Beethoven by Nissman, Volume I

Barbara Nissman (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Pierian
• ASIN: B0001XAQZU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721,916 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Look for Three Warhorses, January 1, 2005

By 

Ian Dando (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven by Nissman, Volume I (Audio CD)

No, not another Moonlight Sonata, I hear you groan? Then go to track one and hear Nissman wipe off the sludge of past over-romantic and over-pedalled versions and hear this old chestnut of a first movement freshly restored.

Freshness pervades the whole recital. Her Appassionata is a fireball of turbulence, yet always underpinned with clarity of fine detail and a penetrating structural unity in the interpretation.

Her subtle pedalling in the opening of the finale from the Waldstein has the melody like a lovely shapely tree emerging with unhurried charm from a thinly veiled mist.

If you want a lively encore, hear how she has the Rondo a Capriccio (subtitled "Rage over a Lost Penny")furiously chasing its own tail with Beethovenian gruffness.

FIve stars may be a bit mean. Problem is I haven't heard half the forty or so other versions of these popular sonatas to make a reliable comparison. Suffice it to say Nissman's liveliness propels this up somewhere among the best.

Ian Dando

Music Critic, New Zealand Listener

5.0 out of 5 stars Beethoven by Nissman, Vol. 1, March 31, 2011

By 

Dr. Stephen D. Smith "Prof" (Bradenton FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beethoven by Nissman, Volume I (Audio CD)

There have been so many recordings of Beethoven's music, you might ask, "Why another one?" The answer is, there is always room at the top for the best! And this is certainly a contender. Nissman's technique is flawless, as always, and she makes the music the beneficiary of her sensitivity and dedication to the great Romantic tradition. It is never maudlin or over-dramatic, and it is never dawdling or boring for the listener. If you love Beethoven's piano music, you surely will not want to miss this recording, or the subsequent ones in the series. It is fresh and right on the mark! So are the rest. Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D.