Prokofiev Plays Prokofiev

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
With some trivial exceptions, mostly piano rolls, this disc compiles Prokofiev's complete recordings as a pianist. It's a pity there are so few of them, but we are fortunate to have any. The composer's brilliance in his own popular Third Piano Concerto has never been surpassed, not even by such contemporary virtuosi as Argerich and Toradze. The way he tosses off the showers of rushing chords just before the end of the last movement is a typical illustration of Prokofiev's amazing pianism. Even the sluggish playing of the LSO under the direction of Coppola, a company hack from French EMI, doesn't diminish the value or the thrills of this performance. The selection of piano music, brief as it is, reveals the contrasting facets of Prokofiev's style, and his playing reflects moods from the sarcastic brilliance of Suggestion diabolique to the touching poignance of the slow movement from the Fourth Piano Sonata. Superbly transferred by Mark Obert-Thorn, this listenable and compelling disc is a model of what historical reissues should be in both content and presentation. --Leslie Gerber

Tracks:

Overture To 'Tannhauser'
Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
Hungarian Dance No.7
The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
Csardas Music
The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
Tzigane
Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
Caprice No.24
The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
The Violin Muted
Clair De Lune
The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
The Pizzicato Violin
Pizzicato Polka
In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
Hungarian Dance No.4
Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
Bolero
Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
Elfenreigen

Tracks:

Introduction To The Viola
Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
Cypresses (No.9)
The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
The 'Period' Viola In Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
Elfentanz, Op.39
Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
The Protecting Veil (Opening)
A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
Flamenco
Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
Symphony No.9 (Finale)
Introduction To The Double-Bass
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
Elegy No.1 In D Major
The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
Capriccio Di Bravura
Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
Sa'Dawi
Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
Chamber Music No.II
The Piccolo - Aptly Named
La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
A Variety Of Techniques
Chamber Music No.II
Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
Naelden, Naelden
The Bachian Oboe
Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
The Swan Of Tuonela
The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
Bolero
The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
...And Quite Low.
Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
Introduction To The Saxophone
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
Bolero
The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
Sax-O-Phun
The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
Bolero
The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
Symphony No.3 (Opening)
The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
The Ceremonial Trumpet
Fanfare For The Common Man
Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
Billy The Kid
The Trumpet As Character Actor
Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
The Birth Of The Trombone
Aenmerckt Nu Hier
The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
Canzon 12 In Double Echo
The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
Hosannah
The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
The Trombone As Caricaturist
Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
The Horn And The Hunt
Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
Walter Music (Minuet 1)
The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
Den Hoboecken Dans
Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
Gymnopedie No.2
The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
The Birth Of The Bongo
Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
Taking Advantage Of Tunability
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
Ravel And The Xylophone
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
Introducing The Vibraphone
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
Folk Dances
The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
Introducing The Tubular Bells
Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
Carmen Suite (Introduction)
But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Introducing The Celeste
The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
Petrushka (Russian Dance)
The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
Mahler's Sleighbells
Symphony No.4 (Opening)
A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Nocturnes
Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
The Oboe As Duck
Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
A Thunderstorm In A Million
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)

Tracks:

The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
Octet In F (Mvt 3)
The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
Canzon 28
Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
Images (Gigues)
A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')

Customer Reviews:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

Frank's view.......2006-08-19

This boxed set of CD's with booklet achieved all I had hoped that it would. There are good samples of individual instruments and well done commentary on each. The only drawback was that some of the samples were too brief and could have been longer, hoiwever I guess this fits in with time constraints of the medium. It has given me a lot of clues as to future purchases of CD's for listening to individual instruments. Altogeth a satisfactory purchase and a welcome addition to my collection.

Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

I've listened to classical music for years and am interested in composition. I bought this CD set to learn how an orchestra and its instruments work. I thought the CDs would be a nice but boring lecture. They aren't! Not only are they FUN but they are informative as well. I learned a huge amount from each CD and couldn't wait to listen to the next one.

The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!

I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.

Tracks:

Promenade
The Gnome
Promenade
The Old Castle
Promenade
Tuleries
Bydlo
Promenade
Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
Samuel Goldenberg & Schmuyle
Limoges-The Market
Catacombs
Con Mortuis In Lingua Mortua
The Hut on Fowl's Legs
The Great Gate at Kiev
Etude Op.2 No.1 in C-Sharp Minor
Prelude, Op. 11, No. 5 in D
Prelude, Op. 22 No. 1 in G-Sharp Minor
Danse Excentrique
Sonata No. 9 , Op. 68: Sonata No. 9 , Op. 68 - Black Mass
Dumka, Op. 59
Variations On A Theme From 'Carmen'
Sonata no. 7, Op. 83: III: Sonata no. 7, Op. 83: III. Precipitato
Humoresque, Op. 10, No. 5
Barcarolle, Op. 10, No. 3
Serenade To The Doll, No. 3, Children's Corner
The Stars And Stripes Forever

Amazon.com essential recording

Horowitz's Pictures is one of his most controversial recordings. In true Romantic tradition, he made changes in Mussorgsky's much-maligned score. Ignore those strict constructionists who hold that the composer's word is law, and you'll revel in the sheer high spirits and unabashed virtuosity of this electrifying performance. Few make this piece as exciting as Horowitz. The fillers offer his inimitable versions of various Russian favorites along with his not-to-be-missed transcriptions of Carmen highlights and a Sousa Stars and Stripes Forever as you've never heard it. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Horowitz Review.......2007-01-10

This recording was made in 1947 and the recording quality reflects that. It sounds like the CD was made from a scratchy record with no clean up.

