Works for Viola and Piano

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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Advantages: Dreamy, peaceful, emotional music; range of abilities catered for
Disadvantages: None!

...From a piano player's point of view, Debussy is a true master of the composing craft. His pieces wash over you as you play, enfolding you in the various emotions - joy, sadness, surprise, peace - which are so deeply engrained in the music. There are pieces to suit all abilities, from the (for the most part) fairly easy Rêverie to some of the fiendishly difficult Préludes, for which the scores look like nothing you've seen on earth; and whilst the pieces on occasion may sound discordant and even simply bad at first, stick with them as every time you will in the end be richly rewarded. Playing a Debussy piece isn't about learning notes and precise regimented time signatures, as with Bach for example. It's about letting your emotions flow out into the piano, about letting yourself go completely, just for a few moments. Start... Read review

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Advantages: One of the most Romantic concertos around, full of beautiful melodies and passion
Disadvantages: over-recorded

...INTRODUCTION Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov was one of the most promising composers emerging from Russia after Tchaikovsky. His early works included the youthfully energetic Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op.1, an orchestral fantasia The Rock, the opera Aleko, several songs, piano pieces (including the famous Prelude in C sharp minor, a work that would plague Rachmaninov with its popularity throughout his life) and the First Symphony in D minor, Op.13. Rachmaninov had high hopes for the latter; it was his magnum opus up until that time. However the symphony proved to be the biggest disappointment of his career, causing a tremendous crisis in his creative life. All the critics jumped on the work, most notably César Cui who compared it with the Seven Plagues of Egypt and condemned the work as modernist trash. The effect... Read review

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