Artur Rubinstein - Franck: Prelude, Chorale & Fugue; Bach-Busoni: Chaconne; Liszt: Sonata in B minor

Johann Sebastian Bach (Artist), Cesar Franck (Artist), Franz Liszt (Artist), Artur Rubinstein (Artist), Ferruccio Busoni (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 14, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003FPP
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,116 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Prld, Chorale & Fugue: Prld

2. Prld, Chorale & Fugue: Chorale

3. Prld, Chorale & Fugue: Fugue

4. Chaconne

5. Son in b

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monumental, majestic, transcendent, powerful, definitive., June 1, 2006

By 

ronaldbrian (Quezon City, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artur Rubinstein - Franck: Prelude, Chorale & Fugue; Bach-Busoni: Chaconne; Liszt: Sonata in B minor (Audio CD)

My jaw drops that I am the first to review this album.

I am no musicologist. I don't have any formal training in music-like a lot of us who would consider buying an Artur Rubinstein recording. Hence I listen, react, and review from a more visceral place. My analyses are comparative instead of technical. My languge, emotional rather than specialized. This caveat done, let me just say that this is one of the best recordings I have ever heard in my entire life.

For comparison, I have the Evgeny Kissin performance of Franck's Prelude, Chorale & Fugue in cd, the Rosalyn Tureck (the High Priestess of Bach no less) performance of the Bach-Busoni in DVD, and the Yundi Li and Francois Frederic Guy performances of the Liszt Sonata in DVD.

None of these performances begin to touch Rubinstein's genius and soul with these pieces. Artur Rubinstein was well in his eighties when he recorded these pieces. He was at the height of his musical humanity/divinity when he read them. Listen and you will agree: every molecule in his being focused on each note that he communed on the keyboard. As for THE Liszt Sonata, a towering work has met its towering match in Rubinstein. Don't rave over the Richter performance unless you've listened to this one.

I'm actually surprised people gush over that performance, as well as over the Argerich. I don't have those recordings, but after listening to the first few bars of the piece via Music Sampler, it was apparent to me who the better proponent for the Liszt Sonata was. I don't dispute that that Richter and Argerich are excellent pianists, but I do wish that the reviewers would listen to Rubinstein's profound engagement first before they proclaim another performance as the best. Please, if you love the Liszt sonata do yourself a huge favor and listen to this cd.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Alternative, July 24, 2009

By 

Karl W. Nehring (Ostrander, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Das Lied Von Der Erde (Audio CD)

Those familiar with the music of Gustav Mahler know that Das Lied von der Erde ("The Song of the Earth") was originally intended to be his 9th Symphony, but he thought he could beat the "9th Symphony curse" by giving this composition a different name. Regardless of whether Mahler called it a symphonyh or not, Das Lied von der Erde is certainly symphonic in scope, scored for a large orchestra and vocal soloists.

This recording, however, is of an arrangement made for a chamber ensemble--no, not even a chamber orchestra--two violins, viola, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, timpani, percussion (three percussionists--how many orchestras have more percussionists than violinists!?), harp, piano and celesta (same player for both, making up for the three percussionists), and harmonium. Seventeen players if my math is correct. The vocal soloists are Jean Rigby, mezzo-soprano, and Robert Tear, tenor. Mark Wigglesworth, a young conductor from the UK, leads this merry band in an utterly fascinating arrangement by Arnold Schoenberg.

I must confess that I was quite taken aback through the first few minutes, but then found myself quite intrigued by the spare texture of this arrangement. The sound quality is exemplary, as we have come to expect from the producer/engineer team of Andrew Keener and Mike Hatch. This is not a recording I would recommend to the novice listener, but to those who enjoy Mahler, and who have a favorite full orchestral version of Das Lied in their collections, I recommend this version as an interesting alternative viewpoint and an enjoyable musical experience in its own right.

3.0 out of 5 stars Comment only on Franck Prelude, Chorale & Fugue, June 15, 2011

By 

jt52 "jt52" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artur Rubinstein - Franck: Prelude, Chorale & Fugue; Bach-Busoni: Chaconne; Liszt: Sonata in B minor (Audio CD)

I have three versions of the Cesar Franck Prelude, Chorale & Fugue and I unfortunately must report that this Rubinstein version is notably inferior to the versions by Julius Katchen and the more recent one by Evgeny Kissin. Rubinstein is a pianist whom I greatly admire but this interpretation doesn't have the coherence and lusciousness that Katchen brings to the work nor the technical strength, modern recorded sound or the well-conceived polyphonic interplay in the Fugue demonstrated by Kissin. It's OK but not better than that. Three stars.