I have heard better Horowitz performances. This one is very mechanical, without much color or feeling.

No better place to hear musical genius!.......2005-08-22

Horowitz' arrangement of Stars and Stripes Forever is possibly the most incredible piece I have ever heard (and I don't even like that song very much.) If you have never heard it in its entirety, you have really been missing something. The first half is really good but the second half is mind-blowing. Horowitz was a genius!!!

The other works on the disc are great too but I prefer more recent recordings such as Evgeny Kissin's Pictures at an Exhibition. Of course it's not that Evgeny plays it better than Vladimir but the recording quality has much improved since 1947.

Whatever you do, don't miss Stars and Stripes Forever. You will never forget it.

Incredible performance, scratchy sound........2000-12-17

A very good CD, but some of the titles are also on the Encores CD, and all the titles except the Rachmaninoff (recorded in 1979) are in mono. Besides the Rachmaninoff, the recording dates range from 1928 (whew!) to 1956. That said, this is Horowitz! It's great! I'd pay the money for the Prokofiev and Danse Excentrique alone. I just want to warn you that this is not the crystal-clear CD sound we're used to.

I undoubtedly declare that Horowitz is the best........2000-12-03

You may know that Horowitz is a TOP pianist. But there is a one more. This recording is the most suitable recording that shows the differences beteween Horowitz and other pianists. In other words, this recording represents the genuine playstyle of Horowitz. One of the conspicuous specialty of Horowitz is ffff. The Grate Gate At Kiev (Pictures at an Exhibition) needs exteremly strong finger power.(Self-confidence of piano touch) Also to "Prokofiev sonata No.7","The Stars and Stripes Forever", the same can be told. I want to say, It`s needless to say who is the second, at least in these pieces. ( the gap between 1st and 2nd is too wide )(And, I`m not saying abut all the pieces of Horowitz. I`m only telling you about the pieces in this record.) I have an absolute pitch, and can compose a little.So believe me. Have a nice day!

P.S. To music lover who want`s to listen awesome 'Carmen Vars.' : Horowitz recorded 'carmen vars' not only once. (because it revised several times.) Carmen.V. in this CD is different from "Horowitz Encore". After buing this record, listen carefully the samples (in Horowitz Encore). They are not the same. (Both has it`s tastes.)

Horowitz is amazing as usual, BUT..........1998-09-27

Horowitz is amazing as we have all come to expect, but at the time that Mussorgsky's PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION was recorded, recording techiniques had not been perfected as they have today. The rest of the CD is outstanding. If you are a Horowitz fan, I highly recommend this recording.

Shakespeare's Music: Classic and Popular Music Inspired by the Plays

Average customer rating:

A good idea not perfected

Shakespeare's Music: Classic and Popular Music Inspired by the Plays

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000JN9M
Release Date: 1999-07-27

Tracks:

Shakespeare In Love - Erich Kunzel
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Romeo And Juliet - Lorin Maazel
Love Scene - David Zinman
Montagues And Capulets - Cleveland Orchestra
Romeo And Juliet - Cleveland Orchestra
Henry V - Erich Kunzel
Otello - Erich Kunzel
'A Time For Us' - Erich Kunzel

Customer Reviews:

A good idea not perfected.......1999-08-10

Shakespeare seems to be all the rage in the cinema world and record companies are seldom far behind. This is a Good Thing but it is easy to run out of ideas and/or saturate the market with Elizabethan-type programs; so one must find a gimmick. Telarc has found one, not very original perhaps, but pleasant enough for the listener. It is called (CD-80551) and contains music that comes from films and greater works. The films represented are "Shakespeare in Love," the second "Henry V," and the Zeffirelli "Romeo and Juliet." None of these, mind you, have any pretense at a late 16th century sound; and I would have strongly opted for the Olivier "Henry V" which at least used material from that period. But the keyword in this collection is "inspired," so let that rest. From the classics come some Mendelssohn "Midsummer Night's Dream" and some Berlioz "Romeo et Juliette" with some of Prokofiev's, and all of Tchaikovski's. Why Telarc didn't stick to just to the Romeo play makes me wonder. The best bit (to me) is the "Ave Maria" and final scene from Verdi's "Otello." This compilation features Kunzel and the Cincinatti Pops, Levi and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Maazel and the Cleveland Orchestra. The film music is generally played well given the level of it quality), the classical is better played on many other older recordings. Still this idea is a good one and perhaps Telarc will use it again using only classical or only film score sources.

Average customer rating:

Some gems in this collection of lesser-known Prokofiev

Gyorgy Sandor Plays Prokofiev

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Gyorgy Sandor Plays Prokofiev
Bartok: Complete Solo Piano Music
Gyorgy Sandor Plays Bartók
Bartok: Violin Concertos, Viola Concerto, 6 Duo for 2 Violins, Violin Rhapsodies; Yehudi Menuhin
Taneyev: Chamber Music

ASIN: B000001KCA
Release Date: 1994-08-15

Tracks:

