20th Century Belgian Flute and 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: Bonney's gorgeous voice; intelligent singing; great selection of songs
Disadvantages: No translations included

...sound equally as comfortable singing a quirky 20th Century song as they do singing early music, but Bonney has this tremendous versatility. Her singing also displays an intelligence often lacking in modern singers, giving her songs a huge emotional impact. ‘The Radiant Voice of Barbara Bonney’ reads like a ‘greatest hits’ album, filled with individual gems which reflect the success which she has had in her professional life. The track listing flows roughly chronologically (in terms of when the works were composed) which works well, giving the listener a sort of mini tour of the history of music. There is a rich variety of music on this album, putting early music alongside operatic arias and 20th Century songs, and the accompaniments also lend a fantastic variety, ranging to the lute accompanied Dowland song... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great tunes
Disadvantages: Recorded quality and overall blandness

...Jane Campion's The Piano is about a mute-by-choice Scotswoman Ada played by Holly Hunter (who won an Oscar for her performance). She journeys to the jungles of nineteenth-century New Zealand to marry a man she's never met, played by Sam Neill. Once there, she is horrified to find her beloved piano left on the beach until a man named Baines (Harvey Keitel) offers to let her play it in exchange for romantic favours. The music was composed by Michael Nyman, noted as a modernist and a minimalist. This is by far the most popular of Nyman's compositions, because of its easily accessible melodies and especially for the solo piano music. Nyman writes: "I began creating Ada a folio of material that I imagined she had in her head, that her fingers carried around with her, almost as if she had been the composer of it. It had to be "possible" mid... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful