The Aldeburgh Recital

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Robert Schumann (Composer), Franz Liszt (Composer), Sergey Rachmaninov (Composer), Murray Perahia (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Murray Perahia
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Sergey Rachmaninov
• Audio CD (January 18, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000279L
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,142 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of numerous Perahia's disks, February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Aldeburgh Recital (Audio CD)

I think this is the best recording of numerous Perahia's disks. As it's a live recording, we can listen to how he plays in front of live audiences. His performance here is much more lively and spontaneous than his studio recordings. In particular, his performance of Beethoven's "32 variations" is the best performance recorded so far.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Live Recital, May 24, 2005

By 

Garrett H. Hansen (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aldeburgh Recital (Audio CD)

This is one of the most incredible live performances I've ever heard, plain and simple. The Beethoven variations are crisp and propulsive, an excellent opener to the program. Schumann's Carnival Jest is not my favorite piece, but Perahia performs it flawlessly.

The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 is the highlight of the disc - this is a work of staggering technical difficulty, and I'll be damned if I can find a single mistake. Perahia handles the crashing fortissimos and quiet delicacies with equal aplomb, and his wide trills (a favorite of Liszt) are perfect. This is one of the few pieces which still reliably gives me shivers.

The Consolation acts as a nice let-down from the bravura of the Rhapsody - it's like a Chopin nocturne, but with a little more sugar and a little less melodic inventiveness. As for the Rachmaninoff Etudes-Tableaux, they are played marvelously. No. 2 in C is spooky in its cross-rhythms and modal ambiguity, and Perahia's performance of No. 5 in E-flat minor, probably the most musically profound of them all, is my favorite on record.

Overall, an excellent CD well worth buying.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, February 26, 2003

By 

Norman Duffy (Amsterdam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Aldeburgh Recital (Audio CD)

This is a terrific recital. It is virtually flawless technically and musically it lives up to Perahia's well earned reputation a great musician first. So I second the sentiments of the previous reviewers. I would recommend folks to seek out the video recording also made in the Maltings, Snape - home of the Aldburgh Festival and longtime residence of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. Its is a object lesson in how economically the greatest pianists play.