Toccata, Op. 11
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 1. March
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 2. Gavotte
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 3. Riguaudon
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 4. Mazurka
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 5. Capriccio
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 6. Legend
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 7. Prelude 'Harp'
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 8. Allemande
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 9. Humorous Scherzo (For 4 Bassoons)
Ten Episodes, Op. 12: No. 10. Scherzo
Five Sarcasms, Op. 17: No. 1
Five Sarcasms, Op. 17: No. 2
Five Sarcasms, Op. 17: No. 3
Five Sarcasms, Op. 17: No. 4
Five Sarcasms, Op. 17: No. 5
Chose en soi, Op. 45a
Chose en soi, Op. 45b
Music For Children, Op. 65: Morning - Promenade - Fairy Tale - Tarantella - Regrets - Waltz - Parade Of The Grasshoppers - Rain And The Rainbow - Tag - March - Evening - Moonlit Meadows)

Tracks:

Three Pieces, Op. 59: Promenade
Three Pieces, Op. 59: Paysage
Three Pieces, Op. 59: Sonatine Pastorale
Twenty Visions Fugitives, Op. 22
Tales Of An Old Grandmother, Op. 31: No. 1. Moderato
Tales Of An Old Grandmother, Op. 31: No. 2. Andantino
Tales Of An Old Grandmother, Op. 31: No. 3. Andate assai
Tales Of An Old Grandmother, Op. 31: No. 4. Sostenuto
Four Pieces, Op. 32: No. 1. Dance
Four Pieces, Op. 32: No. 2. Minuet
Four Pieces, Op. 32: No. 3. Gavotte
Four Pieces, Op. 32: No. 4. Waltz
Pensees, Op. 62: No. 1. Adagio Penseroso
Pensees, Op. 62: No. 2. Lento
Pensees, Op. 62: No. 3. Andante

Amazon.com

Most of this music is not well known. Prokofiev buried a lot of imaginative music in sets like Tales of the Old Grandmother and Visions Fugitives (not to mention such imaginatively titled sets as Three Pieces and Four Pieces). For those who love Prokofiev's blend of lyricism and cynicism, there are probably many wonderful discoveries to be made in this set. Gyorgy Sandor's recording is rather dated, and he doesn't play Prokofiev's most virtuosic music with the same fury as he does Bartók's. But he is a musician of great resource and integrity, and at the super-budget price his excursion into Prokofiev is a worthwhile investment. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

Some gems in this collection of lesser-known Prokofiev.......2006-05-04

This useful collection acts as a pendant to Gyorgy Sandor's set, also on Vox, of the piano sonatas, sonatinas and early piano pieces. Containing all the original piano music not on the piano sonata set (though not Prokofiev's transcriptions of his and other people's music) it gives a good picture of the composer's development from around 1910 until his return to Russia in 1935.

Taking the works on the disc chronologically, we start with the virtuoso Toccata--a triumph of demonic Lisztian energy--before moving onto the Ten Episodes, op 12. This is still early Prokofiev, though his mature style is already here in miniature: ironically swaggering marches, motoric rhythms and gentle lyricism feature prominently amongst the short pieces here.

More modernist--in fact as modernist as the composer's solo piano music gets--are the Sarcasms, op 17. These works are considerably more harmonically dissonant (though always clearly tonal) and bristling with brutalist rhythms. While certainly a stylistic advance on the op 12 set, they are not as fine as the Visions Fugitives, op 22, surely the greatest of Prokofiev's non-sonata piano works. This set of 20 miniatures (some very short indeed) conveys a huge emotional and stylistic range in its 20-minute duration.

By the time of Prokofiev's next piano pieces, his style was already beginning to simplify. The Tales of an Old Grandmother, op 31, perhaps isn't the best example of this--these are pieces for the student, charming as they are--but the Four Pieces that immediately follow it certainly represent a clear distillation of the earlier style into music that is simple yet strongly characterised.

The rest of the works on these discs come from that ambivalent, difficult time when Prokofiev was tiring of life in the West and moving back home to Soviet Russia. Like much of the music from that period, it's often deeply conflicted emotionally, and though generally fairly simple in nature the harmonies are often strange and unsettling. The two op 45 pieces entitled Chose en soi (Thing in itself) are the most ambitious of the solo piano works of this era, both being expressively and structurally diverse--in contrast the op 59 set is a group of simple character pieces, while the Pensees, op 62, are unified by a slow, thoughtful manner. Finally, the Music for Children--Prokofiev's last original piano work not to be titled Sonata--dates from just after his return to Russia. These are delightful miniatures for younger pianists to play, but obviously do not add up to a major work.

Gyorgy Sandor is a more-than-reliable guide to these works. If he has does have to cede precedence to other pianists in individual works (Argerich in the Toccata, Richter in various of the Visions Fugitives and the composer himself in other pieces, for example) this is still a very reliable traversal of these works--and at the price, well-night unbeatable value.

The Hollywood String Quartet Plays Prokofiev, Hindemith, Walton

Average customer rating:

The Hollywood String Quartet Plays Prokofiev, Hindemith, Walton

Manufacturer: Testament UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Hollywood String Quartet
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht; Schubert: Quintet
The Hollywood String Quartet Plays Kodály, Smetana & Dvorák
The Hollywood String Quartet
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No1, Op107; Violin Concerto No1 (revised), Op99

ASIN: B000003XIX
Release Date: 1994-11-21

Tracks:

String Quartet No. 2 In F Op. 92: Allegro Sostenuto
String Quartet No. 2 In F Op. 92: Adagio
String Quartet No. 2 In F Op. 92: Allegro - Andante molto - Allegro
String Quartet No. 3 In C Op. 22: Fugato (Sehr langsame Viertel)
String Quartet No. 3 In C Op. 22: Schnelle Achtell (Senh energisch)
String Quartet No. 3 In C Op. 22: Ruhige Viertel (Stets fliessend)
String Quartet No. 3 In C Op. 22: Massing schnelle Viertel
String Quartet No. 3 In C Op. 22: Rondo (Gemachlich und Grazie)
String Quartet In A Minor: Allegro
String Quartet In A Minor: Presto
String Quartet In A Minor: Lento
String Quartet In A Minor: Allegro molto

