Pianists are getting better, and recordings too.

Mike,

I'm beginning to internalise it i.e. understand the construction/structure. Some parts are sublime - very interesting harmonically, but some sections seem very disjointed and unconnected with the rest of the work.

What is very well displayed by the soloist and the orchestra is the rhythmic interaction between them. Some passages contain some rather 'opposed' rhythmic figurations. As a performance, it is great. The piece... I'm still a little unsure.

Mike, when will your new Blechacz arrive?

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Carney:
Mike, when will your new Blechacz arrive?

I'm expecting it by the end of the week. I ordered it off the UK link you provided. Should have checked Amazon US first, but didn't.

Once again my evening is made!

Blechacz plays sonatas by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven came today :-)

That's the UK postal service for you...

This guy's ability to articulate is truly stunning!

I'd love to hear him play more repertoire. Bach... Mmmm. Brahms... Mmmm!

rafal blechacz sonatas DGG

Just finished my first listen. This is the first time I have enjoyed Haydn in at least a decade. Mozart is pretty damn romantic, in a very festive way. Beethoven peeks at you from a classical frame of mind.

The pianist is ...

I don't recall having heard something like this.

Another new voice.

My wife isn't home yet. This gets another listen tonight.

The recording is lucid - you can hear everything he does.

Time to get some sheet music out.

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Carney:

I'd love to hear him [Blechacz] play more repertoire. Bach... Mmmm. Brahms... Mmmm!

Does he play the harpsichord? I assume he is Polish with his name, and Mieczyslav Horzowski [another great Polish pianist] used to play both ...

ATB from George

George,

I don't think he plays Harpsichord...

So it would be Bach on the piano.

For others [other than me] then! Unless he plays the piano like another great Polish born [but certainly German Jewish] pianist Artur Schabel! In the case of Bach, Schnabel certainly refrained from most of the possibilities of key touch variable dynamic, arguably much to the music's benefit!

It is a missapprehensions of the dynamics of Bach to suggest that a harpsichord cannot realise what was meant. The more notes in a given time spell means the effect is louder on the harpsichord, so there is no question of Bach's music lacking true dynamic contrast on the harpsichord.

Sometimes this leads to a big surprise for ears attuned to the anachronistic modern grand piano!

ATB from George

I heard that guy play piano last night.

Let's get him!

You are right about Blechacz' articulation, it's absolutely perfect, and what velocity!

This disc demonstrates how blurry the line between Classical and Romantic really is.
It becomes obvious how much Beethoven owes to both Haydn and Mozart, but especially Haydn in the voicing.

The only problem with this guy is that I want him to release 15 new CDs by the end of March
:-)

I'd love to hear him do the last three Beethoven Sonatas ...

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:

I'd love to hear him do the last three Beethoven Sonatas ...

Mike - could he play them better than Pollini?

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:

I'd love to hear him do the last three Beethoven Sonatas ...

Mike - could he play them better than Pollini?

There is a level of perfection where you can't do any better, but you can certainly have a different view of things and how they fit together, with neither view being more complete nor more correct than the other.

Every pianist develops into a different technique, having a unique articulation, and response to the music. That is where the excitment of a new performer lay, to hear familiar music in a new voice.

This is where Pollini and Blechacz are, I hope.

No one can say how it would be, until Blechacz takes a shot at it.

That would be really exciting. Both players are of the top rank.

I've just finished listening (for the second time) to this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachma...cm_cr_pr_product_top

or, if Mike's interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Rachmani...id=1263479654&sr=8-7

This is, I believe, the best complete set of the Concerti (+ Rach Pag.) available. The pianism is a work of art, the orchestra are the perfect companion - and the production is exceptional.

I'm afraid they make Ashkenazy sound like a disgruntled student... YMMV.

I've thoroughly enjoyed them.

Dan,

Just ordered the Steven Hough Rachmaninoff Concertos.

Why don't you go stir the pot on the "The Piano" thread :-)

I have been chewing on this one for months, and it is finally beginning to penetrate my thick hide.

Absolutely beautiful.

Highly recommended.

I decided to spend some time with this one. It is absolutely compelling in every way.

Blechacz has such a precise articulation, infinitely variable across a wide dynamic range, and the piano sound is so complete, it sucks you in.

What a lovely appreciation of rhythm in the tender moments. Blechacz can play a sigh, and do it in meter.

The dramatic tension is pervasive.

What a recording. Over the last few months I have been listening to piano recordings that span about 30 years. The recordings made in 2008 and 2009 capture the voicing of a piano with more clarity than I have ever experienced.

That's a nice bonus. I like the sound of a piano :-)

This Chopin Preludes gets attention all weekend ...

I've been enjoying this....

quote:

Originally posted by winkyincanada:


I've been enjoying this....

Hunted him down on YouTube. Very impressive, very beautiful.

Classical music seems to be doing just fine these days. So many spectacular young players.

I am giving special attention to a small Chopin Prelude, the E flat minor No. 14. It is a classic interval study that, when played well, has two voices pop out of a single line. Blechacz executes it perfectly. 45 seconds of heaven.

quote:

Hunted him down on YouTube. Very impressive, very beautiful.

Hi Mike, you may be aware I'm working my way through a box set of Scarlatti keyboard sonatas - 555 (!) of them, spread across 34 CDs. Harpsichord performances throughout - which made me nervous, but I am happy to report the harpsichord really works with this repertoire, especially when played by as masterful an interpreter as the late Scott Ross.

Anyway, my interest in Scarlatti was first piqued by this marvelous 2CD set by Pletnev (playing the piano, obviously):

Pletnev - Scarlatti

It's not "profound" or "deep" music, but it is a joy from start to finish. The Iberian influence is readily apparent (Scarlatti moved to Spain at the age of about 50, and wrote all 555 sonatas after that) and keeps things interesting. At times the music does something so quirk and unexpected, it makes you laugh out loud.

Warmly recommended, the next time you're looking for something new to try.

Regards
Nigel

I had to relay this.

This morning I listened to the preludes of Debussy and Chopin, then had to leave the house.

I went to my neighborhood pub, and bumped into the organ builder who is doing a new organ for the church. It's a $2.2 million dollar organ with 3200+ pipes.

We got along famously :-)

All of us are having a big dinner tonight at "Ralph's on the Park", currently the best New Orleans has to offer in a restaurant.

What a stroke of luck!

Tomorrow we get a tour of the organ, and a private concert. The organist just finished his graduate studies at Julliard.

What a great, unexpected weekend!!!!

Mike,

This Organ 'incident' sounds very interesting!

As far as Scarlatti is concerned, I've found this to be very pleasing:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scarla...3773997&sr=8-2-spell

or for those in the USA,

http://www.amazon.com/Scarlatt...menico/dp/B0007WFY5M

He is a very talented musician - he has some great ideas and intentions in his playing. If anyone is looking for a 'smattering' of Scarlatti Sonatas, I can recommend this one.

Sudbin is a huge talent. In addition to the Scarlatti, his Scriabin disc is superb, and I like his concerto recordings, especially the Medtner concertos.

Agreed, Sudbin's Scarlatti CD is very fine.

We had our tour of the organ, and got to observe the tuning procedure. The organist also played some bits from Bach's "Art of the Fugue".

Spent a good deal of time climbing ladders!

The 32 foot pipes produce an awesome sound I've never heard from a stereo :-)

Wish I had taken pictures. Most of the pipes are in a room behind the altar. The sound exits from a huge screen over the altar.

Interesting tour.

Look, Ma! No Strings !