Hoiby: Piano Concerto No. 2; Violin Sonata; Narrative; Schubert Variations

Lee Hoiby (Composer), Robert Stankovsky (Conductor), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) (Orchestra), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava (Orchestra), Stanley Babin (Performer), Lee Hoiby (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Stanley Babin, Lee Hoiby
• Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava
• Conductor: Robert Stankovsky
• Composer: Lee Hoiby
• Audio CD (April 16, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mmc Records
• ASIN: B000004AGM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #683,080 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Concerto for piano & orchestra, No 2: Movement 1, Moderato; Allegro Gioioso

2. Concerto for piano & orchestra, No 2: Movemnet 2, Lento Espressivo

3. Concerto for piano & orchestra, No 2: Movement 3, Rondo: Presto

4. Schubert Variations for piano: Theme (17 German Dances, No. 3; D. 366)

5. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 1, Grazioso

6. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 2, Presto

7. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 3, Vivace

8. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 4, Poco Vivace, Rubato

9. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 5, Moderato

10. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 6, Andante Cantabile

11. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 7, A Piacere

12. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 8, Toccata: Agitato, Molto Vivace

13. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 9, Con Moto, Rubato

14. Schubert Variations for piano: Variation 10, Finale: Allegro Inquieto; Coda

15. Narrative, for piano

16. Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op.5: Movement I, Allegro Risoluto

17. Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op.5: Movement II, Vivace

18. Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op.5: Movement III, Lento Sostenuto

19. Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op.5: Movement IV, Allegro Molto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, accessible American music for piano, March 7, 2000

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hoiby: Piano Concerto No. 2; Violin Sonata; Narrative; Schubert Variations (Audio CD)

Lee Hoiby is a member of that generation of American composers who came of age in the 40s and 50s and whose melodic and well-crafted music was shouldered aside by the ultimately self-destructive academic music that followed. These pieces are all delightful. The piano concerto is played magnificently by Stanley Babin. Hoiby himself, no slight pianist, plays the other selections (and accompanies the violin sonata). This is amusing, charming, solid music that needs to be heard. Don't hesitate.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's where all the melody went, July 25, 2002

By 

Jeff Dunn (Alameda, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hoiby: Piano Concerto No. 2; Violin Sonata; Narrative; Schubert Variations (Audio CD)

While Modernists were gutting some of the basics of musical discourse, Lee Hoiby stayed true to the muse of Rachmaninoff and other conservatives lambasted by Adorno festishists.

The Piano Concerto and "Narrative" honor 19th-century ideals without sounding like pastiche. For those of you who think good music stopped being written after 1910, listen to Hoiby, the "other" Samuel Barber.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A major masterwork from a major composer, January 19, 2007

By 

Eva McArthur - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hoiby: Piano Concerto No. 2; Violin Sonata; Narrative; Schubert Variations (Audio CD)

This sonata should be a staple of every aspiring and accomplished violinist's repertoire. It is at once challenging and lyrical, beautiful and exciting. It is a supreme, or one of the supreme, works of art for the violin. This performance is vibrant and right on, showcasing Hoiby's immense compositional talent in writing both technically and musically for the violin, and matching it equally with the piano.

And by the way, his Piano Concerto #2, also on this CD, is a work of pure genius. (And played as such.) It is joyful, passionate, and delicate, and should be heard regularly in major concert venues. Surely any pianist worthy of the keyboard would love to play this very serious, yet beautiful, concerto.

It is time that Lee Hoiby is recognized for the American musical genius that he is. He should be ranked among the very best composers of any generation in America. Boo hiss to any of the political musical powers that be who have or would preclude Mr. Hoiby from taking his well deserved and long overdue place in the American canon of composers.