Amazon.com

I'm not always happy with the Hollywood String Quartet's legendary recordings of romantic music. But 20th-century music was their specialty, and this disc is a dazzler. The group digs into all three pieces with tremendous verve and the amazingly well matched ensemble that was their trademark. Personally, I'd rank the works on the disc in this order: first, Hindemith, a gritty post-World War I masterpiece; second, Prokofiev, a touchingly expressive work; and third, Walton, pseudo-modernistic dishwater. Walton loved this performance of his Quartet, so at least it's being done right. The recording is clear and realistic '50s mono, the program generous (73:37). --Leslie Gerber

Average customer rating:

Leonid Kogan plays Bach and Prokofiev

Manufacturer: Marquis Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000MV98DM
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

I. Moderato
II. Scherzo
III. Andante
IV. Allegro Con Brio
I. Adagio
II. Fuga
III. Largo
IV. Allegro Assai

Simon Trpceski Plays Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky, Prokofiev

Average customer rating:

Stunning!
An Enjoyable Record
Trpceski vs. Pletnev
for critic from Canada
Bravo! Long Live Trpceski!

Simon Trpceski Plays Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky, Prokofiev

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Simon Trpceski Plays Rachmaninoff
Chopin: Sonata No. 2; 4 Scherzos
Rachmaninov: Préludes
Schumann: Fantasie; Kreisleriana; Arabeske
Karol Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No. 3; Métopes; Masques

ASIN: B0000647IV
Release Date: 2003-01-29

Tracks:

Concert Suite From The Nutcracker: I. March: Tempo Di Marcia Viva
Concert Suite From The Nutcracker: II. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy: Andante Ma Non Troppo
Concert Suite From The Nutcracker: III. Tarantella: Tempo Di Tarantella
Concert Suite From The Nutcracker: Intermezzo
Concert Suite From The Nutcracker: Trepak (Russian Dance): Molto Vivace
Concert Suite From The Nutcracker: Chinese Dance: Allegro Moderato
Concert Suite From The Nutcracker: Andante Maestoso (Pas De Deux)
Piano Sonata No.5, Op.53: Allegro/Impetuoso/Con Stravaganza
Trois Mouvements De Petrouchka (Transcribed For Piano Solo By The Composer): I. Danse Russe: Allegro Giusto
Trois Mouvements De Petrouchka (Transcribed For Piano Solo By The Composer): II. Chez Petrouchka: Stringendo
Trois Mouvements De Petrouchka (Transcribed For Piano Solo By The Composer): III. La Semaine Grasse: Con Molto
Piano Sonata No.6 In A, Op.82: I. Allegro Moderato
Piano Sonata No.6 In A, Op.82: II> Allegretto
Piano Sonata No.6 In A, Op.82: III. Tempo Di Valzer Lentissimo
Piano Sonata No.6 In A, Op.82: IV. Vivace

Customer Reviews:

Stunning!.......2007-06-08

I think that this CD is simply magnificent. The pieces in this compilation need no introduction for fans of classical music. Each is a masterpiece, in my humble opinion; and I find Trpceski's interpretations to be enthralling, as a result of their insight, communicativeness, spontaneity, and splendid execution. To put it differently, Trpceski's technique is brilliant, in the best and most inclusive sense of the word. Personally, I don't believe that the "golden age" of piano playing is long over. I believe that we are fortunate to have many exceptional and distinctive classical pianists currently concretizing - Argerich, Zimerman, Pollini, Kovacevich, Hamelin, Anderszewski, and Freire are but a handful. Trpceski easily fits into this tradition of excellence, and he offers this listener the hope that the tradition will continue for many generations. Although Trpceski's Rachmaninov and Chopin recitals (see below) are also certainly worthy of your attention, I advise you to begin your exploration of Trpceski's art with this recording.

I also highly recommend:
Trpceski's Rachmaninov recital Simon Trpceski Plays Rachmaninoff
Trpceski's Chopin recital Chopin: Sonata No. 2; 4 Scherzos

An Enjoyable Record.......2005-08-04

I was pleasantly surprised by this recording. The playing is of a very high order throughout and Mr. Trpceski is really a lot of fun to listen to. His technique is remarkable and he really has good taste (which is not always the case with young pianists). If you enjoy this repertiore (or even if you don't), this is playing that deserves to be heard. The recording is also excellent.

Trpceski vs. Pletnev.......2005-04-22

Regarding the Tchaikovsky transcription by Pletnev, performed
here by Trpceski and on a Philips CD by Pletnev himself,
I can only say, there is no comparison, the performance by
Trpceski is a miracle, while Pletnev is pedestrian at best.

The Pletnev was recorded about 27 years ago and the engineering
of the recorded sound was terrible. The piano used in the
Pletnev was out-of-tune and otherwise still not a great
instrument, while Trpceski's piano on this EMI recording
is almost unique in its beauty and balance. EMI's engineering
is superb.

Given the differences in the engineering and instruments, it
is hard to make a fair comparison of the two pianists. I
bought the Pletnev recording only because of the previous
Amazon review, and very much regret that I did. I found it a
tremendous disappointment.

