Customer Reviews

Solo Piano

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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After something like a twenty year career as a composer of electronic music sometime in 1989 or 1990 Suzanne Ciani began to move back to her original roots as an acoustic instrument player. For a musician who had come up through the ranks working on a massive Buchla synthesizer, moving in and out of tonalities, flirting with space music, this was a great sea shift. While the artist rarely focuses on the motivations behind the change in interviews what we know is that physical illness triggered a move to the West Coast and that some internal process refocused her on the melodic.

"Pianissimo," her first fully acoustic piano recording. Other than a few original pieces, this live performance draws primarily from Neverland and History of My Heart. The shift to piano makes the inner workings of these pieces far more transparent, allowing more of Ciani's intentions (she talks of "My Italian roots and a sense of melody") to come clear. This in turn allows new ideas to work within the discipline and bounds of the piano's world. The net product is something that sounds familiar, but which is more than a passive adoption of old conventions.

Ciani lacks something of the New Age technical brilliance of a Michael Jones or a George Winston, but she has the same ability to deliver a performance that is creative and compelling. This is a connection that I did not feel with some of here earlier work. She has gone on from this point to develop an eclectic style that marries elements of all the worlds she has worked in. This album is a great example of a musical turning point and has made a fan out of me.

After twenty years of working with electronic music, Suzanne Ciani chose a different course in her recording career. She rediscovered a musical instrument that she mastered as a child.

In an auditorium at the Yamaha Corporation in Buena Park, California, Suzanne produced her first piano solo album. Pianissimo is a collection of favorite songs from her previous albums. Two new songs are included in her album too.

The recording techniques used on this album make you feel that you're at a recital in a large auditorium. Suzanne shines brightly in "Rain" and "Neverland." All of her songs produce a great amount of imagery.

My favorite song is found on Track 14 titled, "Berceuse." The imagery I found in this song, is a display of Fall foliage in my backyard. Berceuse serves as a soundtrack of falling leaves and the beauty of Fall. Many listeners who buy this album will find out that the Piano is truly, a very expressive instrument.

Buy Pianissimo and let Suzanne Ciani perform a beautiful piano recital especially for you.

This is the first of the series of albumns where Suzanne Ciani play her previous tracks on piano only.

Hearing these tracks play, one may think that they were originally written for piano only but they are not. Anthem has a very national mourning and salute feel to it. Rain is perfect for a rainy day where the rain drops gently tab against the windows. She Said Yes almost represent the joy when one says yes to a marriage proposal. Every track has a meaning, every note - an emotion that fits it beautifully.

Suzanne is one of the only artist that is able to composed a track that rhymes, unlike other more abstract works of others.

Do get it and consider the rest of her wonderful albums like Pianissimo II, III, Hotel Luna, Dream Suite & The Private Music of Suzanne Ciani. Like the review title says "Made in heaven!"

For the most part, I listen to video game music. Final Fantasy Online had a really nice article about music for people that like video game music (RPG music, to be precise). There were several video game soundtracks, movie soundtracks, etc.

And . . .

Pianissimo

I am not new to New Age (I've listened to and enjoyed the works of Yanni and Enya), but neither am I very knowledgable about it. In any case, I liked Yanni's piano pieces enough that I decided I'd get this CD.

To be honest, not every song on "Pianissimo" is as great as I'd thought it would be. But on the other hand, I ended up liking a lot of the songs that the website didn't mention.

Tracks 6 and 12 (titled "Rain" and "Mozart" respectively) are my favorites.

"Rain" is definitely a piece to be listening to while it's raining (raining softly, not hard). Also try listening to it while enjoying a beautiful sunrise on a cloudy day.

"Mozart" is by far my favorite track on the CD, but it's extremely difficult to put into words exactly why I like it.

In addition to those two, I liked "Neverland", "Inverness", and "Simple Song".

I must admit that after listening to this CD I can't help but wish that I knew how to play the piano.

If you like the music from the Final Fantasy games, then you'll definitely want to check this CD out. It's good music to listen to while you're at a more peaceful part of your game.

Write to it, read to it, sleep to it, but most of all, listen to it.

I have many CDs of piano music, but Pianissimo is one of my favorites. The music swells and flows joyously over you, lifting and relaxing you.

This album is one of my favorites. I like every track on it and can replay it many times.

This was just a replacement copy for me; I've worn out one and landed up sharing the replacements in the past with friends who are just as taken with this as I was. It's wonderful to use as background music or just to relax with.

It's rare to find a CD that has energy but is calming at the same time. I think Ms. Ciani does this very well. The music is very flowing and peaceful, but there's a moving energy through the different pieces that keeps you from zoning out. She's an accomplished artist, and I enjoyed this CD very much. I'm looking forward to purchasing another by her.

I can just put this CD on repeat and play it all day.
I never tire of it.
Each hearing reveals deeper layers of detail and musicality.
The beauty of it will give you goosebumps.

Pianissimo is one of my favorite albums. I have listened to it 100's of times. It is peaceful, deeply moving, inspiring and somewhat melancholic and romantic. No other album in my collection is quite like it. Put it on when you need to reflect and meditate. She is a very talented soul.