Richly detailed...welcome features include a CD on which the author gives some spruce performances of 80 minutes of the music she discusses so eloquently. (
Musical Opinion )
Barbara Nissman's thorough and perceptive survey of the Bartok piano repertoire fills a real need, thanks to her unswerving focus on the problems and elements that confront all serious interpreters of this music. (Donald Manildi, Curator )
Barbara Nissman's extraordinary pianistic and musical gifts coupled with her astute analytical perception of Bartók's creative art makes for ideal authoritative equipment for the guidance of pianists in the study of Bartók's great music. (Rosalyn Tureck, pianist )
I highly recommend this book. It is an important addition to the Bartók literature, and pianists will find it indispensable. (David Dubal )
Whether you are a pianist who performs and teaches Béla Bartok's music or simply a lover of piano music, you will find this book a valuable new resource. What makes this book such a treasure-trove are Nissman's insights into the music from a performer's point of view. This book would be an outstanding acquisition for music libraries and is worthy of inclusion in pianists' personal resource collections. (
American Music Teacher )
Barbara Nissman's study and research translate into one of the most thorough examinations of one performer to another. This is an invaluable aid for professional, teacher, and student alike. (Leonard Slatkin, Music Director )
The book teems with music examples….The accompanying CD offers admirable performances by Nissman of 16 titles….of interest to pianists at the learning and teaching levels. (
Choice )
In its finest case studies this book is brilliant. Nissman's book is...a triumph. It is well produced, with lavish musical examples, and a generally high level of accuracy. (Malcolm Gillies, deputy vice-chancellor )
An admirable volume...It is heartwarming to see an accomplished, virtuoso performer such as Barbara Nissman equally at home in the scholarly activity of writing a book. (
Notes )
[Nissman] offers the sort of insight that can only come from repeated performances of the music...
Bartók and the Piano will undoubtedly find its main readership among pianists preparing this demanding but important repertoire for performance and teachers responsible for guiding students through it, but it also has much to offer to those interested more generally in Bartók. (
Music Teacher )
An excellent addition to a pianist's library. (
American Record Guide )
A friendly and thought-provoking volume that should provide pleasure and enlightenment to readers ready to delve deeper into the achievement of one of the greatest humanists and musical creators of the 20th century. (
International Piano )
A well-researched edition by pianist Barbara Nissman, who presents the composer's music in an engaging and informative style. (
Clavier )
...for pianists, skilled, failed and aspiring, this is a gem of a book. (David Thompson
Music & Vision )
...offers information and sound advice to performers studying particular works. (
Classical Music )
It always lends a definitive veracity to a book when it is written by an internationally acclaimed concert pianist like Barbara Nissman who's been there, done it; moreso when it shows a keen analytic mind on matters of style, form and structure of Bartok's music....[the] insights reveal the quality of this ebulliently written book and its worth for pianists and music lovers alike. (Ian Dando
New Zealand Listener )
Barbara Nissman received her doctorate in music from the University of Michigan where she studied with pianist Gyorgy Sandor, himself a student of Béla Bartók. She is well known for her recordings of the music of Prokofiev and Ginastera, recently reissued by Pierian records, and is the dedicatee of Ginastera's final work, the Third Piano Sonata. Future releases include music by Liszt, Bartók and the five Piano Concertos of Prokofiev.
Ms. Nissman has performed with the leading orchestras in Europe and the United States and has worked with some of the major conductors of our time including Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, and Leonard Slatkin.