Pletnev's transcription is wonderful, but his interpretation
leaves much to be desired. The sensitive phrasing and
delicate touches found in Trpceski's, are tossed off and
go for nothing in that particular Pletnev recording, not
to mention Pletnev's fumbled notes.

for critic from Canada.......2005-01-31

While I appreciate Mr. Trpceski CD and while I think he is a WONDERFUL pianist please listen to the recording of M.Pletnev playing his own transcription of Tchaikovsky and to S. Richter's recording of Prokofiev's Sixth!! Please do NOT compare apples and oranges. People might really think that Mr. Kissin is as 'legendary' as Mr. S.Richter, which is simple nonsense! There is Moon to Earth distance between these two as well as there is even a further distance between Mr. Trpceski and Mr. Pletnev
If, after listening to Mr. Pletnev and Mr. Richter, you still have tears when hearing Mr. Trpceski's Tchaikovsky you have to talk to your doctor....may be he/she can help you.
Good luck!

Bravo! Long Live Trpceski!.......2004-01-04

I first had the privilege of listening to this recording by Simon Trpceski in December 2002, and I have been listening to it ever since. This is the sort of recording that you can listen to many times and find something new and wonderful each time. I have already inducted it into my personal pantheon of exceptional recordings, and it ranks with such legendary recordings as Horowitz's 1986 Moscow recital, Gieseking's performances of Debussy's piano music, and Richter's sublime Schubert from the 1970s, to mention but a few.

Trpceski was born in 1979 in Skopje, Macedonia, and has won many international competitions. This is his first disc, and it has deservedly garnered many awards, including Gramophone's "Editor's Choice of the Year" award for 2003 and BBC Music magazine's "Disc of the Month" award. The disc starts off with Mikhail Pletnev's piano transcription of seven movements from Tchaikovsky's popular ballet The Nutcracker. I unfortunately have not heard Pletnev's own recording of his transcriptions, but with all due respect to Pletnev's impressive playing, I cannot imagine a better recording than Trpceski's.

Pletnev's transcriptions of the nutcracker are certainly spectacular, but it is not just Trpceski's virtuosity that makes this recording so special. What makes this recording wonderful is the fact that Trpceski plays with incredible passion. The "Pas de deux" is the most incredibly powerful recording of any piece of music I have ever heard - while I am not an overly sentimental person, I cry every time I listen to it. When I hear this track I often think of Joseph Campbell's quote that in life we "participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world," for Trpceski plays the piece with life affirming joy, while also acknowledging the more poignant undertones so that we can truly appreciate the brighter side of the music.

The next item on this recording is Alexander Scriabin's Fifth Sonata. It is an excellent recording, and I think that it compares favorably to Horowitz's 1976 recording, which is often cited as the benchmark. Horowitz's recording is considerably slower than Trpceski's (Horowitz plays the sonata in slightly over twelve minutes, while Trpceski clocks in at slightly under eleven minutes), and to my ear Horowitz gives a more fiery, heavy performance than Trpceski, who tends to be more lyrical and soft. I would not like to choose between the two versions, for each of them has something special to offer.

The ballet "Petrushka" is my favorite work by Stravinsky, and I am constantly delighted by the composer's own piano transcription. I once read that Artur Rubinstein, who commissioned the transcription, pronounced it unplayable, and as a pianist myself I can imagine the difficulty of the piece. Trpceski, however, has no problems handling its massive technical challenges. Yet while I cannot help but be amazed at Trpceski's technical feats, what really holds my attention is his musicality. According to the informative CD booklet, Stravinsky wanted the three movement transcription to be seen as a work in its own right, rather than just "mere" transcription, and Trpceski clearly realizes this. I hesitate to compare the transcription to the orchestral original, but since I have not had the opportunity to hear another recording of the piano transcription, I must say that Trpceski's recording complements Stravinsky's own recording of the orchestral original.

Prokofiev's sixth sonata rounds off this generous disc (the total time of the disc is 72:42). When I first got this disc I did not listen to the Prokofiev sonata as often as the other pieces, but since then I have come to cherish it. Hearing Trpceski's recording made me begin to understand this piece for the first time. I had previously listened to recordings by Evgeny Kissin and Sviatoslav Richter, both of whom are legendary for their interpretations of this piece. However, for me their recordings, while excellent, simply don't compare to Trpceski's. His performance never sounds harsh or acidic, and yet it avoids the other extreme of bleakness and bland dissonance. Before listening to Trpceski's recording, I had never understood or appreciated the two inner movements of the sonata, and I only appreciated the fast movements for their technical difficulties. However, Trpceski succeeds in making this music very human. It is at once both tragic and compassionate, and it is certainly my benchmark for this piece.

