Improvisations to Music

Amazon.com
Nichols and May's 1958 debut album found them doing what they did best--pulling sharp satire and comedy from midair. The slightest suggestion or hint of scenario could send the duo off on a creative tear, and here they vamp spontaneous routines over pianist Marty Rubinstein's genteel ivory tickling. On the whole, Improvisations is a little more whacked-out and a little less engaging than their later releases. Adventurous bits concerning international intrigue, modern advertising, and daydreaming dental assistants, for example, are dotted with references to apiaries, obscure poets, and oral prophylactics. Still, at its finer moments--like the wonderful "Cocktail Piano," which finds a boss awkwardly wooing his secretary with promises of Andre Kostelanetz on the hi-fi--it's a retro comic treat. --Michael Ruby

Improvisations to Music,Mike Nichols & Elaine May,Polygram Records,Comedy,Pop,Sketch Comedy,Spoken / Comedy / Radio Shows,Spoken Word Comedy

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Average customer rating: Singing Bowels? NONLYRICAL!! Xumantra singing bowls Best of the meditative "bell"s

Singing Bowls Xumantra Manufacturer: Xonic Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Tibet | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | New Age | Styles | Music Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music Relaxation | New Age | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Seven Metals Singing Bowls of Tibet Singing Bowls of Shangri-La Tibetan Bells Xumantra: Healing Bells Tibetan Singing Bowls ASIN: B000028TXM Release Date: 1999-08-10

Tracks:

1. Dish Trio
2. Rivets and Friends
3. Three Buddhas
4. Little Sister, the Virgin & the Widow
5. Rivets and Friends II
6. Two Buddhas
7. Love and the Widow
8. The Teacher

Customer Reviews:

Singing Bowels?.......2002-08-21

What a great typo THAT was ... thank you, other Mr. Kramer.

This is an excellent CD. The sound quality is superb, and Xumantra allows the natural harmonics and resonances of each bowl to shine through, both individually and in combination with other bowls. The flow of the pieces is superb, and the music created is truly -- and I know this word is utterly overused, particularly in these types of recordings -- transcendant.

If you want the best in singing bowels, I highly suggest a homemade bean burrito -- none of that frozen stuff. And use a little pork fat, while you're at it.

If you want the best in singing bowls, pick up this CD. For meditation, for relaxation/sleepytime, and for listening to the sublime and subtle resonances of these simple-seeming instruments, give a listen to Xumantra.

NONLYRICAL!!.......2002-06-05

I was hoping for something alittle more lyrical....little use of the higher octave bowls here....the ones that produce the most pleasant sounds. This CD will be excellent for meditation, however, since the reverberations of the bowls literally "penetrate" the body and, therefore, carry you to a different plane of consciousness. But to use as "quiet backround" in the home this CD isn't "pleasant" enough...I had hoped to use it for that purpose too.

Xumantra singing bowls.......2001-08-05

For people who like singing bowls it is a good CD though a bit slow.

Best of the meditative "bell"s.......2000-05-07

What makes this outstanding is the way it is recorded...many of this type of recordings become very soft and then abruptly become loud and "blow your trance" or if your using this for sleep music wake you up in a jarring manner...this Cd is as good if not better than any of the singing bowels and this and Karma Moffet are the two best by light years....

Average customer rating: This star glows ethereal... its been about a year still waiting for amazon to ship this disappointing Transporting and Lush Fascinating

Star of the Sea Stellamara Manufacturer: City of Tribes ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | New Age | Styles | Music Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Feast of Silence Portals of Grace Elysium for the Brave Niyaz In the Garden of Souls ASIN: B000005AF5 Release Date: 1997-09-23

Tracks:

1. Maris
2. Kereshme
3. Zephyrus
4. Taqsim
5. Del Mar Rojo
6. Immrama
7. Leda
8. Karuna
9. Oj Jabuko

Customer Reviews:

This star glows ethereal..........2007-01-11

I have found that Stellamara's music brings me to a very creative, focused state of mind. I alternate between dancing to the CD and just allowing my artwork to flow from my heart and head through to my hands (I work with clay) - Stellamara stimulates the artistic muse within.

its been about a year still waiting for amazon to ship this.......2006-09-02

I ordered this with the other stellamara (great artist!!) CD as a package, and I am still waiting for it to be delievered. I think its a lost cause. I hope everyone else has better luck. I bet its a great CD. I'll give it more stars when amazon decides to ship it

disappointing.......2006-08-10

I have to admit that, as much as I love this style of music, this album is a bit weak to me. Not nearly as rich as something from Lisa Gerrard or Azam Ali. I put these guys near the bottom of my list for this style, right above Lumin. Still a good listen but there is alot of stuff out there that I would reach for first.

Transporting and Lush.......2005-01-26

In short, this is beautiful. Moody, medieval, and Middle-Eastern. The music and voices are exotic and they transport me. I enjoy it for listening, mood creation, ambiance making, and relaxing. Yummy.

Fascinating.......2004-06-14

A splendind combination of medieval western european chansons with present-day Balkan folk tunes. An album which is among my favourite neofolk releases, including Dead Can Dance, Vas, Axiom of Choice... I am looking forward to their upcoming release "The Seven Valleys" and searching for a limited edition of "Entrance" album.

Average customer rating: Interesting, historically important CD man and machine Ives speaks for himself, better late than never. Recordings of a Twentieth Century Master Precious moments with America's greatest composer.

Ives Plays Ives / Record # 4 in "Charles Ives, the 100th Anniversary" Manufacturer: Composers Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ives, Charles | ( I ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Marches | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Ives, Charles | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music ASIN: B00000K2FD Release Date: 1999-09-21

Tracks:

1. June 12,1933: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 1 (Beg.)
2. June 12,1933: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 1 (End)
3. June 12,1933: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 3
4. June 12,1933: Improvisation On A Passage In Study No. 23, Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 2, And Emerson Overture's Cadenza No. 4 (With False Start)
5. Mid 1930s: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson' No. 1 (Beg.)
6. Mid 1930s: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson' No. 1 (End)
7. Mid 1930s: Study No. 11 (Abandoned)
8. Mid 1930s: Study No. 11
9. Mid 1930s: Study No. 11
10. Mid 1930s: Patch For Study No. 23
11. Mid 1930s: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson' No. 1 (Beg.)
12. Mid 1930s: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson' No. 1 (End)
13. Mid 1930s: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 3
14. Mid 1930s: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 3
15. May 11,1938: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 3 (Beg.)
16. May 11,1938: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 3 (End)
17. May 11,1938: Study No. 11
18. May 11,1938: Study No. 9: The Anti-Abolitionist Riots
19. May 11,1938: Study No. 2 with false start
20. May 11,1938: Study No. 2 (Beg.)
21. May 11,1938: Study No. 2 (End)
22. May 11,1938: Study No. 23 (Partial)
23. May 11,1938: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 1 (Abandoned)
24. May 11,1938: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 1 (Middle)
25. May 11,1938: Study No. 23 (Partial)
26. May 11,1938: Three Improvisations, No. 1
27. May 11,1938: Sonata No. 2 For Piano: Concord, Mass., 'Hawthorne' (Excerpt)
28. May 11,1938: Symphony No. 1 - Rejected Mvt. 2 (Largo)
29. May 11,1938: Unidentified (Improvisation On The 'Sunrise' Cadenza'?)
30. May 11,1938: Study No. 20 (Partial)
31. May 11,1938: Three Improvisations, No.3
32. April 24, 1943: Sonata No. 2 For Piano: Concord, Mass., 'Emerson' (Partial)
33. April 24, 1943: Sonata No. 2 For Piano: Concord, Mass., 'Emerson' (Partial)
34. April 24, 1943: Sonata No. 2 For Piano: Concord, Mass., 'Emerson' (Partial)
35. April 24, 1943: Study No. 2 + Study No. 23 (Mixed)
36. April 24, 1943: Four Transcriptions From 'Emerson,' No. 3 (Abandoned)
37. April 24, 1943: Study No.9: The Anti-Abolishonist Riots
38. April 24, 1943: They Are There!, First Take (Abandoned)
39. April 24, 1943: They Are There!, Second Take
40. 1943/04/24 They Are There!, Third Take
41. April 24, 1943: March No. 6 For Piano With 'Here's To Good Old Yale'
42. April 24, 1943: Sonata No.2 for Piano: Concord, Mass., 'The Alcotts'

Amazon.com essential recording

In his lifetime, maverick composer Charles Ives entered the recording studio only four times, mostly to hear (and tinker with) his works in progress. He ended up doing 42 takes of 17 different pieces on the piano, all recorded between 1933 and 1943: everything from snippets of the unfinished Emerson Concerto to his rousing wartime anthem "They Are There!" It's a varied lot, to say the least, but now we have his complete recordings on one CD. The sound quality isn't great and you can easily hear how frustrated Ives is by the newfangled technology (recording techniques restricted his playing to five minute chunks). That said, you couldn't ask for a greater insight into the composer.

Most of these pieces derive from Ives's unfinished Emerson concerto for piano and orchestra, but the entire package is one big treasure chest. Here we have the composer at work: improvising, (occasionally) frustrated, frenzied, and--most of all--creative. His playing is as off-the-wall as you can imagine: fast, improvised, with failed notes galore, and occasionally spot-on. Highlights abound--just check out "The Alcotts" from the Concord Sonata (No. 2) to hear him at his performance peak--but the most memorable cuts feature Ives himself singing. His three versions of the wartime anthem "We Are There!" should give hope to any struggling vocalist... for a career either selling insurance or composing great music. Yes, his voice is simply awful, but the music and history contained on this disc are breathtaking. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

Interesting, historically important CD.......2005-08-16

To hear Ives play his own works is a real treasure. Of course, the recording quality is spotty at best, and the tracks recorded on the Speak-O-Phone are sometimes almost unbearable to hear.

But other tracks have excellent sound and you can catch Ives at his creative and offbeat best.

Those willing to bear with the sound limitations will be well rewarded when they hear the final track 42, which is particularly beautiful and because it comes indirectly from a tape transfer has better sound quality.

man and machine.......2002-04-09

This is a fantastic peek at the complexities of the recording art.. Charlie was lucky to have access to recording technology, and yet it was quite frustrating for him.

Easy to forget the 'miracle.' John Kirkpatrick once told me that his recording of the Concord required something like 43 different 'takes' (if you will); I guess I had assumed it was just one run through.

I'm grateful for all the 'Emerson' here. It is my favorite part of Concord. I heard some of these recordings back in '73, and they really have been lovingly upgraded. Thank you for making these available to us.

Ives speaks for himself, better late than never........2001-12-07

Shades of Cecil Taylor! This collection flies in the face of attempts to create "definitive" performance scores for Ives' compositions. The composer who imagined a world without symphony orchestras, where one simply thought-created the music while contemplating nature, can hardly be tied down to an engraving of notes. It wasn't only the skill to perform his compositions that Ives demanded of musicians, but the spirit to enter into them - a conceptual understanding & a will to get at them from the inside out.

