Editorial Product Review: :Leif Ove Andsnes, obviously one of the superior artists on the current piano scene, deserves credit for paying attention to Haydn. Every one of these sonatas is a masterpiece, and every one is played with Andsnes's typical intelligence and scrupulous detail. You could virtually take dictation from these performances, except for some missing repeats. But it's hard to feel that Andsnes identifies as strongly with this music as he does with Brahms. As fine as this playing is, it has an aura of objectivity that keeps the results from being completely satisfying. ...
Editorial Product Review: :Leif Ove Andsnes, obviously one of the superior artists on the current piano scene, deserves credit for paying attention to Haydn. Every one of these sonatas is a masterpiece, and every one is played with Andsnes's typical intelligence and scrupulous detail. You could virtually take dictation from these performances, except for some missing repeats. But it's hard to feel that Andsnes identifies as strongly with this music as he does with Brahms. As fine as this playing is, it has an aura of objectivity that keeps the results from being completely satisfying. ...
Editorial Product Review: :Leif Ove Andsnes, obviously one of the superior artists on the current piano scene, deserves credit for paying attention to Haydn. Every one of these sonatas is a masterpiece, and every one is played with Andsnes's typical intelligence and scrupulous detail. You could virtually take dictation from these performances, except for some missing repeats. But it's hard to feel that Andsnes identifies as strongly with this music as he does with Brahms. As fine as this playing is, it has an aura of objectivity that keeps the results from being completely satisfying. ...
Editorial Product Review: :Many great pianists have already recorded this now-traditional coupling. Having proven himself to belong in the company of the greats, Andsnes now gets his chance. He has a decided viewpoint on this music, stressing the lyrical elements with some gorgeous tone and phrasing, yet capturing plenty of drive and excitement when required. Jansons seems to challenge his soloist with very energetic readings of the orchestral parts: lots of tympani and broad dynamic contrasts. The collaboration works quite well, and if you don't already have half a dozen CDs with this coupling already ...
Editorial Product Review: :Here, at a bargain price, is a real treat: the lively, elegant, musically alert Andrew Manze leading and playing a handful of wonderful Vivaldi concerti preceded by a little Sinfonia. The concerti, all backed up by the usual strings, are for various combinations of instruments. Two are straight violin concerti (playful and bright). One is for violin and three echo violins that repeat what the lead violin has done, but at a distance from the other performers (very entertaining). The most beautiful is for lute and viola d'amore (a gentle, dark texture). ...
Editorial Product Review: :Here, at a bargain price, is a real treat: the lively, elegant, musically alert Andrew Manze leading and playing a handful of wonderful Vivaldi concerti preceded by a little Sinfonia. The concerti, all backed up by the usual strings, are for various combinations of instruments. Two are straight violin concerti (playful and bright). One is for violin and three echo violins that repeat what the lead violin has done, but at a distance from the other performers (very entertaining). The most beautiful is for lute and viola d'amore (a gentle, dark texture). ...
Editorial Product Review: :Here, at a bargain price, is a real treat: the lively, elegant, musically alert Andrew Manze leading and playing a handful of wonderful Vivaldi concerti preceded by a little Sinfonia. The concerti, all backed up by the usual strings, are for various combinations of instruments. Two are straight violin concerti (playful and bright). One is for violin and three echo violins that repeat what the lead violin has done, but at a distance from the other performers (very entertaining). The most beautiful is for lute and viola d'amore (a gentle, dark texture). ...
Editorial Product Review: essential recording:Levine has assembled a cast strong in both singing and acting, although Mirella Freni is a bit mature for the teenage Tatiana and there are no Russians in the leading roles. The conducting quite properly emphasizes the psychological and emotional extremes in a story deeply imbued with the Byronic attitudes and poses of literary Romanticism. The orchestra, in James Levine's (and Tchaikovsky's) hands becomes a character in this drama as vital as any of the singers, and Pushkin's poem-novel, the source of the opera, can be felt with unusual clarity ...
Editorial Product Review:Album Description:This two CD collection is a coupling of two of Philip Glass' most famous orchestral compositions, both based on the music of David Bowie & Brian Eno. Six tracks on the Heroes disc & 3 on the Low disc. Decca. 2003.
Editorial Product Review: :Dvořák's two splendidly tuneful serenades are so attractive that you will find the tunes stuck in your head for days afterwards. If this makes you crazy, then you might want to exercise caution before playing them! Each is written for different forces: one for strings, the other for winds (with a single double bass to reinforce the bottom end). The Serenade for Winds is particularly special, being the ultimate example of a form that Czech composers really did better than anyone else. The wind writing has that essential 'outdoors' quality, but it's ...
Small and light enough for a shirt pocket, Samsung's Helix YX-M1 is a one-stop audio entertainment center with an XM radio, a digital music player, and room for 50 hours of tunes, but it comes up short on battery life.