Diabelli Variations

Uri Caine (Artist), Concerto Koln (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 4, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Winter & Winter
• ASIN: B00006JYUE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,471 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Pianist Uri Caine represents the true potential of the modern musician. His ability to play different types of music, from sambas to hip-hop, is rooted in his jazz pedigree. He's taken on the works of Mahler and Bach, and with this CD, he tackles Beethoven's Diabelli Variations with the chamber orchestra Concerto Köln. The disc was recorded in Germany, and Caine plays an 1838 Erard fortepiano. On the 33 variations, he moves between the classical and jazz pianistic traditions with ease. On Variations V, XVI, and XXIII, Caine drops stride, ragtime, and boogie-woogie lines into the mix. Variations IX and XI also include habanera syncopations and a sly quote from Bud Powell's bop number "Parisian Thoroughfare." In the hands of an amateur, this project would sound like a bad example of Third Stream music, but Caine's encyclopedic knowledge, humor, and ingenuity make the marriage of these great art forms sound natural. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Subtle than Caine's Past Efforts, May 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Diabelli Variations (Audio CD)

I heartedly disagree with the previous reviewer. Yes, the Diabelli Variations are an arduous task for any performer, but Caine's subtle infusions may go unnoticed by many listeners. Following the album from commencement to conclusion, works by Fats Waller, Bud Powell, Dave Brubeck, and Miles Davis arise; typically woven into Beethoven's lines. If you read the history of the Diabelli Variations, and realize Caine has always arranged with historical reflection in mind(see his klezmer arrangements of Mahler or his deflation of Wagner), this album has a myriad of conceivably astute qualities. Based on studies, one of the most bewildering aspects of the Diabelli Variations is that Beethoven felt the work had a dialetic quality which by the final variation offered the all important moment of self-reference.
Therefore Caine desires to reach a similar zenith. Hence, at times the album may sound stilted or overtly accentuated in the classical structure, but Caine does so with a purpose: to better reflect his personal exegesis of the music and how they affected his relevant considerations. The contrast by Variation 17 becomes startling, and merely continues throughout the release until the final variation. Caine hopes to reach Beethoven's acme.
His past, as a classically trained pianist and then later schooled in jazz(Caine tells stories of his piano teacher having him write jazz sonatinas of Bach at the age of 14), arises and this notion of self-reference becomes the end game.
Whether or not he succeeds remains open for debate.
Nevertheless a release which can foment such discourse deserves more than a mere two star rating, being far less disposable than the previous reviewer implied. Maybe not essential, but fairly enlightening.

3 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Stick with the original, April 25, 2003

By 

Vincent Tine (Spanish Fort, Al United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diabelli Variations (Audio CD)

Provocative and entertaining? Afraid not. Plodding and uninteresting. I thought the original was a tough nut to crack, but this is just painful. I suggest one study Beethoven's version; its rewards are many.