I still believe Charlie was willfully naive & had a neurotic fear of success. While he looked over his shoulder at the "Rollos" of American music, as if they mattered, he missed out on the emergence of the very generation of composers & artists who were his exact, or nearly exact, contemporaries. There was no Armory Show in Ives' world; no Alfred Stieglitz; no Ezra Pound or William Carlos Williams; no Arensberg salon. He worked himself half to death & shamelessly let younger men do the heavy lifting of his reputation. This recording shows how revelatory Ives might have been to Europeans, had he gone to bat "over there" for his own art when he was both healthy & wealthy. Ives took a great gamble with his art. Thank heavens it paid off.

Recordings of a Twentieth Century Master.......2001-11-06

The preceeding descriptions of the music are good. I just wanted to add this: The playing and singing of '...They are there!' that Ives demonstrates towwards the end of the disc is some really musicially sensitive stuff. It is what Charles Ives is all about; no 'rollo,' no inhibitions, just playing and expression without self consciousness. I would very strongly recommend this recording to anyone who improvises and anyone who composes; you really should hear this. However, for anyone, hearing genius at the piano is good fun and very interesting...

Precious moments with America's greatest composer........2000-05-12

The millenium's over, the ballots are in, and the winner of the Most Important Twentieth Century American Composer title is--still--Charles Ives. Ives was a great composer with his own voice, a lofty vision, and sense of humor besides. He was also a nationalist, but in the best way, overtly embracing the music which meant the most to his countrymen--hymns, popular tunes, the mainline classics--and adapting it for his own use.
Ives' music is likely among the most complicated ever put on a page, and generations of musicians have wondered if they had broken Ives' code and were playing it the way he wanted it. Wonder no more! This CD presents rare examples of Ives playing his own stuff. The good news is that performers pretty much had it right. The bad news is that the music here is strictly for the Ives fanatic. Don't start your Ives recording collection here. Even with the most ingenious digital enhancement, the sound quality is generally poor and way too much time is spent on those damnable Emerson studies and other recondite repertoire. But the performances of "They are there," are a lot of fun, and the reading of "The Alcotts" is revelatory. So is that enough to make the CD worth getting? Darned right!!

Average customer rating:

Habanera Manufacturer: Hannibal ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Carl Philipp Emman. Bach | Bach, Carl Philipp Emman. | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gershwin | Gershwin, George | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Poulenc | Poulenc, Francis | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Ravel, Maurice | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Satie | Satie, Erik | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Villa-Lobos, Heitor | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Debussy | Debussy, Claude | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Villa-Lobos, Heitor | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Piano | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Flute | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Hannibal Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music ASIN: B000008GDY Release Date: 1991-07-01

Tracks:

1. Three Folksongs
2. Gymnope No. 1
3. Elegy for 'Trane
4. Three Preludes for Piano
5. Fantasia
6. Allegro
7. Deep Purple
8. Theme from Tender Is the Night
9. Sonata in G Minor
10. Homage to Edith Piaf
11. Syrinx
12. Habanera
13. Out of the Cool

Average customer rating: Stunning. . . . PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST A world-changing musician CZIFFRA - A Keyboard Phenomenon

Les introuvables de Cziffra Manufacturer: EMI Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Bourees | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Galops | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Polonaises | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Carl Philipp Emman. Bach | Bach, Carl Philipp Emman. | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Brahms | Brahms, Johannes | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Chopin | Chopin, Frédéric | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Couperin, François | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Cziffra, György | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Franck, César | ( F ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Grieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Liszt | Liszt, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Lully | Lully, Jean-Baptiste | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rameau | Rameau, Jean Philippe | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Domenico Scarlatti | Scarlatti, Domenico | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Robert Schumann | Schumann, Robert | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mendelssohn | Mendelssohn, Felix | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Hummel | Hummel, Johann Nepomuk | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Rondos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Character Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Impromptus | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Nocturnes | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatinas | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Piano | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music Similar Items: Liszt: Works For Piano Rendez-vous de Senlis Georges Cziffra Plays Chopin, Liszt & Franck (EMI Classic Archive) Chopin: uvres pour piano Liszt: Piano Concertos; Totentanz; Hungarian Fantasy ASIN: B000002SBW Release Date: 2002-08-12

Tracks:

1. La Campanella, Grande Etude De Paganini No. 3
2. Nocturne No. 3 In A Flat Major, Reve D'Amour
3. Mephisto Valse (D'Apres Le Faust De Lenau)
4. Les Jeux D'Eau A La Villa D'Este
5. Valse Oubliee No. 1
6. Rhapsodie Espagnole
7. Valse Impromptu
8. La Ronde Des Lutins, Etude De Concert No. 2
9. Grand Galop Chromatique
10. Apres Une Lecture Du Dante, Fantasie Quasi Sonata (Extrait From 'Les Annees De Pelerinage')

Tracks:

1. Polonaise D'Eugene Oneguine (Tchaikovsky)
2. Rigoletto, Paraphrase De Concert (Verdi)
3. Tarentelle De Bravoure Sur Des Theme De 'La Muette De Portici' (Auber)
4. Valse De Faust (Gounod)
5. Improvisation Sur Les Themes De Guillaume Tell (Rossini)
6. Valse Triste (Vecsey)
7. Tritsch Tratsch Polka (Johann Strauss)
8. Le Beau Danube Bleu, Paraphrase (Johann Strauss)
9. Danse Hongroise No. 5 (Brahms)
10. Fantaisie Roumaine (Improvisation Dans Le Style Tzigane)
11. Le Vol Du Bourdon (Rimsky-Korsakov)

Tracks:

