I'm still waiting for an artist like Argerich or Pollini to come around).

What can I say?
I just want to support the rewiever from Marsch 27th 1999.I personally have three copies: one at home, one in a safetybox at the bank and one at my girlfriends house (just to be sure if anything should go wrong) and Iceep them all in vacum and in steel boxes (the temperature always beetween19,2�C-19,5�C).Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists    4. Classical Music    5. Keyboard    6. Keyboard Music    7. Nocturne for Keyboard    8. Toccata for Keyboard   

Features

• Box set

Reviews (2)

A real value for money
These «Historic Russian Archive» CD sets from Brilliant Classics are all generally great value for money. The 10 CD set, «Emil Giles Edition» contains live recordings made between 1949 and 1984 and are for most part excellent both for perfomance and sound. They are made under license from Gostelradiofund. It's a real bargain that you should not miss if you have the slightest interest in classical piano music. The price of the Brilliant Classics sets seem to be a bit high in the US though. My set cost me just under 20Euro (25$) plus shipping from a european seller.

A steal
There is a wealth of wonderful things here.The Chopin Sonata 3 was new to me, and it is a very good live recording, with some spectacular moments, especially in the first mvmt.It is interesting to compare the two liszt sonata's from twenty years apart.The Schumann son 1 has been a rock in his rep and any fan will have that, this recording was relelased previously on Classico D'oro along with the Hung Rhap 9.The rach preludes and ballades were relelased on a yedang release which included a rarely recorded schumann klavierstucke op 32(still the only recording i have ever found by a good pianist).The rach concerto was on a doremi release.Even for steadfst fans of this pianist there is much to enjoy.The schumann carnaval and arabeske are cahracterisit cof schumanns affinity for this composer, as is the prokofiev, though I prefer richter in the 2nd(no one is better) and the eight, while the third just sucks no matter who plays it.The Scriabin 4 is interesting to compare to more sublte performances(like fiorentino) while gilels plays it with a thrust that makes it sound like a completelyu different worki(perhaps closer what the compser intended than current performances)
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Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Music for Voice and Keyboard    2. 20th/21st Century Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    3. Balladefor Keyboard    4. Box Sets (Audio Only)    5. Chamber    6. Chamber Music & Recitals    7. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    8. Classical    9. Classical Artists    10. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    11. Concerto    12. Etude for Keyboard    13. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    14. Impromptu for Keyboard    15. Individual Dance for Keyboard    16. Keyboard    17. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    18. Nocturne for Keyboard    19. Pavane for Keyboard    20. Piano Concerto   

Subjects:  1. Cello Concerto    2. Chamber    3. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    4. Childrens    5. Classical    6. Classical Composers    7. Classical Music    8. Concerto    9. Dance-Based Keyboard Music    10. Etude for Keyboard    11. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    12. Keyboard    13. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    14. Music for Four Hands at One Keyboard    15. Music for Two Keyboards    16. Orchestral    17. Piano Concerto    18. Quintet for Keyboard and Four String Instruments    19. Romantic Orchestral Music    20. Romantic Symphony   

Features

• Box set
• Import

Reviews (3)

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST
The eight discs making up this set are invaluable to anyone interested in this extraordinary musician and pianist. His career was cut tragically short, and while it lasted he was most in demand to display his astounding technique in Liszt. He did it because he could. Not being enormously attracted to Liszt I was slow in coming to know Cziffra, but when I did what struck me forcibly was that the picture I had been given of him was seriously misleading. Any suggestion that he was a wilful virtuoso who turned the standard classics into something of his own is 180 degrees wide of the mark, and this selection enables us to hear what his playing was really like in music ranging from Lully and Couperin to the late 19th century, taking in on the way Rameau, Scarlatti, C P E Bach, Beethoven, Hummel, Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann. Liszt is here in the shape of the two concertos, the Totentanz and the Hungarian Fantasy plus some solos, my collection of least favourite romantic concertos is enhanced with his renderings of the Grieg and Tchaikovsky, but relief from these is provided with Franck's symphonic variations. Among the non-Liszt solo pieces we are given a number usually thought to call for exceptional virtuosity, namely Schumann's toccata, Mendelssohn's rondo capriccioso and Brahms's Paganini variations. Balakirev's Islamey is here too, but in a version of Cziffra's own, and so are some of his own virtuoso arrangements including one of the Flight of the Bumblebee as well as four similar efforts from Liszt.
A world-changing musician
I've not a lot to add to Alan Thorpe's review except to say that to be young when Cziffra burst upon the world in 1956 after he left Hungary & started playing in western Europe was sheer intoxication--and it wasn't all Liszt either! Like Richter, who appeared at the same time, he played Schumann in away that opened up entire new fields of tonal & interpretive possibility. I must say, too, that from the start, I admired his Beethoven--I like lyrically played Beethoven! Why shouldn't Beethoven sing as well as growl? He did write some lovely songs, after all. Cziffra's versions of Op.13, Op.14/2 & Op.26 on this set are very satisfying--I just wish they had managed to include a recording of his version of the Waldstein, too.

