Composer: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (1810 - 1849); Robert (Alexander) Schumann (1810 - 1856)
Main Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Date of Release: 03/2001
Recomended Retail Price: 13.99 GBP
Label / Distributor: Archive Piano Recordings / Select
Pieces in Set: 1
Running Time: 1 hour 16 minutes
Genre(s): Instrumental
SPAR Code: ADD
EAN: 5024709156313
Work 1
Work Title: (26) Preludes
Excerpt(s): 1. Op. 28 - No. 1 in C 2. No. 2 in A minor 3. No. 3 in G 4. No. 4 in E minor 5. No. 5 in D 6. No. 6 in B minor 7. No. 7 in A 8. No. 8 in F sharp minor 9. No. 9 in E 10. No. 10 in C sharp minor 11. No. 11 in B 12. No. 12 in G sharp minor 13. No. 13 in F sharp 14. No. 14 in E flat minor 15. No. 15 in D flat 16. No. 16 in B flat minor 17. No. 17 in A flat 18. No. 18 in F minor 19. No. 19 in E flat 20. No. 20 in C minor 21. No. 21 in B flat 22. No. 22 in G minor 23. No. 23 in F 24. No. 24 in D minor
Composer: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Genre: Instrumental
Main Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Opera Part(s): Claudio Arrau
Work 2
Work Title: Etudes symphoniques, 'Symphonic Studies', Op. 13
Advantages: Unparalleled playing, Unbelievably good bargain for 6 CDs! Disadvantages: Um, paper sleeves? No, seriously, it's great
...This box set comprises recordings from 1985-89, when Horowitz was 81 years old! In 1986 Horowitz returned to Russia after 60 years away to give his monumental Moscow recital of which the live recording is included in this set. I personally find this performance of Liszt's Sonetto 104 del Petrarca to be the finest ever recorded. Alongside this is Scarlatti, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Schumann, Chopin, Moszkowski, and Schubert.
Accompanying this recital is 5 other discs of outstandingly unique playing. As he got older, Horowitz's playing became a sort of caricature of itself in the nicest possible way. By this I mean, his dynamics became more extreme, he became more expressive than ever, and his sense of style was heightened to new levels. Horowitz's Mozart playing has been criticized for being too free and not in Mozart...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Argerich's clarity of melodic line, striking colors and moods; thrilling, chilling, enchanting, arresting performances. Disadvantages: Her Fantasiestucke may strike some as too rushed, less nuanced--or so I'm told.
...Too fast. Too sloppy.
That's the sort of criticism some have leveled at Argentine-born pianist extraordinaire Martha Argerich (b. 1941), in live performances such as these, recorded in 1978 and 1979. In this 2000 release from EMI Classics, she makes short work of Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke (Opus 12) and Maurice Ravel's Sonatine, as well as the diabolical (in more senses than one) Gaspard de la Nuit. Indeed, these readings are nothing if not stunning. Perhaps too much so for some, particularly the Schumann.
Personally, I like 'em the way she plays 'em here--bold, tempestuous, uninhibitedly feral, disturbing when called for, at times mellow and genteel--yes, the powerhouse pianist is fully capable of grace and delicacy. Of technical brilliance she certainly lacks none, but technically brilliant pianists practically pour out...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: A discovery unforgettable Disadvantages: Nothing
...difficult in the same time.
I try to do it:
1) He make a full immersion in historycal background of Chopin;
2) He loved to study hand-written Chopin's music;
3) Like he said, he stopped to learn a work when "sounds flow in my blood".
4) An intelligent control by means of mind and heart.
He playsChopin's Nocturnes suspended in "time": night is not only darkness, mystery or passions; night in Chopin is without time also...
This Arturo understood and now we can hear a strange dimension of time.
Of course, there are passions, loves, cryes but these are nothing...in front of a world without time.
Often Nocturnes seem lullabyes: it is true!
But they send to sleep the death not the listeners!
Then, these musics are a victory on the death!
Other pianists have played these Chopin's works: Horowitz, Schnabel, Pollini, Richter...
Some years...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
helpful 27.08.2001
(07.09.2001)
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