1. Islamey, Fantaisie Orientale
2. Toccata In C Major, Op. 7
3. Andante Et Rondo Capriccioso In E Major, Op. 14
4. Rondo In E Flat Major, Op. 11
5. Polonaise In C Major, Op. 89
6. Rondo A Capriccio In G Major, Op. 129
7. Andantino In B Minor
8. Bourree In E Flat Major
9. Sonata In C Major, K159
10. Le Tic Toc Choc ,Ou Les Maillotins
11. Les Barricades Mysterieuses
12. L'Anguille
13. La Bandoline
14. Les Petits Moulins A Vent
15. Les Folies Francaises Ou Les Dominos
16. La Poule
17. Le Rappel Des Oiseaux
18. Gavotte En Rondeau

Tracks:

1. Variations In C Major, Sur 'God Save The King', WoO 78
2. 12 Variations In A Major, Sur Un Theme Russe (Wranitzky), WoO 71
3. 32 Variations In C Minor, WoO 80
4. Fantaisie In F Minor, Op. 49
5. Book 1 - Variations Sur Un Theme De Paganini, Op. 35
6. Book 2 - Variations Sur Un Theme De Paganini, Op. 35

Tracks:

1. I. Grave - Allegro Molto E Con Brio, Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13
2. II. Adagio Cantabile, Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13
3. III. Rondo, Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13
4. I. Allegro - Sonata No. 10 In G Major, Op. 14
5. II. Andante - Sonata No. 10 In G Major, Op. 14
6. III. Scherzo -Allegro Assai - Sonata No. 10 In G Major, Op. 14
7. I. Andante Con Variazioni - Sonata No. 12 In A Flat Major, Op. 26
8. II. Scherzo (Allegro Molto) - Sonata No. 12 In A Flat Major, Op. 26
9. III. Marcia Funebre (Andante Maestoso) - Sonata No. 12 In A Flat Major, Op. 26
10. IV. Allegro - Sonata No. 12 In A Flat Major, Op. 26
11. I. Andante - Allegro -Allegro Molto Vivace - Sonata No. 13 In E Flat Major, Op. 27
12. II. Adagio Con Espressione - Sonata No. 13 In E Flat Major, Op. 27
13. III. Allegro Vivace - Sonata No. 13 In E Flat Major, Op. 27

Tracks:

1. Preambule Carnaval Op9
2. Pierrot Carnaval Op9
3. Arlequin Carnaval Op9
4. Valse Noble Carnaval Op9
5. Eusebius Carnaval Op9
6. Florestan Carnaval Op9
7. Coquette Carnaval Op9
8. Replique Carnaval Op9
9. Papillons Carnaval Op9
10. A.S.C.H., S.C.H.A., Lettres Dansantes Carnaval Op9
11. Chiarina Carnaval Op9
12. Chopin Carnaval Op9
13. Estrella Carnaval Op9
14. Reconnaissance Carnaval Op9
15. Pantalon Et Colombine Carnaval Op9
16. Valse Allemande - Intermezzo: Paganinni Carnaval Op9
17. Aveu Carnaval Op9
18. Promenade Carnaval Op9
19. Pause Carnaval Op9
20. Danse Des Davidsbundler Contre Les Philistins Carnaval Op9
21. I. Des Abends Fantasiestucke Op12
22. II. Aufschwung Fantasiestucke Op12
23. III. Warum? Fantasiestucke Op12
24. IV. Grillen Fantasiestucke Op12
25. V. In Der Nacht Fantasiestucke Op12
26. VI. Fabel Fantasiestucke Op12
27. VII. Traumeswirren Fantasiestucke Op12
28. VIII. Ende Vom Lied Fantasiestucke Op12
29. I. Allegro - Carnaval De Vienne, Op. 26
30. II. Romanze - Carnaval De Vienne, Op. 26
31. III. Scherzino - Carnaval De Vienne, Op. 26
32. IV. Intermezzo - Carnaval De Vienne, Op. 26
33. V. Final - Carnaval De Vienne, Op. 26

Tracks:

1. Fantaisie Hongroise In F Major For Piano And Orchestra
2. Totentanz, Paraphrase Sur Le 'Dies Irae' Pour Piano Et Orchestre
3. Variations Symphoniques Pour Piano Et Orchestre
4. I. Allegro Molto Moderato - Concerto For Piano And Orchestra In A Minor, Op. 16
5. II. Adagio - Concerto For Piano And Orchestra In A Minor, Op. 16
6. III. Allegro Moderato Molto E Marcato - Andante Maestoso - Concerto For Piano And Orchestra In A Minor, Op. 16

Tracks:

1. I. Adagio Sostenuto Assai - Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra In A Major
2. II. Allegro Agitato Assai - Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra In A Major
3. III. Allegro Moderato - Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra In A Major
4. IV. Allegro Deciso - Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra In A Major
5. V. Marziale, Un Poco Meno Allegro - Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra In A Major
6. VI. Allegro Animato - Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra In A Major
7. I. Allegro Maestoso - Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra In E Flat Major
8. II. Quasi Adagio - Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra In E Flat Major
9. III. Allegretto Vivace - Allegro Animato - Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra In E Flat Major
10. IV. Allegro Marziale Animato - Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra In E Flat Major
11. I. Allegro Non Troppo E Molto Maestoso - Allegro Con Spirito - Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra In B Flat Minor, Op. 23
12. II. Andante Semplice - Prestissimo - Tempo 1 - Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra In B Flat Minor, Op. 23
13. III. Allegro Con Fuoco - Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra In B Flat Minor, Op. 23

Customer Reviews:

Stunning. . . . .......2007-01-10

I bought this set with some trepidation, since I didn't know what to expect from Cziffra's playing of composers other than Liszt. I had only heard him in his mercurially brilliant Lisztian incarnation, and didn't know how he would do with a less flamboyant style.
I have been very pleasantly surprised, especially at his Beethoven and his Schumann. I found that he kept the spontaneity of his Lisztian interpretations, but channelled it chronologically into insightful and spontaneous Beethoven interpretations, while respecting most of the rules and performance practices of the Classic era.
His Schumann was mercurial and spontaneous in a Romantic fashion, also, and - of course - brilliantly digitally played. As to the Liszt, it's par excellence; I've never heard that music played with such spontaneity and
digital fluency.
The sound quality is surprisingly good, altho somewhat uneven. I highly recommend this set to anyone who loves great piano-playing. My favorite pianist is still Richter, but Cziffra takes first prize in his Liszt, and runs a close second with other composers' music.

