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First the good news, though it's hardly new: Murray Perahia is a marvelous pianist. His performance of the Beethoven Sonata must be one of the best on record. Everything about it is "right": the sound is beautiful, with an extraordinary variety of touch, color and nuance; the rhythm is flexible but steady, the phrasing perfect; tempo and mood changes are subtle and poised, transitions balanced.
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Murray Perahia isn't about flash and, as this diverse collection of music reveals, the pianist's true brilliance is his dedication to the integrity of each composition. Scarlatti's Sonata in B Minor leads things off and reveals Perahia's recent love for baroque music (check out his excellent recording of Bach's English Suites Nos. 1, 3, & 6). Chopin's Ballade No. 1 seemingly unfolds itself in the pianist's hands. Perahia plays close attention to the composition's details but never loses sight of its free-spirited nature.
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This concert, with Sir Georg Solti as guest conductor of The London Symphony Orchestra, marked the climax of the fifth anniversary celebrations at London's Barbican Centre. Murray Perahia, recognized as one of the most sought-after pianists, having come to international prominence as the first American to win the Leeds International Pianoforte competition, plays Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 1 in C" in his typically probing, elegantly poised style.
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Downloadable sheet music file
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Along with Marston's invaluable reissue of Arrau's early studio recordings, these radio broadcasts from the late 1930s add to our knowledge of one of the century's greats. The younger Arrau was a more overtly virtuosic pianist than the later, more philosophical one on his Philips recordings, but the seriousness of his interpretive approach shines through. The Beethoven sonatas, for example, are weightier in his later recordings, but we can still revel in his unique depth of tone and refusal to settle for surface glitter, a rare trait in a virtuoso of Arrau's technical accomplishments. His Chopin, too, while still in the Germanic tradition, has more air and lightness. The Liszt solo pieces are played with transcendent beauty. He makes light of the Liszt Concerto's difficulties, but it's roughly recorded and doesn't match his mid-1950s version with Eugene Ormandy on Sony. Despite some noisy originals, most tracks have surprisingly fresh and vital sound. An important release. --Dan Davis
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Surprisingly, this seems to be the only coupling of the three most popular Clarinet Trios in the repertoire. The all-star ensemble, all musicians who have frequently performed together, turns out extremely fine performances of all three works. If the Brahms seems like the most thoroughly understood, in its combination of warmth and impulse, the other two works are nearly as fine. Very good sound, resonant and very well balanced, completes a total winner of a disc. --Leslie Gerber