Customer Reviews

#1 Piano Album

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album has it all, believe it or not. There are loads of cheesy #1 blah blah albums that are horridly popular. Sure, there are many well-known pieces on this, such as Alla Turca, the Adagio Sostenuto of the Moonlight, Fur Elise and the Minute Waltz. But almost everything else is relatively unheard of outside of the closely knit piano community.

That said, these CD's opened my eyes to some of the greatest piano works of all time, those including: Schubert Impromptu in A-flat, Rondo Capriccioso, Liszt's Liebestraum, Liszt's second Hungarian Rhapsody, Islamey, all three Rachmaninoff preludes, Granados' Goyescas, and Prokofiev's Toccata in C. I have begun learning a good many of these pieces as a result.

This set will not dissapoint. Do yourself a favor and buy it.

I must agree with the prior review - there are SO many classical piano compilations that have the same overplayed Romantic-era pieces on them - and usually not terrific performances of them at that. Decca put together the opposite of your average "piano for relaxation" collection here. I'll just make a quick list of why this is better than the rest - an atypical review for me, but necessary to point out why this album stands far above what's generally a lousy genre of compilation CDs.

-The first CD is generally Romantic-period and prior music and progresses in roughly chronological order. The second is composed of primarily 20th century pieces - sure, the order is not totally faithful on either CD, but it is refreshing to see a collection arranged so that one can literally listen to the trends in piano composition grow and fade.

-Decca chose top-notch pianists, many of whom are widely regarded as the supreme interpreters of Composer X. For this reason, you have a very simple piece like Grieg's Notturno played with an emotional urgency and crystal clarity you're unlikely to hear from a lesser pianist than Emil Gilels, or a very complex, often banged-out piece like Prokofiev's Toccata navigated fearlessly by the Argentine goddess of piano, Martha Argerich.

-They showed some guts in their choice of pieces. Sure, no Schoenberg appears here, but this is not your typical conservative don't-rock-the-boat piano collection. Bartok's aggressive, relentless Allegro Barbaro pairs wonderfully with the Ravel and Prokofiev toccatas on either side of it on disc 2; a quick tour of Rachmaninoff's Preludes follows an incredible rendition of Balakirev's harrowingly difficult Islamey. One of the most beautiful piano works ever composed - and ignored by 99% of piano music compilers - makes an appearance in the middle of disc 2: Granados's Goyescas (Quejas, o la maja y el ruiseñor), an infinitely subtle and sublime - and modern twist on the late Romantic/Impressionistic piano tradition - handled impeccably by the composer's compatriot and student Alicia de Larrocha.

I haven't said quite enough about CD 1 - sure, their choices of Chopin, Schubert, and Liszt works are good as well. But I'm showing where my heart lies in solo classical piano - impressionists and early 20th century composers, I feel, are as good as it gets. Für Elise makes its token appearance, but even it seems well contextualized on the first CD between the immortal Adagio of the Moonlight Sonata and Chopin's delightfully simple Nocturne in E Flat, which immediately recalls Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" for those who have seen it.

In short, CD 1 and 2 share the unique qualities of a careful yet daring selection of piano pieces played by indisputable masters of the instrument. If CD1 is good as gold, then CD2 is platinum. Simply amazing. Thanks Decca!

This CD is a fair buy for the price. The selection of piano pieces is fair and reasonable and the sound quality is OK but not great. I use a studio mastering grade DAC and ATC loudspeakers, which in my opinion provide accurate reproduction (i.e. as little as possible missing or added). This combination is unflattering of poor mastering and / or recording quality. This CD is technically well mastered and the quality of the original recordings is comparable to any other classical piano CDs I have, i.e. about the same as other Decca productions and slightly better than the Naxos productions. However, as a (very rusty) pianist myself, I have always struggled to find classical piano recordings which demonstrate the true percussive attack, clarity, forward presence and ambient decay of a real piano. I think it may boil down to microphone selection and placement, but I fail to see why this should be so difficult for classical piano. I have some pop CDs where the piano reproduction is first class e.g. at the beginning of the Kate Ceberano song "Feelin' Alright" and the Elvis Costello song "Shipbuilding", so why can't it be done right for classical music too? Perhaps the octave range may be too high to properly locate the microphone, I don't know. This CD is as good as, or better than, any classical piano CD I have, but I am still waiting for a classical piano CD which sounds truly like a piano is being playing in the room right in front of me, rather than out in the backyard behind a curtain.

This collection includes most of the famous compositions (by Bach, Handel, Chopin, etc.) that piano students learn, so it might seem boring to hear them played by professionals. Think again! Clearly, the famous pianists on this CD chose their favorites, b/c they play with such warmth and passion, it could only be true love. Even my mother who taught piano for decades enjoys listening to this CD, b/c she feels like she's hearing each piece for the first time. A great collection for anyone who is studying, or has ever studied piano, as well as for those who just enjoy listening to classical music.

I'll be honest there's piano music I like, PARTS of of various concerti, for example, and this collection lets me enjoy them without the sheer boredom of all the rest.