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST.......2006-10-15

The eight discs making up this set are invaluable to anyone interested in this extraordinary musician and pianist. His career was cut tragically short, and while it lasted he was most in demand to display his astounding technique in Liszt. He did it because he could. Not being enormously attracted to Liszt I was slow in coming to know Cziffra, but when I did what struck me forcibly was that the picture I had been given of him was seriously misleading. Any suggestion that he was a wilful virtuoso who turned the standard classics into something of his own is 180 degrees wide of the mark, and this selection enables us to hear what his playing was really like in music ranging from Lully and Couperin to the late 19th century, taking in on the way Rameau, Scarlatti, C P E Bach, Beethoven, Hummel, Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann. Liszt is here in the shape of the two concertos, the Totentanz and the Hungarian Fantasy plus some solos, my collection of least favourite romantic concertos is enhanced with his renderings of the Grieg and Tchaikovsky, but relief from these is provided with Franck's symphonic variations. Among the non-Liszt solo pieces we are given a number usually thought to call for exceptional virtuosity, namely Schumann's toccata, Mendelssohn's rondo capriccioso and Brahms's Paganini variations. Balakirev's Islamey is here too, but in a version of Cziffra's own, and so are some of his own virtuoso arrangements including one of the Flight of the Bumblebee as well as four similar efforts from Liszt.

Cziffra himself didn't aid popular comprehension by saying that he couldn't play Beethoven. I already owned his Waldstein, but here we have four more sonatas plus some smaller pieces, all early works. If I have a fault to find with his Waldstein it's that it is rather understated. What I don't fault at all is his sense of Beethoven's idiom, and the only flash of Cziffra's phenomenal technique comes where there can be no objection in the up-and-down octaves near the end. These are normally played glissando, because to finger them in strict time is impossible, allegedly. Even Horowitz can't do that - but Cziffra can. This really sums up his way of doing things - the technique is exercised strictly when needed, and then not in a showy way unless the sense of the music demands that. Try the Mendelssohn rondo here - light-fingered in the main rondo theme, relaxed in the episodes - then hear Serkin on Aura in his 1957 recital in Lugano, high-tension and full-speed-ahead. Serkin brought the audience to its feet, Cziffra is simply enjoying the piece, and very Mendelssohnian he sounds. Or again the Schumann toccata. Richter won raptures from the critics for his handling of the rat-tat fortissimo chords near the end while making no concessions to the tempo. He does that no better than Cziffra, if as well. The difference is that Richter `makes more' of the supposedly virtuoso sequences earlier. Now how about Cziffra's Beethoven here? It is natural, idiomatic and kept within a certain volume-level. There is no showing off let alone messing around. If Cziffra recalls anyone it is Kempff, and these performances would be safe models for teachers. In Schumann it's the same story. Not everyone could play Traumeswirren like this, and here and there the finger-work had me rubbing my eyes, but I keep sensing that Cziffra is not even aware that he's doing anything exceptional. The idiom is dead right, the rubato is natural, the lyricism is spontaneous if less `warm' than some, the sense of the overall structure is effortless - and I could say all that about Chopin's F minor fantasy too.

I can't avoid Liszt, but some comparisons are interesting. This high-powered Totentanz has been rightly praised, but both in this work and in the first concerto I feel that Michelangeli beats Cziffra at what is supposedly Cziffra's own game. I hear Michelangeli as Cziffra's solitary equal as a technician, but in second-rate music like this spontaneity and dexterity are trumped by an above-it-all Olympian aloofness, and Cziffra undoubtedly does not take the ultra-care that Michelangeli takes over perfect evenness of touch, sublime poise in the rhythm and super-perfection in the trills. (In the matter of trills, you can hear what Cziffra can do when he puts his mind to it in the fiendish 4th variation in book 1 of Brahms's Paganinis). In the 2nd concerto Cziffra is the best I have yet heard. In sheer technical address neither he nor anyone surpasses Richter, but where I like Cziffra better is in an aspect of his playing that gets too little attention, namely his natural and unaffected lyricism. In the Hungarian Fantasy, the Liszt solos and the various arrangements I imagine Cziffra is unsurpassed and unsurpassable, not that I propose to research that matter much.

The Grieg and Tchaikovsky concertos are here too. Cziffra adopts moderate tempi in the outer movements of the Grieg as the composer directs. The first movement of the Tchaikovsky is done as I like it, insofar as I like it at all. The introduction is taken fast, rather as Horowitz and Toscanini take it although I miss Toscanini's direction. The last movement however is taken at a very moderate pace, with the excitement saved for the end. Later performances are of some French music. In these pieces, as in the Scarlatti sonata, I wouldn't say that Cziffra stands out particularly - with one telling exception, Couperin's Barricades Mysterieuses, atmospheric and bewitching. Was this what they told you to expect from Cziffra?

He was a natural, a child of the gods. The near-unbelievable technique was an important part of his gift, but what I prize most is his lyric manner - simple, innocent and clear-eyed. His actual touch is not one that you could identify within seconds, as you could identify that of Horowitz, Serkin, Richter or Michelangeli, but it is utterly free from affectation. The better you know him, the more you will love him.

