Aequalis play Twentieth Century Works

Advantages: Little known music played extremely well
Disadvantages: Music has harsh dissonances and is not easy to understand

...This is another outstanding performance by Marc-Andre Hamelin, once again championing the piano works of a little known composer. Hamelin plays with imagination and variety, bringing to life this very difficult to understand music. The style of the music is post-Scriabin. Just as Scriabin took his starting point from Chopin, so Roslavets takes his starting point from late Scriabin, developing it in his own way. For those not familiar with the music of Scriabin, he was a late nineteenth century, early twentieth century composer, mainly of piano music and orchestral music. Scriabin's early music is based on the music of Chopin, and similar to Rachmaninoff's. His later music is more mystical, associated with his mystical religious ideas. He is famous for his "Poem of Ecstasy", a work he wrote as he moved into his late period... Read review

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Advantages: MacGregor's chameleon-like arrangements render every piece interesting, appealing.
Disadvantages: She remains in obscurity in the US.

...is bordered with steel blue. Rarely have I seen such carefully designed booklets that are works of art in themselves. With the CD title, "Play", I think MacGregor wanted to emphasize an attitude of playfulness and ease, especially in view of her mission to relax conventional musical rules, categories and boundaries. Here's the thing: Joanna MacGregor is one of today's best hopes for the resurgence, and especially, the progress, of twentieth century music other than the rock/pop/jazz/rap/metal variety. MacGregor has championed contemporary music with unflagging energy and enthusiasm, playing the works of mid- to late-20th century and 21st century composers, and collaborating with many non-classical musicians from India, Africa, China and others. She recognizes no musical categories or borders, and draws liberally from all kinds of music... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent selection and performance of piano works by Frank Bridge
Disadvantages: A few pieces are not very interesting

...Frank Bridge was an early twentieth century English composer. His works are not widely known, but are played increasingly, and more recordings are becoming available. Some of his later works, such as his piano sonata, were influenced by Scriabin. This CD is the second of three, and covers a wide range of styles, but mostly in his earlier style. Most of the pieces on this CD are fairly easy to listen to, and can be enjoyed by the majority of classical music lovers. The opening piece, Etude Rhapsodique, is an etude appropriately played by Jacobs, in the grand manner (of Liszt and other nineteenth century virtuosi), full of late nineteenth century panache, but with Bridge's own distinctive voice. The second piece, Berceuse, is played beautifully, a gentle piece as the name would suggest (a lullaby) but again with Bridge's own... Read review

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