Tracks:

Pno Con No.3 in C, Op.26: Andante - Allegro
Pno Con No.3 in C, Op.26: Tema Con Variazioni (Andantino)
Pno Con No.3 in C, Op.26: Allegro Ma Non Troppo
Suggestion Diabolique, Op.4 No.4
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.9 Allegro Tranquillo
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.3 Allegretto
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.17 Poetico
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.18 Con Una Dolce Lentezza
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.11 Con Vivacita
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.10 Ridicolosamente
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.16 Dolente
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.6 Con Eleganza
Visions Fugitives, Op.22 (Extracts): No.5 Molto Giocosa
Pno Pieces: 'Classical' Sym, Op.25: Gavotte
Pno Pieces: Son No.4, Op.29: Andante Assai
Pno Pieces: Conte De La Vielle Grand-Mere, Op.31 No.2
Pno Pieces: Conte De La Vielle Grand-Mere, Op.31 No.3
Pno Pieces: Gavotte, Op.32 No.3
Pno Pieces: Etude, Op.52
Pno Pieces: Sonatine Pastorale, Op.59 No.3
Pno Pieces: Paysage, Op.59 No.2

Amazon.com

With some trivial exceptions, mostly piano rolls, this disc compiles Prokofiev's complete recordings as a pianist. It's a pity there are so few of them, but we are fortunate to have any. The composer's brilliance in his own popular Third Piano Concerto has never been surpassed, not even by such contemporary virtuosi as Argerich and Toradze. The way he tosses off the showers of rushing chords just before the end of the last movement is a typical illustration of Prokofiev's amazing pianism. Even the sluggish playing of the LSO under the direction of Coppola, a company hack from French EMI, doesn't diminish the value or the thrills of this performance. The selection of piano music, brief as it is, reveals the contrasting facets of Prokofiev's style, and his playing reflects moods from the sarcastic brilliance of Suggestion diabolique to the touching poignance of the slow movement from the Fourth Piano Sonata. Superbly transferred by Mark Obert-Thorn, this listenable and compelling disc is a model of what historical reissues should be in both content and presentation. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

Historic Prokofiev!!!.......2005-08-06

"Prokofiev Plays Prokofiev" on the Naxos label collects all of the recordings made by the great Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev onto one disc. Unlike Rachmaninoff who made many recordings of his own works as well as works by other composers, Prokofiev made very few recordings. Because of this, the "Prokofiev Plays Prokofiev" disc offers a rare glimpse into the composer's talents as a pianist/performer.
Included on this disc is a one-of-a-kind performance of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto recorded in 1932 at the famed Abbey Road Studios (this is exactly 30 years before the Beatles made Abbey Road a household name). On this recording, Prokofiev shows off his effortless chops as a pianist while the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Piero Coppola provides a strong backdrop to the composer's up-front-and-center piano.
Filling out the disc are solo piano recordings made by Prokofiev in Paris in 1935. Here, he gives authentic renditions of his "Suggestion Diabolique" as well as stellar excerpts from his 20-part "Visions Fugitives", the Gavotte movement from his famous "Classical Symphony" (Symphony No.1), the closing movement of his Fourth Piano Sonata and other shorter piano pieces.
Getting to hear Prokofiev play his own music brings a definitve sense of authenticity to the music. You get to hear the composer perform the music as they originally intended it to be executed. While he is not as powerful of a pianist as Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev does display a dynamic and flawless technique on these historic recordings. The audio restoration and digital remastering is amazing bringing clarity and depth to the original recordings without much surface noise or imperfections that are common with old 78 RPM records. The enclosed liner notes while somewhat brief, offering an excellent insight not only to the music but to the actual recordings themselves.
With this said, "Prokofiev Plays Prokofiev" is definitely a must-have for the die-hard Prokofiev fan. It's a genuine treat to hear the genius at work and with its price tag of under eight dollars, this disc is an absolute steal.

Great, But Not "Definitive" Performances.......2005-06-25

There is certainly a range of opinions among the reviewers here as to the merits of these composer-played performances. So here are a few dissenting remarks of my own. I have to take issue with Amazon editorialist Leslie Gerber's characterization of Piero Coppola as a "hack" conductor. In addition to his work here in Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto, Coppola left many very distinguished 78 rpm recordings: one of the earliest and best accounts of Bizet's "Carmen," a great reading of the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony, and many pathbreaking accounts of Debussy, Ravel, Roussel, etc.

As the typically well-written and informative review here by Hank Drake indicates, Piero Coppola was also grandfather of the famed film director Francis Ford Coppola. It's interesting to note that the latter's "Godfather" films are essentially grand operas of pride and revenge (especially III, where the climactic final scenes are actually set in an opera house during a performance of Mascagni's similarly-themed "Cavalleria Rusticana"). Piero's son Carmine Coppola was a film composer (e.g., a small part of the otherwise Rota-composed Godfather films, and a very Satie-esque, Gymnopedie-like film score for "The Black Stallion"). It's also worth noting that the Prokofiev 3rd can be heard as a prize-winning peformance in the delightful film "The Competition," starring Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving (the Prokofiev excerpts heard in the film were played by pianist Daniel Pollack).

I'm afraid I can't agree with Mr. Drake's characterization of this 3rd Concerto's performance as "definitive." There are just too many equally valid ways to perform a great work, none of which should be called the "one and only." Even when I feel that a reading is as close to definitive as possible (say, Richter's recording of the Prokofiev 5th Concerto), I am more inclined to say "best I've heard" or "finest known to me" or something along those lines, simply because I haven't heard them ALL.

The 3rd Piano Concerto has had no shortage of fine recordings. In fact, I was amazed to discover that the Philips CD series "Great Pianists of the 20th Century" contains no fewer than FIVE of them: Argerich, Gavrilov, Janis, Kapell and Katchen. Of those, I prefer the Kapell (with Dorati; Kapell also left a great "live" recording with Stokowski on M&A, but the sound is poor). Yes, I think this Prokofiev/Coppola account is a GREAT one, and I am happy to own it along with those two by William Kapell, the quirky version by Samson Francois (with Andre Cluytens on EMI), the fine collaboration of Alexander Uninsky with Willem von Otterloo (Epic LP), and a brilliant "live" account from Nikita Magaloff with conductor Lovro von Matacic (Disques Montaigne).

