Customer Reviews

Clementi: Piano Music

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the CD because my daughter was learning one of the selections in her piano class. I had no idea what to expect but the style of the composer and the technical skill of the performer have made this one of my favorite CDs (my collection exceeds 400 CDs). Clementi's use of thirds in the left hand lends his sonatinas a unique sound and the speed of the trills and runs makes this an exciting selection of pieces. Considering the pittance this CD costs I would think buying it is a no-brainer.

Clementi is such an important piano music composer that virtually no pianists can neglect his works. Yet, regrettably there is so little recorded Clementi available either in Amazon or elsewhere.

The pianist we have here is Balazs. He is Hungarian, a former pupil of Kocsis (a formost pianist/composer). For whatever it is worth, Balazs took 4th place in Leeds International Piano Competition in 1990. His father was a professor in Liszt Academy who also composed. The British press commended his playing for it's energy and imagination.

As pointed out by some other review(s), he is fast, as fast (and as even) as a machine gun. Technically, he is "brilliant" if not equally vibrant. There is indeed a lot of "energy" in his playing; his touch is nice too, all prerequisites of a virtuoso. But there isn't much in this record to show us the full spectrum of his imagination, let alone poetry, and the influence of the above mentioned two composers on him is yet to be discovered. Some slow movements in the sonatas are, however, rather charming.

On the whole, this is a very worthwhile reference especially at a budget price. And for those who have more time, they may as well check out Maria Tipo who has recorded quite a number of Clementi's sonatas for an Italian reading.

The playing on this CD is not only technically brilliant, it's on the quicker side of the expected tempo range. Szokolay's comprehension of the music is such that he can deliver dynamic, rapid performances while still retaining the clarity of each individual note. My only complaint is that, as others have noted, these performances are somewhat lacking in feeling. Granted, there's a difference between the emotional content of a Clementi sonatina and a Beethoven sonata, but these pieces are all extremely well-crafted works by a minor master, and they do indeed have their passionate moments. It would have been nice to have more emphasis placed on these emotional spots. That's a small flaw, however, in an otherwise brilliantly-played collection of well-written music. I still admire Clementi's tuneful melodies and artistic balance ("Mozart Lite," one might say), and the playing on this CD, while somewhat flat, does nothing to deter me from that opinion overall.

The music is fast not gentle or romantic. Technically flawless but I find it lacking in mood. but still worth the price for real early piano buffs.

EXCELLENT! EXCELLENT! EVERY single piece on this CD is great! I usually have a few favourites within a single CD but I love every single performance on this CD! And you can have this at an unbelievable price too! I found every piece exciting and just enjoyable. This is now my FAVOURITE classical piano CD and I think it will remain so for a very long time. I've listened to several other compositions of Muzio Clementi but this is by far the best.

It is such a torture to a young 6 years old to play Clementi, I would have voice it out when I had been asked to play the Clementi piano pieces. In some countries, Clemnti's piano pieces had been widely used for music examination purposes especially for students who is taking the ABRSM piano exam set by UK. I don't know why is that Clementi is always their favourite piano piece to be include in the syllabus.

I buy the CD is because I missed playing the Clementi music, even though I really hate it (when I was 6-8 years old), but now when I think back, Clementi's piano pieces is the same like the others such as Czerny's finger techniques; I was told that to let a child to play Clementi's piano music shall help to develop the left brain of a child in creativity & calculation. My piano teacher had trained me well, Clementi at 6-10 years old and Bach at 11-16 years old. Overall the Clementi tone is always in my mine that seems like had been part of my life.

I would give 3 stars (out of 5) for this CD. A good selection of pieces for the CD but it seems like Balazs had been playing it a bit too fast! In some pieces, as the name of the title Spirito but it makes me feel like Balazs had been playing it in Presto! Presto! Allegro! Especially track 19. I don't feel and "Spirito" in it all I can feel is Balazs is rushing the piece to be end. I don't buy the method/style where the piece is been played by Balazs however I would prefer if the piece can be play by Sviatoshlav Richter that will be another story.

2.5 Stars for the selection of pieces, and 0.5 Star for Balazs Szokolay.

I bought this CD for my kid because she had a piece assigned by her piano teacher. The pianist gave me the idea of tempo for the three movements. That was great. But he had a minor mistake in playing a single measure if you would listen closly.