Russian Piano School, Vol. 9

1. Concert-suite for piano from Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker"
Composed by Mikhail Pletnev
with Mikhail Pletnev

2. Arrangement for piano of "Prologue" and "Horse Racing" from Shchedrin's ballet "Anna Karenina"
Composed by Mikhail Pletnev
with Mikhail Pletnev

3. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major ("War Sonata 2/Stalingrad"), Op. 83
Composed by Sergey Prokofiev
with Mikhail Pletnev

4. Piano Sonata No. 16 in B flat major, K. 570
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
with Mikhail Pletnev

Tracks:

12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.1 Prld (Presto)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.2 Molto vivace
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.3 Paysage (Poco adagio)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.4 Mazeppa (Allegro)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.5 Feux follets (Allegretto)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.6 Vision (Lento)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.7 Eroica (Allegro)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.8 Wilde Jagd (Presto furioso)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.9 Ricordanza (Andantino)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.10 Allegro agitato molto
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.11 Harmonies du soir (Andantino)
12 Etudes d'execution transcendante: No.12 Chasse neige (Andante con moto)
Hungarian Rhap No.9 In E-Flat 'Pesther Carneval'

Customer Reviews:

How can he play like this!?.......1999-10-01

I have bought several set of Liszt's etudes, but this recording by Berman is absolutely the best. He has an inhuman technique; for example, at the climax of Mazeppa, he plays faster than any one else. His range of expression and dynamics is also second to none. If you are interested in these twelve etudes, this CD will not disappoint you.

A technical tour de force!.......1999-06-08

Here is one of the most incredible recordings I have ever heard. How could this guy play them so fast and yet they sound so easy! It is true that Berman's playing may not display as much musical depth as Arrau's version, and that he has made some simplification of the double notes in the right hand in Etude No.5 Feux-follets (i.e. he cheated), but no one can deny that the rapidity with which he plays No.2, the octaves in Eroica, and Wilde Jagd is simply hair-raising. He finishes Wilde Jagd in 4 min 31 sec without even showing a single sign of fatigue or struggling! Berman has been dubbed "the second Liszt" , and in fact I doubt if Liszt could have played these extremely difficult pieces with as much ease. It is a breathtaking technical feat. Indeed, only a few recordings can match this one technically: I can only think of Barere's 1934 recording of Schumann's Toccata in C (APR), Richter's 1958 recording of the same piece (AS Disc), Friedman's Chopin Etude Op.10 No.7 (Philips, 1930), Josef Lhevinne's Schulz-Evler On the Beautiful Blue Danube (Philips, 1928), and one or two recordings by Hofmann (VAI). The only drawback of this CD is its sound quality, which is far below the standard of 1959. He re-recorded the entire set in 1963, probably for Columbia, but I don't think it is available on CD yet. If both recordings were on the market now, I would go for the 1963 one for its much better sound quality (at least it is stereo). But since that is not case, we have no choice!