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Just great. Somewhere between The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and Bela Bartok.


David

Serkin recorded this about 25 years ago - and I've been waiting...and waiting...and waiting for it to appear on CD - finally, it is here. The recording shows some evidence of its age - but is still a great recording of this work. Many have said this is "the" recording. I'm not sure - but it is frighteningly close. I still love the Osborne - but truth be told that is partly the quality of the recording itself. Still, the performance in this one is a great one - by a very committed pianist - and at a budget price.

Ken

This is pretty amazing.....

jf

Andrea Bocelli: Sogno

Pretty nice compilation. His arrangement of "The Prayer" with Celine Dion is amazing.

Because Sir Davies turned 70 this week and because it's a brilliant concerto.

Check it out.

Review note:

"Maxwell Davies has written a concerto which struck me as a 1990s equivalent of the Bliss piano concerto of the late 1930s. The Bliss summed up, in a valid contemporary idiom, the romantic era of piano concertos from Liszt to Rachmaninov, with a dash of Stravinsky à la Petrushka, whereas Maxwell Davies, in his individual way, sums up the era of Bartók and Prokofiev. But, remembering his soloist's specialist field, he has written an exquisite slow movement, which pays homage, although not slavishly, to Fauré. And there is plenty of quirky Max himself, of course.

The structure of each movement is concise and satisfying, there are good broad tunes for those who ask for nothing more, and the scoring, even allowing for an array of percussion, is beautifully calculated to allow the piano to dominate and also to have something with which to contrast its own percussive capabilities. The scoring for the woodwind and brass is never strident, always to the musical point.

It is one of the most attractive and immediately likeable piano concertos to appear for some some and I shall be both surprised and disappointed if other pianists do not take it up, although Miss Stott's performance must be regarded as definitive in its comprehensive grasp of the work's multi-faceted appeal.' Reviews

Wow, i feel so awful, you guys are listening to classical and im listening to musically insulting.
mephisto waltz (not the classical piece!) by moi dix mois...

a somewhat solemn insulting song.

Steve Hackett - Momentum

Great Modern Original Classical Guitar. There is also a Variation on a Theme by Chopin and Bach's Boure'e on this album.

The AMAZINGLY powerful German Requiem by Brahms. If there is one piece of music ever that everyone needs to hear...its this!

Time for something not so classical:



Dave Matthew's Band: Everyday

The only song I like on it is "What You Are".

The Parlour Grand is a collection of pieces from the era of the piano as home entertainment vehicle, most of moderate difficulty, played in a natural style by pianist Robert Silverman.

Mark Knopfler's new masterpiece

Is he any good? I've been thinking of picking up a CD of his, but I'm kind of reluctant to.

And now for something completely different:



Tegan and Sara are identical twin sisters from Vancouver, BC. They are also lesbians. (Why can I already imagine the thoughts going through some of you guys' minds?) This, their third album, shows off their very impressive songwriting talents. Most of the lyrics suggest the usual "I love you, I hate you, I love you" subject matter of pop songs. But these two lend a very hard-edged sensibility to the material, and with just a hint of the playfulness that made The Waitresses such a gas back in the day. The vocals can get a little tiring, mostly since they are mixed up a little too trebly for my taste. Overall, though, an extremely talented duo that bears watching.

This is one of my favorite CDs, I play it at least once a month:



It's not just the music, most of which is late romantic in that enigmatic period just before the Great War. Can anyone imagine what the world would have been like had that great catastrophe and the one following it had never happened? The playing is particularly good, perhaps the best Scriabin 5th I've ever heard; sensitive, nuanced, sexy. Also comes with a transcription of the slow movement from Mahler's 5th symphony.

John Bell Young, one of the best pianists around right now IMHO.

John Bell Young, or at least someone posing as John Bell Young, was (maybe still is, I don't check there very often anymore) acting like major twit of the first order on RMMP and RMC. His posts were highly disdainful of just about anyone who questioned or challenged anything he posted. Perhaps he's even talented, but seeing that aspect of his personality made me not even care to listen to any of his recordings.

Yes, he is a racist, xenophobic SOB and doesn't deserve to live.
Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh.

Seriously, he is a major jerk and I don't find his playing much more attractive than his personality.