Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good bang for the buck., December 6, 2005
I was killing some time in the store the other day and was in the mood for a cheap CD for the car for the ride home. I ran across this and saw a few recognizable titles so for about $5 I figured I'd take a chance. I'm fairly impressed, I wasn't crazy about some of her dynamics in Un Sospiro plus her little added frill in there but still enjoyed it...I'd learned that piece myself years back, still can't play it and probably never will! Another piece I've known for years is the infamous Rachmaninov Prelude in C#m. Again, I wasn't crazy about some of the dynamics of her style but she still nails it without a hitch. Then I got to some other interesting pieces, I love the Debussy Golliwog's Cakewalk...really sticks in your head. Sort of a classisized (?) ragtime and it's cool enough that I'm going to dig through my music and see if I don't have it somewhere. I thought the Chopin Etude in C#m was absolutely fabulous, she just cooks through it from beginning to end. I probably have the music for that too...I'm not even going to attempt it! ;-) In fact, I liked all the Chopin she plays here, it seems she had a real flair for his music. Without going on forever here I'll just say that there are several tracks I listen to extensively on here and I'm fairly impressed. For a lousy $5 how can you go wrong? Just buy the thing! I'd never heard of her before so I just did a little 'net searching and I'm saddened to find that she just passed away about 8 months ago at age 88, truly a loss to the classical music world. In any case, even at twice the price I doubt anyone would be disappointed with this CD.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent performances, good recording, great deal!, January 13, 2008
Moura Lympany, Dame Commander of the British Empire (a title not given to just anyone, and her ability deserves such note from the Brits), performs this selection of pieces beautifully. She was (she passed in 2005 at the age of 88) a talented concert pianist known throughout the world. Here, you have 20 pieces for solo piano performed by the virtouso.
The recording is exceptional with only one minor flaw; apparently Dame Moura had a heavy foot on the pedals and her tapping can be heard from time to time, but this is a minor issue and hardly noticeable. I mention it only because it took a couple of listens to figure out what that soft thumping sound was.
This gifted pianist gave her first concert performance at the age of 12, Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto in G minor, with (also knighted) Basil Cameron conducting. Cameron suggested that she "glamorise her name" and so she changed from her birth name, Mary Gertrude Johnstone, to Moura Lympany (Lympany an adaption of her mother's maiden name, Limpenny, and rhyming with timpani).
From this point forward, she pursued music and piano with a controlled passion. On practicing, she once said "None of this eight hours a day stuff. If you can't get it right in four you never will". She was known in her early years to have left the podium in tears after performing becaue "of worry over the wrong notes she had played".
She recieved the title of Commander of the British Empire in the 1970's and the title Dame Commander in the 1990's. She was the first to record all of Rachmaninoff's Preludes, certainly no small feat. She toured in to her 70's.
Suffice it to say that this woman had a gift and used it to great effect and success.
I ordered this disc primarily for the pieces by Debussy (my favorite composer) and the one by Liszt (one of my favorite pieces for solo piano), but all pieces are wonderful and I have gained a new appreciation for all of the composers and the pieces because of this CD.
Her performances on this CD are amazing, passionate and beautiful. Each piece is performed as well as any other performance I have heard and it is all here on 1 CD to be enjoyed. The bargain price is a bonus and you must buy this before Seraphim decides to raise the price from the budget bin price of about $4.00. This is definitely worth every penny and then some.
Buy this CD with confidence.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Elegance at the piano, June 15, 2007
I grew up listening to Moura Lympany's playing, especially Litolff's Scherzo. Never could understand how a person could play with absolute control at high speed. In this recording, most (though not all - the Etude in C# minor an obvious exception)of the music is more laid back, and played with great grace and with the controlled touch of a pianist at the peak of her career.
The ambience of the recording is a wide open one, giving us the full clear sound that makes listening to a grand piano to enjoyable.
If you enjoy listening to good piano music, this is a recording that you will enjoy a great deal.
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