Prokofiev is especially remarkable here in the short solo pieces like "Visions fugitives," and his accounts are among my very favorites, along with those by Richter, Neuhaus and Katz.

Incidentally, Prokofiev also made a 1938 recording, this time as a CONDUCTOR, of badly-played selections from his own "Romeo & Juliet" with the Moscow Philharmonic (available on a Parnassus CD). Judging from that evidence, I won't hesitate to say that Prokofiev was DEFINITELY better as a composer/pianist than he was as a composer/conductor!

Is this Prokofiev 3rd Concerto a "definitive" recording? No, I don't believe there is such a thing. Is it a VERY GREAT recording that's a "must-hear?" Absolutely!

Highly recommended.

Jeff Lipscomb

Prokofiev is better a composer than a pianist.......2004-11-03

I have to disagree with the editorial comment regarding to Prokofiev's playing of the 3rd Concerto is unsurpassed by Argerich. I don't know if Prokofiev was not playing at his best in this recording, but it sounds like he didn't have much control over his 3rd Concerto. In some virtuostic parts of the concerto, he slowed down tremendously, and that actually killed the continuity of the piece. Other times, he speeded up like crazy. I can sense that the orchestra had a hard time keeping up with him. I don't know if it's the recording, but the orchestra sounded very passive. In some critical parts where the woodwind is suppose to stand, you can't hear much.
If you want to listen to excellent performances of this concerto, listen to Argerich (Abbado conducting Berlin Philharmonic)or Ashkenazy. The best performance I found is played by John Browning (Erich Leinsdorf conducting Boston Symphony), which I definately recommend (that is, if you can find one! The one I found is in LP!)The way Browning played is absolutely amazing. His control of the piece and the rhythm is unbelievable.
Nevertheless, it is still nice to listen to composers performing their own works. I mean in many cases, they are not good at their own music because some music they wrote are beyond their ability. If you are a Prokofiev fan, I would recommend this CD to you. After you listen to it, you'll understand why Rachmaninoff is better known as a pianist than Prokofiev!

Definitive.......2002-12-09

The line of great composer-pianists began with Mozart, included Beethoven and Chopin, and ended with Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. We are fortunate indeed that these last two left behind recordings of their own works. This CD brings together Prokofiev's complete recordings.

The composer recorded his most popular Piano Concerto, the Third in 1932. The performance, despite dated sound, remains extraordinary. Despite his reputation as a percussive pianist, Prokofiev brings more color and attention to phrasing here than most pianists would today. He was obviously an extraordinary technician, despite a few very minor finger slips. Contrary to the comments of the Amazon reviewer, Piero Coppola was no company hack. He was a respected conductor who specialized in opera and concertos, rather like Alfred Wallenstein and Josef Krips, who were Arthur Rubinstein's chosen accompanists two decades later. (He was also the grandfather of renowned filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.) Considering that tape editing was not yet possible, and that Prokofiev's Third Concerto was not exactly the repertoire staple it is today, the London Symphony Orchestra provides a satisfactory accompaniment. Purists might quibble with the liberal use of string portamento, but the composer--who was not known for his tact--evidently had no objection.

The solo works (particularly Suggestion diabolique) demonstrate Prokofiev's exuberance, command of tone color, and ability to shift gears, pianistically.

Mark Obert-Thorn has done an excellent job restoring the original 78-RPM recordings. The sound is full and not overly filtered. This CD is not to be missed.

The composer as performer.......2002-10-11

This is an excellent issue, enabling us to hear Prokoviev's own take on his music. He combines both dynamic excitement with lyricism, and the effect is at once powerful and relaxed. Excellent transfers. Once again a real winner for Naxos ...

Moiseiwitsch Plays Rachmaninov, Medtner, Kabalevsky, Khachaturian

Average customer rating:

The Elegant Moiseiwitsch in an All-Russian Program

Moiseiwitsch Plays Rachmaninov, Medtner, Kabalevsky, Khachaturian

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Great Pianists: Moiseiwitsch 2
Delius: Piano Concerto; Ravel: Jeux d'eau; Debussy: Clair de lune
Moiseiwitsch: Grieg Piano Concerto
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

ASIN: B0000AE7AL
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Customer Reviews:

The Elegant Moiseiwitsch in an All-Russian Program.......2003-11-13

Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963) was a Russian pianist of the old school, but with a difference. Where others of that group played with brilliance and éclat, his calling cards were a plush tone and an elegantly poetic approach. He never made an ugly sound. Although his playing sometimes lacked the last ounce of forward impetus, it never lacked for sheer tonal beauty. Even warhorses like Rachmaninov's ever-popular 'Prélude in C Sharp Minor,' presented here, is different from others in that it is musing, lyrical rather than heaven-storming. And perhaps the better for it. Six of Rachmaninov's Préludes are included as well as the fourth Moment Musical and Rachmaninov's own transcription of his song, 'Lilacs,' the latter particularly beautifully played here.

Moiseiwitsch championed the compositions of his friend, Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951), even though his works were not particularly popular. Of Medtner, Rachmaninov said, in 1921, 'I repeat what I said to you back in Russia: you are, in my opinion, the greatest composer of our time.' Included here are the Sonata in G Minor, Op. 22, the third of his hyper-romantic sonatas, and two of the so-called 'Fairy Tales.' They are played with dramatic sweep that also highlights their formal coherence. Medtner was often called 'the Russian Brahms,' and although his music sounds nothing like the classicist Brahms, it does have more clear formal design than that of some of his compatriots. Modern recordings of the pieces of Medtner by pianists like Hamelin, Demidenko and Tozer have little more to offer besides their more modern sound.

