![]() | asin: B0001AW052 binding: DVD list price: $24.98 USD amazon price: $22.49 USD |
This disc presents one of the 20th century's greatest and most distinctive pianists in music of two pianist-composers, Schumann and Beethoven, who were among his most treasured specialties. The playing is fluent, brilliant without ever being flashy, and phrased and accented with a totally unique flavor. Kempff has power to spare, but he uses it with a restraint that heightens its impact. Kempff's style is an attractive blend of intelligence and lyric grace; he is, like Alfred Brendel.
![]() | asin: B00004W9BS binding: DVD list price: $29.98 USD amazon price: $29.98 |
Fantasy for piano, choir and orchestra in c minor op.80. The Choral Fantasy was the first time Beethoven united instrumental and vocal music into one seamless and masterful work. This production features the pianist Gerhard Oppitz and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti as well as the Sudfunk Choir directed by Joseph Beischer. It was recorded in the magnificent 500-year-old Gothic Amandus church in Bad Urach, Germany. The second part of this program again features Gerhard Oppitz, a leading pianist renowned for his expressive yet forceful touch. Oppitz is captured here at his best, performing Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor BWV 903 and Franz Liszt's Variations on Bach's cantata "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen". This DVD also includes the option of viewing running commentaries on the pieces as they are performed as well as liner notes, a glossary of music terms, historical markers for the pieces, and performer profiles. Audio playback options are 5.1 dolby digital and non-compressed stereo.
![]() | asin: B000005J2D binding: Audio CD list price: $99.98 USD amazon price: $97.21 USD |
It's interesting that the great Beethoven sonata cycles are seldom the ones by the big-name virtuosos. Horowitz never attempted one. Neither did Rubinstein. Ashkenazy recorded them all, but with only partial success. Richter never managed all 32 works at one time, and Gilels died before completing his cycle. The most successful complete recordings--Schnabel, Kempff, Arrau, and Backhaus--are all by pianists with a solidly intellectual mindset, however powerful their technique. Goode joins this select company, turning in performances of uncompromising integrity and musical strength. Of course, his reputation as a musician's musician precedes him: here is a player sensitive to Beethoven's every nuance, presenting the composers thoughts with exemplary clarity and taste. This is the the Beethoven cycle for the '90s. --David Hurwitz
![]() | author: Beethoven asin: B000LRYPSU binding: Digital list price: $2.75 USD amazon price: $2.75 USD |
Downloadable sheet music file
![]() | asin: B000003EUL binding: Audio CD list price: $8.99 USD amazon price: $10.99 USD |
Richter was one of the those great virtuoso egomaniac genius types who was so insecure that he practiced for something like 10 hours a day, even before a scheduled performance. But it wasn't just getting the notes right that he was after. He was looking for the way to somehow get an entire work "into his hands," and trying to figure out the relationships between all of its different parts. That's why his performances--even the very slow one--have such an inevitable sounding organic unity. This performance isn't one of the very slow ones, but it does have that sense of urgency and spontaneity, as though Richter and Leinsdorf were composing as they play. It's one of the great recordings. --David Hurwitz
![]() | author: Ludwig van Beethoven asin: 0486406369 binding: Paperback list price: $5.95 USD amazon price: $5.95 USD |
Called the "Emperor" for its grandeur, this powerful work was Beethoven's final piano concerto. Widely considered one of the strongest works conceived by the composer, this popular concerto appears here in an inexpensive, high-quality, conveniently sized volume.