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Canto de la Vida: Songs from the Mediterranean
Fadia El-Hage, Pino De Vittorio (vo), Marie-Ange Petit, Stefan Wissmann, Vladimir Ivanoff (pc), Archiv, 2004
Cheerful, romantic and melancholic music in the traditional style of Sephardi, which recalling the Mediterranean from Sicily, the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, North Africa, Spain, etc. |
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Brahms: Die Klavierkonzerte (1/2)
Emil Gilels (pf), Berliner Philharmoniker, Eugen Jochum (con), Grammophon, 1972
The most reliable performance for Brahms' piano concerto no.1, fillied up with Gilels' golden sound, honesty and profundity. The set of discs with the two concertos are certainly one of his best recordings. |
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Vítezslav Novák: Piano Works (2/3)
Frantisek Rauch (pf), Supraphon, 1976, 1979
In Czech piano music, unexpected discovery for me. Novak's piano music is hardly known compared with Smetana, Dvorak, Janacek and Martinu, but full of moderate sense with folk motifs. Especially, "Pan" a poem in tones, 5 movements, is fascinating. |
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Kabalevsky: Piano Concertos Nos.2 & 3
Kathryn Stott (pf), BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (con), Chandos, 2003
Kathryn Stott, an English versatile pianist, clarifies the real values of Kabalevsky's sharp and cool concertos. She has also released a nice disc for Schulhoff's piano music. |
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Shostakovich / Shchedrin: Piano Concertos
Marc-André Hamelin (pf), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton (con), Hyperion, 2003
Hamelin restructures Shostakovich's two concertos and Shchedrin's concerto no.2 with high resolution. As is his usual way, moderation in all, based on his boundless technique. |
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John Adams: Road Movies
Jon Novacek / Nicolas Hodges / Rolf Hind (pf), Leila Josefowicz (vn), Nonesuch, 2004
Relaxed music just like in driving, produced by John Adams, one of the American minimalists. "Hallelujah Junction" for two pianos, is successful in constructing an ecstatic continuum on a wide scale. |
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Yoshimatsu: Piano Concerto "Memo Flora"
Kyoko Tabe (pf), Manchester Camerata, Sachio Fujioka (con), Chandos, 1998
A beautiful piano concerto of the sort I have never heard, leading us to a dreamy world of flowers. A feeling of floating is induced by changing colors and fragrances. |
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Jan Lundgren Trio: Landscapes
Jan Lundgren (pf), Mattias Svensson (bs), Morten Lund (ds), Sittel, 2003
Jan Lundgren, a Swedish jazz pianist of today, has been releasing some elegant discs for his trio with Swedish tastes. His play sounds neat, lyrical and reliable, which is also found in the disc "Swedish Standards". |
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