Piano Music By Leo Ornstein

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Leo Ornstein is one of music's originals. He died in 2002, purportedly at 109 years of age, and he was composing almost to the end. His music is an odd mixture of atmospheric impressionism, acerbic Russian Futurism, savagely powerful poundings, and delicate filigree--prime material for Marc-André Hamelin's virtuosic pianism. Ornstein had a penchant for quirky titles, such as Suicide in an Airplane. Written in 1919--not, as one might think, after September 11, 2001--Suicide weirdly captures a contemporary mood with its ominous opening suggesting the hum of an engine, and the chaos that follows. The short works range from the avant-garde eruption of Danse sauvage, to a picturesque sound impression of San Francisco's Chinatown. The Arabesques are a set of diverse miniatures, some impressionistic, some recalling Scriabin; others are concise étudelike tests of pianistic prowess. The big work on the program is the half-hour long Sonata, completed when Ornstein was in his late 90s. It's full of bold harmonies, slashing attacks, gorgeous moments of lyrical repose, and off-center humor. This is fascinating music brilliantly played. --Dan Davis

Tracks:

Red Ribbon Dance
Sleepwalker's Shuffle
Golliwog's Cakewalk
Like A Tarantelle
Shimmy
Polka
Hungarian Rock
Rumanian Dance
Tango
Hesitation-Tango
A Tortoise's Tango
Waltz
Mazurka
Valse-Improvisation Sur Le Nom De Bach
Waltz IV
Percussion Dance
Modern Love Waltz
Lilt of the Reel
Rigaudon
Cancion Y Danza
Danzas Criollas
Illicit Felicity
Conga

Amazon.com

For sheer entertainment value, it's hard to find a classical CD that will beat this one. Gloria Cheng has chosen an astonishing variety of 20th-century piano music with nothing in common except brevity and dance origins. The disc is full of familiar pieces (Debussy, Scriabin, Ravel, Prokofiev) and entertaining novelties (Albright, Martinu, Poulenc, Ginastera). Donald R. Davis's exercise in creative plagiarism, "Illicit Felicity," rates a special mention for its ingenuity. But really, unless you're allergic to Philip Glass, there isn't a loser on the entire program. Cheng plays brilliantly, with appropriate special emphasis on the dance rhythms of the music, and Telarc's sound engineering is typically realistic. It ain't profound, but this is still a marvelous program. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

Fun to listen to!.......2000-09-18

Listening to this CD is fun. The CD has a diverse selection of contemporary dances for solo piano, ranging from familiar favorites, such as Gollywog's Cakewalk by Debussy, to lesser known and unconventional but charming works, such as del Aguila's Conga. The dances are varied and well-interpreted by Ms. Cheng, who brings poignancy to each one while maintaining throughout the CD a fun and energetic mood.

Ms. Cheng's playing is phenomenal, and I also enjoy her earlier CD of works by John Adams and Terry Riley. Both CD's show off her rich tone and appealing style, but the dance collection is the most entertaining. If you buy this CD, you'll probably find yourself listening to it frequently.

An interesting concept not quite realized.......2000-07-25

A very good concept. Take a noted pianist, in this case Gloria Cheng, and work with her on a program of 23 short works or short sections of larger works, all of which are one form or another of Dance--and you might come up with something good or possibly just a mixed bag. The Telarc release (CD-80549) is such a program. The playing is wonderful, the results what you might expect, alas: a mixed bag.

A very definite positive about this program is that almost every selection was new to me. After all, how many of us are familiar with works like Miguel del Aguila's "Conga," Philip Glass's "Modern Love Reel," or Paul Hindemith's "Shimmy"? I mean, really! So there is much Joy of Discovery afforded by this CD; but with all but one piece running under 5 minutes (and that one at 9:26), a certain cloying factor creeps in after a while, and perhaps I should recommend this be played in small sections.