CZIFFRA - A Keyboard Phenomenon
Issued in 1991 by EMI France to celebrate Cziffra's 70th birthday this 8 CDboxed set is a bargain. The first CD is all Liszt and contains some of the most spellbinding playing you are ever likely to hear.Fire and brimstone reign as Cziffra tears up the keyboard in the Dante Sonata's demonic moments; surely a whiff of sulphur as he spontaneously combusts during the Mephisto-Valse; the Rhapsodie espagnole and Grand Galop chromatique {see him sweat playing this on Philip's `Great Pianists of the 20th Century video.}.As a contrast, be seduced by his heart-melting rendering of the third Liebestraume;the caprice of the Valse-Impromptu; and have the waters of `Les Jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este' ever cascaded so onomatopoeically and with such a transcendental variety of touch and nuance.More diableriefollows on disc 2 with transcriptions by Liszt and those {in} famous ones by Cziffra himself.I have never heard a more demonic Gounod/Liszt ` Valse de Faust'; Auber/Liszt `Tarantelle de bravura'; or Tchaikovsky/Liszt Polonaise from `Eugene Onegin'; as for Cziffra's playing of his own transcriptions and paraphrases, especially the Strauss `Tritsch-tratsch polka' andRimsky-Korsakov `Flight of the Bumble-bee; well, they are in a class of their own. Both Katsaris and Volodos recordedthe latter pieces but I'm afraid they cannot compare with Cziffra's sheer electricity and panache.You will now need an ice pack as disc 3 opens with Balakirev's Islamey which starts steadily enough compared to say Simon Barere's famous account {now on APR} but increases in excitement as Cziffra adds all kind of gypsy embellishments as he builds to afiery conclusion.Excitement is also the key to the next piece;Schumann's Toccata, which Cziffra plays with effortless abandonment and joie de vivre as he also does Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso. Cziffra loved to play Baroque music and the rest of this disc is taken up by mainly short but characterful pieces by Couperin, Lully, Rameau and Krebs.Many were recorded in the 1980s and sound better if played back at a reduced volume level as they were obviously too closely miked.Cziffra once said that he couldn't play Beethoven so preferred to leave it to others who could. He did record a number of sonatas and this selection includes very fine accounts of the `Pathetique'; No. 13 in E flat Op27/1 {companion to the `Moonlight'};and Op. 26 in A flat.He brings a full cantabile to the latter works opening movt. and to the Adagio of the `Pathetique'.Elsewhere he plays with refinement and elegance; everything is in the best possible taste andthere is nothing to offend,but those who like their Beethoven a bit more rough and gruff could be a bit disappointed as they might also be with Cziffra's Brahm's Paganini Variations which are technically stunning but find Cziffra musically out of sorts. The Schumann disc finds him on top form. Like many great artists Cziffra loved to play Schumann and he was equally at home with Eusebius { the dreamer} as he was with Florestan { the impetuous side of his character} and this is self evident in his brilliantly characterful accounts of Carnaval, Fantasiest�cke, and Carnaval de Vienne- the latter piece highly praised by Cortot after he heard Cziffra during a Parisradio broadcast in the late 1950s.Discs 7 and 8 are all concertante works and show Cziffra at the very height of his stupendous powers.Again Cziffra has his demon up in the most astounding Liszt Totentanz ever recorded; a Hungarian Fantasy with all the improvisational colours of a band of gypsy fiddlers and an ideally recreativeperformance of the second concerto to make all others sound four-square . To cap this there is a fabulous Grieg concerto in which Cziffra dares to improvise the end of the Lisztian style cadenza; a meltingly beautiful slow movt with an excitingly brilliant finale.Last but certainly not the least, a very poetic reading of Franck's Symphonic Variations and a Tchaikovsky first concerto which combines thrilling virtuosity with all those individual touches that only a genuinely recreative artist can bring to such a familiar masterpiece.This collection is a splendid tribute to one of histories greatest pianists- an artist who knew the authentic meaning of ` bravura'. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baroque Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    2. Bourrée for Keyboard    3. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    4. Classical    5. Classical Composers    6. Classical Period Variations for Keyboard    7. Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    8. Concerto    9. Etude for Keyboard    10. Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard    11. Galop for Keyboard    12. Impromptu for Keyboard    13. Keyboard    14. Keyboard Music    15. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    16. Miscellaneous    17. Miscellaneous Music    18. Nocturne for Keyboard    19. Piano Concerto    20. Polonaise for Keyboard