One nice touch: there is a lively piano duet of Medtner's 'Round Dance, Op. 58, No. 1' recorded in 1946 with Medtner himself as the second pianist.

Rounding out the disc are Kabalevsky's Sonata No. 3, reminiscent of Prokofiev in his mildly sardonic mood, as well as Prokofiev's own 'Suggestion diabolique, Op. 4, No. 4.' Then a bang-up version of Khachaturian's 'Toccata in B Minor.' The final piece, ending the disc in a blaze of glory, is Oscar Levant's piano version of Khachaturian's once-omnipresent 'Sabre Dance.' Yes!

As we've come to expect, the transfer from mostly 1940s recordings, done by one of the Naxos Transfer Twins--Ward Marston and Mark Obert-Thorn; in this case, Marston--is simply first-rate.

Recommended.

TT=79:21

Tracks:

Piano Concerto No. 3 In C Major, Op. 26: I Andante - Allegro
Piano Concerto No. 3 In C Major, Op. 26: II Theme (Andantino) And Variations 1-5
Piano Concerto No. 3 In C Major, Op. 26: III Allegro ma non troppo
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 9
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 3
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 17
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 18
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 11
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 10
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 16
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 6
Solo Piano Works - Visions Fugitives, Op. 22: No. 5
Suggestion Diabolique, Op. 4 No. 4
Conte de la Vieille Grand'mere, Op. 31, No. 2
Sonatine Pastorale, Op. 59, No. 3
Conte de la Vieille Grad'mere, Op. 31, No. 3
Gavotte (From The Classical Symphony) Op. 25, No. 2
Etude, Op. 52, No. 3
Paysage, Op. 59, No.2
Andante (From Sonata No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 29)
Gavotte, Op. 32, No. 3

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful.......2001-07-11

It sounds like an old vynil but what matters? I'm not competent about classical music but I like Prokofiev most of all. Before I knew the Ashkenazy/Previn and Argerich/Abbado recordings of the 3rd Piano Concert and I loved both. Now I can't listen to them!,especially to the Ashkenazy. This Prokofiev/Coppola recording brought me back to a sort of virginity! It speaks simply and directly, more than ever. Usually my listening of 20th century classical music isn't effortless but in this case it is. I'm a child enchanted by the mystery of a fairy tale. And what a wonderful narrator! It is played faster than other recordings,essentially, without ornaments ,calmly but with strenght. It seems so easily played and it captures you so easily!
Mark Arnest makes available competent and detailed explanations about Prokofiev piano technique on this CD: < >. His art remains a mistery to me but this recording (including the Piano solo works) tells more about Prokofiev than everything you can read. Egocentric in life? I don't know and I don't care ,but so humble before Great Music. At each listening my admiration for the man raises and my gratefullness too. This CD is the favourite of my collection. There is another CD that contains the same recording of the 3rd coupled with the Prokofiev 5 symphony directed by koussevitzky. It' a Dutton release but it has been remastered and for me it wasn't a good idea. The noise has been massively reduced but the sound is not so voluptuous. So this Pearl realease is best choice.

A Fascinating Historical Document!.......2000-04-25

This recording can proudly take its place beside the work of perhaps the most recorded of the composer-pianists, Sergei Rachmaninov. Prokofiev on this single, not-too-well-known disc comes to life as a formidable virtuoso pianist with a bold, satirical (and at times dangerous) sense of humor, and with simply red-hot musical ideas. This has me wondering why performances of such sweep and scope are so seldom heard. The big work on the disc, the 3rd Piano Concerto, was recorded in 1929 when the composer's pianistic command was in top form. The recorded sound, while old, is surprisingly clear considering, for example, some acoustic examples of Horowitz from about the same time. The sound of the orchestra and piano is superbly balanced and the microphones do not seem to get "overwhelmed" by sound. In addition, the warm acoustic ambience of the hall manages to shine through as well. The performances on this disc struck me as surprisingly clear in structure, with fresh tempos and startling accents. Such excitement cannot be missed. Prokofiev keeps an interesting pulse which dictates that the orchestra members keep strict meter, while he takes slight rubato where needed. The effect is marvelous. The recording, which should not be confused with a misleading portrait disc of piano roll recordings on Laserlight, includes great liner notes, and a photo of the composer on the cover. Numerous solo works recorded 1931 fill out the disc, showing a surprinsingly finished pianist with plenty of idiomatic command and panache. Try his witty character pieces "Visions Fugitives" Op.22 or his broodingly lyrical "Stories of the Old Grandmother." While at full-price, these recordings provide an essential insight into a most original personality and artist of the 20th century. Enjoy!

How could this not be excellent?.......1999-12-27

After hearing this, all other interpretations of these pieces (with the possible exception of Richter's) become nothing but mockeries. Of course, the age of these recordings (they were made in the early 1930's) is a negative factor, but one that is far outweighed by the fact that these are authentic, electric (in contrast to the horrible piano roll recordings now available on Laserlight) recordings. Note: The exact same recordings, with weird orthography and uneducational liner notes, can be purchased for less than $ on the Italian label Magic Talent. At any price, however, this should be a compulsory addition to a Prokofiev collection.

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