A world-changing musician.......2006-01-30

I've not a lot to add to Alan Thorpe's review except to say that to be young when Cziffra burst upon the world in 1956 after he left Hungary & started playing in western Europe was sheer intoxication--and it wasn't all Liszt either! Like Richter, who appeared at the same time, he played Schumann in a way that opened up entire new fields of tonal & interpretive possibility. I must say, too, that from the start, I admired his Beethoven--I like lyrically played Beethoven! Why shouldn't Beethoven sing as well as growl? He did write some lovely songs, after all. Cziffra's versions of Op.13, Op.14/2 & Op.26 on this set are very satisfying--I just wish they had managed to include a recording of his version of the Waldstein, too.

CZIFFRA - A Keyboard Phenomenon.......2001-05-26

Issued in 1991 by EMI France to celebrate Cziffra's 70th birthday this 8 CD boxed set is a bargain. The first CD is all Liszt and contains some of the most spellbinding playing you are ever likely to hear. Fire and brimstone reign as Cziffra tears up the keyboard in the Dante Sonata's demonic moments; surely a whiff of sulphur as he spontaneously combusts during the Mephisto-Valse; the Rhapsodie espagnole and Grand Galop chromatique {see him sweat playing this on Philip's `Great Pianists of the 20th Century video.}. As a contrast, be seduced by his heart-melting rendering of the third Liebestraume; the caprice of the Valse-Impromptu; and have the waters of `Les Jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este' ever cascaded so onomatopoeically and with such a transcendental variety of touch and nuance. More diablerie follows on disc 2 with transcriptions by Liszt and those {in} famous ones by Cziffra himself. I have never heard a more demonic Gounod/Liszt ` Valse de Faust'; Auber/Liszt `Tarantelle de bravura'; or Tchaikovsky/Liszt Polonaise from `Eugene Onegin'; as for Cziffra's playing of his own transcriptions and paraphrases, especially the Strauss `Tritsch-tratsch polka' and Rimsky-Korsakov `Flight of the Bumble-bee; well, they are in a class of their own. Both Katsaris and Volodos recorded the latter pieces but I'm afraid they cannot compare with Cziffra's sheer electricity and panache. You will now need an ice pack as disc 3 opens with Balakirev's Islamey which starts steadily enough compared to say Simon Barere's famous account {now on APR} but increases in excitement as Cziffra adds all kind of gypsy embellishments as he builds to a fiery conclusion. Excitement is also the key to the next piece; Schumann's Toccata, which Cziffra plays with effortless abandonment and joie de vivre as he also does Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso. Cziffra loved to play Baroque music and the rest of this disc is taken up by mainly short but characterful pieces by Couperin, Lully, Rameau and Krebs. Many were recorded in the 1980s and sound better if played back at a reduced volume level as they were obviously too closely miked. Cziffra once said that he couldn't play Beethoven so preferred to leave it to others who could. He did record a number of sonatas and this selection includes very fine accounts of the `Pathetique'; No. 13 in E flat Op27/1 {companion to the `Moonlight'};and Op. 26 in A flat. He brings a full cantabile to the latter works opening movt. and to the Adagio of the `Pathetique'. Elsewhere he plays with refinement and elegance; everything is in the best possible taste and there is nothing to offend, but those who like their Beethoven a bit more rough and gruff could be a bit disappointed as they might also be with Cziffra's Brahm's Paganini Variations which are technically stunning but find Cziffra musically out of sorts. The Schumann disc finds him on top form. Like many great artists Cziffra loved to play Schumann and he was equally at home with Eusebius { the dreamer} as he was with Florestan { the impetuous side of his character} and this is self evident in his brilliantly characterful accounts of Carnaval, Fantasiestücke, and Carnaval de Vienne - the latter piece highly praised by Cortot after he heard Cziffra during a Paris radio broadcast in the late 1950s. Discs 7 and 8 are all concertante works and show Cziffra at the very height of his stupendous powers. Again Cziffra has his demon up in the most astounding Liszt Totentanz ever recorded; a Hungarian Fantasy with all the improvisational colours of a band of gypsy fiddlers and an ideally recreative performance of the second concerto to make all others sound four-square . To cap this there is a fabulous Grieg concerto in which Cziffra dares to improvise the end of the Lisztian style cadenza; a meltingly beautiful slow movt with an excitingly brilliant finale. Last but certainly not the least, a very poetic reading of Franck's Symphonic Variations and a Tchaikovsky first concerto which combines thrilling virtuosity with all those individual touches that only a genuinely recreative artist can bring to such a familiar masterpiece. This collection is a splendid tribute to one of histories greatest pianists - an artist who knew the authentic meaning of ` bravura'.

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Historic Organ Of Louisville Manufacturer: Organ Hist. Society ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Arne | Arne, Thomas Augustin | ( A ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Carl Philipp Emman. Bach | Bach, Carl Philipp Emman. | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Brahms | Brahms, Johannes | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Elgar | Elgar, Sir Edward | ( E ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Grieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Franz Joseph Haydn | Haydn, Franz Joseph | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Hindemith | Hindemith, Paul | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Hovhaness, Alan | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Karg-Elert, Sigfrid | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Massenet | Massenet, Jules | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mendelssohn | Mendelssohn, Felix | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Rheinberger, Joseph | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Saint-Saëns, Camille | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Vaughan Williams, Ralph | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Debussy | Debussy, Claude | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatinas | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Vaughan Williams, Ralph | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Organ | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Hymns | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Partsongs | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music ASIN: B000004AHS Release Date: 1996-12-17

Tracks:

1. Funeral March And Humn Of Seraphs
2. Sonata No.1, Op.42: III. Finale
3. 'The Little Red Lark'
4. Fireside Francies, Op.29
5. Lord Enthroned
6. Suite Folklorique: Canzona
7. Lied des Chrysanthemes, Op.3, No.1
8. Fantasie And Fugue In B-Flat
9. We Know That Christ Is Raised
10. Peer Gynt Suite I.: Ases Tod
11. Andante
12. Concerto No.1: Organ Solo
13. Johnson Rag

Tracks:

1. Sonata IV.
2. Ave Maria, Op.104, No.2
3. Allegro Maestoso And Fugue On America
4. Homage To Persichetti
5. Dawn Hymn, Op.138
6. Sunset To Sunrise
7. O God, Thou Faithful God, Op.65
8. Church Cantata: b. Aria
9. Hymn Interpret: Beach Spring
10. Sonata V.
11. Elevation, No.30
12. Secondo Dialogo
13. Monologue, Op.162, No.1: Fughetta On B-A-C-H
14. Homeward Bound
15. Prayer
16. Offertoire (La madone)
17. Chanson de nuit, Op.15, No.1
18. Thais: Meditation
19. Prelude On Pisgah

Tracks:

1. Sonata No.4 In B-Flat Major: I., II.
2. Fugue In A-Flat Minor
3. Prelude On Hyfrydol
4. L'Apres midi faune: Prelude
5. The Ride Of The Walkuren
6. The Last Rose Of Summer
7. Laudate Dominum: O Praise Ye the Lord
8. Three Pieces
9. Fantasie

Tracks:

1. Partita On Ein fest Burg
2. A Mighty Fortress
3. Sonata II.: I. Lebhaft
4. Prelude And Fugue In E-Flat
5. Sing Alleluia Forth
6. Trumpet Tune
7. Grand March In B-Flat Major
8. Partita On Resonet In laudibus
9. When In Our Music: Chorale

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Wizards & Wildmen Manufacturer: Composers Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Sarabande | Baroque Dance Suites | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Harrison | Harrison, Lou | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Ives, Charles | ( I ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Character Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Ives, Charles | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Piano | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B00004TKRZ Release Date: 2000-07-25

Tracks:

1. Exulation
2. Aeolian Harp
3. Piano Sonata No. 2; Concord, Mass.: 'The Alcotts'
4. Third Piano Sonata: I - Slowing & Singing
5. Third Piano Sonata: II - Fast & Rugged
6. Third Piano Sonata: III - Very Slow, Very Singing & Solemn
7. Third Piano Sonata: Prewlude For Grandpiaon
8. The Lilt Of The Reel
9. Tiger
10. Three Improvisations: I
11. Three Improvisations: II
12. Three Improvisations: III
13. Three Improvisations: Study No. 22
14. Homage To Milhaud
15. New York Waltzes: I - Waltz In C
16. New York Waltzes: II - Hesitation Waltz
17. New York Waltzes: III - Waltz In A
18. New York Waltzes: Largo Ostinato
19. Dynamic Motion
20. What's This
21. Amiable Conversation
22. Advertisement
23. Antinomy
24. Time Table
25. The Celestial Railroad
26. May Rain
27. Saraband
28. The Banshee

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Improvisations for Christmas Manufacturer: Dorian Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Classical | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Classical Instrumental | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Similar Items: The Art of Improvisation ASIN: B000001Q82 Release Date: 1993-08-31

Tracks:

1. Toccata On Jingle Bells
2. Rondo On The First Noel
3. Scherzo On Wassail Song
4. Cavatina On Angels We Have Heard On High
5. Invention On Rejoice, Rejoice This Happy Morn
6. Lo, How A Rose
7. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
8. Litanie On O Come, O Come Emmanuel
9. Capriccio On O Christmas Tree
10. Divertimento On Joy To The World
11. Variations On Of The Father's Love Begotten
12. Pastorale On The Holly And The Ivy
13. Postlude On God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Average customer rating: Improvisations A very good reproduction! An Homage That Strides, Boogies and Swings!

Improvisations Manufacturer: Naxos American ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Stride Piano | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music Boogie-Woogie | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Jazz General | Jazz | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Jazz | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Best of Art Tatum Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 'Concord'; The Celestial Railroad Piano Starts Here The Best of the Pablo Solo Masterpieces Horizons - Leif Ove Andsnes ASIN: B000641Z2C Release Date: 2004-10-19

Tracks:

1. Tea For Two
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Tiger Rag
4. Aunt Hagar's Blues
5. Humoresque
6. Sweet Lorraine
7. Get Happy
8. The Jitterbug Waltz
9. Tatum Pole Boogie
10. Cherokee
11. Lover, Come Back To Me!
12. Elegy
13. Hallelujah
14. Willow Weep For Me
15. Emaline
16. Yesterdays
17. I Know That You Know

Album Description

Art Tatum, arguably the greatest pianist in the history of jazz, combined Harlem stride, ingenious pianistic extensions, humor, harmony that stretched its language to the limits and the subtlest of improvisational techniques. The Afro-American pianist Art Tatum was nearly blind from childhood. He made an early reputation for himself as a solo player and in his recordings, as well as with various bands. His achievement lay in his development of the New York Harlem Stride school of jazz-playing, under the influence of Fats Waller. This collection presents improvised and embellished (jazz-style) versions of classic tunes in the style that Art Tatum made famous. Credited by the New York Times with "piano playing at its most awesome," Steven Mayer has brought jazz greats Art Tatum, Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson to listeners world wide, together with acclaimed interpretations of Ives, Liszt and Mozart.

Customer Reviews:

Improvisations.......2007-05-12

Exceptionally fine selections and performances of this genre of Americana.
However there is a similarity, one piece to the next, that detracts slightly. Happy to have it in my collections.

