20th Century Saxophone Concertos

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: Good tuba muisc
Disadvantages: None

...The tuba has generally been ignored as a solo instrument, and although it enjoyed some success in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique and the operas of Wagner, it didnt really emerge as a solo instrument until the 20th century. However, recently the tuba's potential as a soloist has been realised through the children's tale, Tubby the Tuba, where the whole point of the story is to highlight the fact that most peoploe would not think the tuba of being capable in taking a soloistic role, but the fact that it can take this role, and take it extremely successfully is shown here in this CD with these four Tuba Concerti, that were all written in the years after Tubby the Tuba. The first Tuba Concerto on the CD is Tuba Concerto (1978) by Edward Gregson. 1 - Allegro deciso 2 - Lento e mesto 3 - Allegro giocoso This concerto begins with a fanfare... 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