Customer Reviews

Alberto Ginastera: Complete Music for Piano & Piano Chamber Ensembles

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Ginastera who was present during the original recordings, must have been overjoyed having Barbara Nissman. She is the ideal pianist to capture the elemental power of his ferocious gaucho-inspired folk rhythms. Her rhythmic exuberance and bravura have to be heard to be believed. It reveals Ginastera as the Bartok of Argentina as their respective treatment of gaucho and Magyar folklore is perfectly analogous. She clearly understands this point too as her stylistic insight is just as incisive in the chamber works on volume 2 as in the solo piano pieces comprising volume 1. Originally recorded on Newport records in 1992, they are now safely achived on Pierian label and protected from the deletions axe. Justly so. Nissman's spontaneity, exhilaration and stylistic insight make these performances classics that will never date.

In other reviews there are many glorious comments of Barbara Nissman's playing, and they are well deserved. However, this is not a good CD to buy if you are looking for good recordings of the two cello pieces on this CD. Slow tempos, sloppy articulation, missed notes, incorrect rhythms unfortunately abound in the playing of Aura Natola-Ginastera in both the recordings of the Pampeana No. 2 and Cello Sonata. Being the wife of Alberto Ginastera herself I'm sure she has great insight into his music, but it seems as though her technical playing ability is not on a level to play these pieces well.

Ms. Nissman is a student of this great South American composer. If you want to hear his music the way he probaby would have played it himself, this recording is an excellent choice. It is vibrant, lively, and wonderfully complex wothout being inacessible to the average listener. If you haven't heard Ginastera's compositions for piano before, this is the place to begin. You may find it the standard against which all other performances can be measured. Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D.

When I first heard Barbara Nissman's performance of the dances from Estancia over a typical, everyday radio many years ago, I was quite impressed with her panache in tossing off Ginastera's acute rhythms --- but it was, after all, an ordinary boombox, not your high-end FM-receiver in a split-hairs, blockbuster sound system. I'd heard many of her other Ginastera pieces over a mundane radio in the '90s, several instances in fact, and became very interested in finding out more regarding her pianism.

It's with great disappointment that I must now revise that earlier imprint of her being quite awesome to being somewhat awful --- in this recording, at least. I can't exactly say that I was thrilled when I finally had the chance to hear the whole program and the important First Sonata. No doubt about it, Ms. Nissman has a strong and sure rhythmic sense. Absolutely. However, her colors in such fast-moving, hard-edged music could be almost enjoyed, were she not so lead-footed, pedaling so deeply. Her articulation, thus so wanting in clarity and precision, is therefore even more smeared in the brillante, rapido passages. That she is not better-recorded also serves her poorly.

But then, if Ginastera was well-pleased with Nissman's performance and the recording, then apparently the rhythmic demands take highest priority over other considerations. After all, with this hallmark of his style, that would have to be a given --- and indeed, in this set, that is Ms. Nissman's strong suit (perhaps the only one...). So, who am I to complain?? We can have the moon, maybe, but it's probably unreasonable to ask for the galaxies... .

However, when I weighed the aspects of the price of boxed sets, and especially, of having to listen to these CDs over and over and over again (because I like Ginastera), I realized that I wouldn't be able to stand such uneven, sloppy pianism on repeat for very long, which even her fine musicianship cannot override. It's too bad that this is the case, as there are still so few, if any, recordings of complete Ginastera piano and piano-chamber works in the catalogue. That said, the Nissman set is at least serviceable, in view of this gap. (See comments on the cello performance in other Amazon reviews here.)

It was after repeat listening to a different recording, a quite stupendous Brazilian pianist doing the Ginastera First Sonata that I came to this assessment on Ms. Nissman's performance of the same work, and of her entire program. This new pianist's razor-sharp articulation --- Debora Halasz is her name Piano and Guitar --- her transparent pedaling, wide dynamic range, rhythmic integrity, and arching lines are absolutely rewarding to listen to, over and over and over. To render sensitively nuanced phrasing as Ms. Halasz blazes headlong and in forte/fortissimo is not least in her recording's high marks. Following along with the score, I was most impressed indeed. With the many-hued palette of Debora Halasz's sensitive touch, especially showcased in the Ginastera slow movement and the Ponce, she's simply splendid throughout.

Halasz's tempos, though fast, are just a tad slower than Nissman's (who takes even higher speeds), but Ms. Halasz's pianism is even more ferocious and incisive, for her's is a dazzlingly clean technique and incisive articulation, due to her crisp, judicious pedal. In Ms. Halasz's hands, this glittering, fast-paced music throws out its flashing shafts and sparks with the clarity of diamond brilliance (and this is so in her CD's Brouwer set as well). Had Ms. Nissman taken her tempos down just a couple of notches, her technical command would have been impeccable, and her overall performance would then have not suffered so.

Of course, to the occasional or casual listener, such considerations would be merely a minor distraction, only minimally detract from one's enjoyment of this exciting music. But for serious, focused, attentive listening, especially with repeat plays, such factors carry a lot of weight. At the very least, in view of the price of boxed sets, I'll hold out for Ms. Halasz. Maybe if we're lucky, one day she'll put out a big Ginastera recording. I'd be among the first to buy. :::