Stravinsky: Piano Music - Sonatas / Serenade in A / Four Etudes

Igor Stravinsky (Composer), Victor Sangiorgio (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Victor Sangiorgio
• Composer: Igor Stravinsky
• Audio CD (January 29, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000ZJVI66
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,373 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #46 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Etudes
  • #53 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Forms & Genres > Sonatas
  • #76 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Polkas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Hour's Worth of Stravinsky Piano Music, Nicely Played, March 5, 2008

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stravinsky: Piano Music - Sonatas / Serenade in A / Four Etudes (Audio CD)

The Naxos label is in competition with itself with this CD of Stravinsky solo piano music played by Victor Sangiorgio; they had issued a CD in 2001 with much the same repertoire played by Peter Hill. This one is considerably better than that one if only because the recorded sound of the piano is much better. But there are any number of CDs available on other labels that contain much the same music. They include fine volumes by Aleck Karis (an underrated pianist, in my view), Martin Jones, and even one by Stravinsky's pianist son, Soulima Stravinsky. This one, however, does not contain probably the most familiar work, the Three Movements from 'Petrushka'. This CD has the advantage of being offered at Naxos's bargain pricing.

As for the pieces contained here, the highlights are the two piano sonatas (the late-romantic 'Piano Sonata in F Sharp Minor' and the neo-classic work simply called 'Piano Sonata'); the rarely heard Etudes, Op. 7; and the trivial but utterly delicious Tango. Also we hear the rarely heard 'Serenade in A'. The familiar 'Circus Polka' and 'Piano Rag-Music' lead off the CD, but perhaps the droll humor of these pieces is just a little lacking in these performances.

Still, for anyone wanting to become familiar with the two piano sonatas as well as a host of miniatures, they could certainly do worse than get this disc.

Scott Morrison