A very good reproduction!.......2005-09-11

Steven Mayer did in my view a very good job in reproducing the sound of Tatum. The tracks are all very interesting to hear for a Tatum admirer. Mayer plays most of the songs a little bit slower than Tatum did. No problem at all. The decreased speed allows one to hear even better how good Tatum was, and how well-formed his improvisations were. Essential in imitating Tatum is the ability to play tenths with your left hand, which most pianist can not. Mayer plays tenths and tenth-based big chords effortless. Most of the tracks seem to have been played from the transcriptions in "The Art Tatum Collection" (publisher Hal Leonard, available here with Amazon.com). Mayer has proven that you don't have to be Tatum to play like Tatum. Who's next?

An Homage That Strides, Boogies and Swings!.......2004-10-20

There is certainly no desperate need for recordings of new non-Tatum performances of Art Tatum's fantastic jazz improvisations since most of his recordings from the 1930s through the 1950s exist in multiple CD reincarnations. But as an act of homage (and intense work on his part, I must say) pianist Steven Mayer has recorded seventeen of Tatum's improvisations note-for-note, transcribed by ear from Tatum's recordings and played with real panache here. His renditions are not precisely identical to Tatum's and therein lies part of their value. Although all the notes that Tatum laid down are there, there are little variations in accentuation, rhythmic and dynamic, as well as slight tempo alterations, that make these performances worth having because of one's ability to hear these improvisations anew. Add to that Mayer's impressive virtuosity and the excellent modern sound caught in these recordings (not to mention Naxos's budget price) and you have reason enough, I feel, to invest in them if you are, as I, a big fan of Tatum's incredible artistry.

I imagine that some people buying this CD will not have a collection of Tatum's own originals. And are they ever in for a delightful time of it! Tatum's stride basses, right hand tracery at supersonic speed, increasingly complex harmonies, unfailing sweetness and humor are in full evidence here. He always acknowledged his debt to Fats Waller and, like Waller, there is a joie de vivre in his music that simply can't be denied. Mayer catches that tone admirably.

I can't comment on all the tracks here, but some do invite a word or three. Since I come from the classical music side of things, I must point out the droll and yet lovely interpretation of Dvorák's 'Humoresque,' which starts out fairly 'straight' (albeit with flippant alterations of rhythm that make one chuckle) and then all heck breaks loose in the second chorus. I have to imagine Dvorák, with his experience of the exuberance of American music, would be smiling. And then there is Tatum's treatment of Massenet's sappy 'Élegie,' which Tatum starts at its lugubrious original tempo, but is barely into the second phrase before it's as if he says 'enough of this' and speeds things up, layers in absolutely miraculous right-hand filigree leading to breakneck stride (with those amazing walking tenths in the left hand) and makes something entirely original and invigorating of it.

Among the real classics here is Tatum's 1940 'Sweet Lorraine,' which is so sophisticated in its subtle alterations in the tune at each reappearance that 'a first time listener who comes in the room in the midst of the solo almost cannot be sure that he is not hearing the actual tune,' as Mayer says in his enlightening booklet notes. This is another of Tatum's delicately sweet improvisations that somehow manages to swing at the same time as it caresses us with its gentle sentiment. Finally, simply because I worry about becoming too enthusiastically long-winded here, I'll end by singling out 'Lover, Come Back to Me,' which is so harmonically rich and subtle that I can't but think that Tatum's illustrious successors such as Bill Evans, George Shearing and Denny Zeitlin (and probably countless others) must have memorized the changes to use in the development of their own styles. It is stunning evidence of Tatum's continuing evolution as an artist over the years until his tragic and untimely death from uremia at 47 in 1956.

Steven Mayer, a classical virtuoso of the first stripe--if you don't believe me, you should listen to his recently released recording of Ives's 'Concord Sonata'--has made something of a career of mixing High Art of the European variety with the High Art of American jazz pianist/composers like Tatum, James P. Johnson and Jelly Roll Morton. One hopes there will be many more CDs like this one. My goodness, there's still a lot of Tatum to record, Mr Mayer! And wouldn't I love to hear your take on Meade Lux Lewis and Earl 'Fatha' Hines and Erroll Garner and even that Russian slyboots Nikolai Kapustin!

Strongly recommended.

TT=62:00

Scott Morrison

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Historic Organs of New Orleans Manufacturer: Organ Hist. Society ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by J.S. Bach | Bach, Johann Sebastian | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Boyce | Boyce, William | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Duruflé, Maurice | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Karg-Elert, Sigfrid | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mendelssohn | Mendelssohn, Felix | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Nielsen | Nielsen, Carl | ( N ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Paine | Paine, John Knowles | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Reger, Max | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Rheinberger, Joseph | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Improvisation | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatinas | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Reger, Max | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Organ | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B000009JG9 Release Date: 1995-09-26

Mexican Music:

1. Is It Something I Said? [Explicit Lyrics] [Live]
2. It's a Wonderful Laugh
3. Live at the Curran Theater [Live]
4. Lullabies for Your Inner Child
5. Lullabies Suite
6. Mark And Brian: Little Drummer Boys
7. Message [Live]
8. Monty Python's Life Of Brian (1979 Film) [Soundtrack]
9. Monty Python Live at Drury Lane [Live]
10. Musical Depreciation Revue Anthology

Mexican Music

mexican music

Mexican Music

Nation In Distress

Strauss: Sinfonia Domestica; Suite for Winds, Op. 4

The Big Bear Sessions [Import]

Music CD: Spanish American Themes

Sound Factory

Rey del Trabalengua

Teddy Bear's Picnic

Prokofiev: Prodigal Son/Symphony 4

The Best of Red Simpson

Soul

Steel Guitar Air Show

Suntan [EP]

Secret Language of Ordinary Objects [Import]

Take You Out

I Stand Alone