20th Century American Piano Works

Advantages: The finest recording on two CDs
Disadvantages: You can only listen to one CD at a time!

...This double CD from a large collection brings together what are considered to be the finst recordings ever made by the artist. The version of Rachmaninov's Piano Cencerto No. 3 is perhaps the definitive recording: technically brilliant and a joy to listen to, and by far my favourite version. She has chosen the scherzo-like cadenza which Rachmaninov himself favoured. Also featured are Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit among other things. For piano music lovers, these are some of the best recordings I have heard. Highly recommended to all.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Faultless
Disadvantages: none

...This vastly underrated album opens with the title track. I personally feel that this is one of the greatest rock songs of ALL TIME. If you have never heard Bat Out of Hell, imagine this: a soaring chorus, a weepingly soulful verse, peaks and troughs... Emotions ranging from fear, through apprehension, excitement, love and hate, pain and suffering through to death... And blow it up to truly, truly EPIC proportions. It is simply incredible. You may think I'm exaggerating, but believe me: it is all there, squeezed into 9 minutes 50 seconds. In the hands of Todd Rundgren, one of the few true musical geniuses of the 20th century, the production of this song takes on an almost orchestral quality. Couple all this to Rundgren's INSPIRED guitar work, recorded in a single take having previously heard nothing but a piano-and-vocals only version... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Authentic recording, a direct link to the composer of this beautiful music, very expressive and stylish.
Disadvantages: A different style with some small technical discrepences, some might prefer a more modern recording.

...The contributions of Maurice Ravel to the 20th century piano repertory are a tender and expressive gift, standing out as some of the best examples of French Impressionist solo pieces from that time along with works by his contemporaries Debussy and Fauré. Since his early death in 1930, many performers have turned to his pupils - Vlado Perlemuter, and Marguerite Long expecting that they, with all their close contact with him, would be the most direct link to the man himself. They strongly emphasise the idea of strictness, lack of any kind of exaggeration, expression or imitation of past traditions, as though the piece is like an object to be guarded. However "Masters of the Piano Roil..." is primary evidence that flatly contradicts what they say - there are over 250 recordings of Ravel playing his own work (some of the best featured... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful