Terra Angelica

Track Listings

1. I Offer You A Wing And A Prayer

2. Dream Time With The Muses

3. Flying With Icarus

4. Embracing Chiron

5. Cloud Cover

6. Emerging From The Cocoon

7. Finding Comfort In The Maze

8. Fallen Angels

9. Veiled Grace

10. Terra Angelica

11. Racing To The Heavens

Editorial Reviews
(Arizona Networking News, 7-10-95)
Very special music that fuses haunting but joyful melodies of the heart and projects an angelic message of universal love. (Arizona Networking News (07/10/95))

Product Description
Original piano music with flute, harp and violin. Excellent for meditation, massage and body work, inspiration, relaxation and easy listening.

Terra Angelica

Terra Angelica,Randall Leonard

Terra Angelica

Tracks:

The Godfather: I. Sicilian Pastorale
The Godfather: II. The Immigrant (The Godfather II)
The Godfather: III. The Pickup
The Godfather: IV. Kay (The Godfather II)
The Godfather: V. Love Theme
The Godfather: VI. A New Carpet (The Godfather II)
The Godfather: VII. Godfather's Waltz
The Godfather: VIII. End Title (The Godfather II)
8 1/2: La passerella di addio
La Dolce Vita: La tromba di Polydor
Prova D'Orchestra: I. Risatine Maliziose (Malinconiche)
Prova D'Orchestra: II. I Gemelli allo Specchio
Prova D'Orchestra: III. Valzerino No. 72
Prova D'Orchestra: IV. Attesa
Prova D'Orchestra: V. Galop
Prova D'Orchestra: VI. Risatine Maliziose (Finale)
Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli: I. Titoli
Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli: II. Canzone Barese ('Paese mio')
Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli: III. Milano e Nadia
Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli: IV. Terra Lontana
Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli: V. Finale - Nadia
IL GATTOPARDO: I. Titoli
IL GATTOPARDO: II. (No.6) Viaggio a Donnafugata
IL GATTOPARDO: III. (No.19) Angelica e Tancredi
IL GATTOPARDO: IV. (No.11) Angelica e Tancredi
IL GATTOPARDO: V. (No.7) I Sogni del Principe
IL GATTOPARDO: VI. (No.3) Partenza di Tancredi
IL GATTOPARDO: VII. (No.21) Amore e ambizione
IL GATTOPARDO: VII. (No.22) Quasi in porto
IL GATTOPARDO: IX. Finale

Customer Reviews:

You've never heard "The Godfather" like this.......2003-08-13

For me the highlight of this disc is a short suite from "Rocco and His Brothers," with some pungent accordion work and 1950's jazz influences. This is glorious and rarely performed music, and conductor Riccardo Muti and the fine La Scala musicians should be thanked for presenting it so beautifully. (The film itself, available on DVD, is one of Visconti's best and well worth seeking out.) But there isn't a stale moment anywhere.

The melancholy themes from "The Godfather" have probably never been played so well. The famous opening trumpet solo, combining loneliness and menace in equal parts, is beautifully done, as are the relatively upbeat selections from "8-1/2" and "La Dolce Vita." Throughout the production, it is marvelous to hear these scores played with such passion and commitment, and the La Scala musicians sound sweepingly involved.

But for many listeners the highlight will be the dazzling and haunting waltzes from "The Leopard," with their melodic arcs echoing the grand scale of Visconti's masterpiece. This is truly evocative film writing.

An excellent introduction to Rota's music, played with suave intensity by one of the best conductors in the world. (For those interested, Muti and La Scala recorded another Rota CD with additional dances from "The Leopard," as well as music from "La Strada" and the "Concerto for Strings" -- also highly recommended.)

Italian Scala and Muti feels Rota!.......2001-07-25

Perhaps this is the most powerfull collection of film music of Nino Rota, and Muti knows and feel this music. Splendid perfomance and sound.

Average customer rating:

Van Cliburn's Liszt
Simply breathtaking

Van Cliburn: My Favorite Liszt

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Van Cliburn: My Favorite Rachmaninoff
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My Favorite Brahms
My Favorite Chopin
Beethoven Sonatas

ASIN: B00004SSEI
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Tracks:

Sonata In B Minor
Un sospiro
Sonetto 123 del Petrarca
Consolation No.3
Consolation No.5
Liebestraum No.3
Mephisto Waltz

Customer Reviews:

Van Cliburn's Liszt.......2006-04-28

I was never a fan of Van Cliburn's playing. I have always been interested in the by-ways of piano literature, e.g., Alkan, Scriabin, Mednter, and Sorabji. Hence, pianists such as Horowitz, Hamelin, and Powell I find appealing not only in their technique but also in their choice of overlooked but really good repertoire that has suffered neglect due to the 'standards' of piano performance, i.e., that which is most easily accessible to the public (unfortunately, public consumption [and attention spans] have largely determined what piano music will be recorded). Van Cliburn was one such pianist; chopin, brahms, beethoven, rachmaninoff, debussy, etc., much of it good music, but recorded to death to the neglect of equally good, but different music. At any rate, I was hesitant to purchase Van Cliburn's Liszt CD. I played it and was surprised. His Chopic CD had sounded mechanical to me, but this Liszt CD is actually very very good. I imagined his performance of the Liszt B minor sonata to be dry, dull, and boring. It was anything but. It is definitely a unique recording of the Bm sonata, one that can be listened to over and over again along with Pollini, Zimerman, Nojima, and Demidenko. He shapes the dimensions of the sonata very well and has a very good control of its sonorities. His performance of Un Sospiro cannot equal Hamelin but it is, nonetheless, an excellent performance that stands on its own. The Mephisto Waltz was another surprise: Van Cliburn plays it to the hilt. I have heard more breath-taking versions, e.g., Horowitz, Sgouros, and Wild. But Cliburn's measures up. He adds flourishes at the end that are effective and in no way take away from the piece but rather add to the spirit of the waltz. I would recommend this CD highly.

Simply breathtaking.......2003-08-05

Van Cliburn, who in 1958 became as much of a celebrity as Elvis, is one of the world's greatest ever pianists. I have never heard anyone play Liszt with so much gravity and understanding. Part of this may be because Van Cliburn's hands are so enormous, nearly as large as Liszt's.

This recording of the Sonata is a must-have. The first eerie notes are played with spine-tingling anticipation, then comes the climatic theme, with technical stunts to make your head swim. Mr. Cliburn comes through it all without an error and with an astonishing amount of passion and fire. The songs fades away eerily, just as it began.

Un Sospiro is one of my favorite pieces ever, and Van Cliburn plays it marvelously. The melody is split between the two hands, which causes the left to have to cross over the right often and very quickly, but the melody remains very even and so lyrical it brings tears to the eyes. Van Cliburn is the only pianist to date who has been able to make me cry with the sheer beauty of his sound, and it is undoubtedly his legendary, singing approach to the keys.

All of the other pieces on the CD are simply marvelous, and the wild, swirling Mephisto Waltz provides a fitting end to this stunning CD. Encore!

Terra Angelica
Average customer rating:

Hauntingly beautiful music

Terra Angelica

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Pastorale For The Winged Ones

Melting Snow / Thirsty Flowers

ASIN: B000053ZW7
Release Date: 2000-11-08

Tracks:

I Offer You A Wing And A Prayer
Dream Time With The Muses
Flying With Icarus
Embracing Chiron
Cloud Cover
Emerging From The Cocoon
Finding Comfort In The Maze
Fallen Angels
Veiled Grace
Terra Angelica
Racing To The Heavens

Album Description

Original piano music with flute, harp and violin. Excellent for meditation, massage and body work, inspiration, relaxation and easy listening.

Customer Reviews:

Hauntingly beautiful music.......2006-02-18

The accupuncturist I see plays this CD as I lay there relaxing and I have grown to love this CD. Very relaxing, hauntingly beautiful. Buy it.

Liszt: Tre Sonetti del Petrarca; Due Ballate; Due Leggende

Average customer rating:

Indescribably gorgeous
Glacier Symphony Review

Liszt: Tre Sonetti del Petrarca; Due Ballate; Due Leggende

Manufacturer: Azica
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00008S82I
Release Date: 2003-03-25

Customer Reviews:

Indescribably gorgeous.......2005-10-18

Roberto Plano is an indescribably gorgeous pianist. This CD and his preliminary and semifinal round performances at this year's Van Cliburn International Piano Competition fall into the "not to be missed" category for anyone who enjoys young artists developing and experimenting. As with so much of what Plano does, I am not normally a Liszt fan, but he makes me one with his thoughtful and emotional performances on this CD, which was part of his prize for winning the prestigious Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2001. Plano's speciality is color and tone painting, but that does not mean he lacks any of the virtuosity that make Liszt exciting. Well worth every dime!

Glacier Symphony Review.......2004-05-16

After Roberto came here to beautiful Kalispell, MT we wouldn't resist buying this album. Mr. Plano is an amazing pianist with a God given talent. His personality and presence is astounding. We were very priviliged and honored to have him play with us. I encourage you to invest in this work of art.

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Liszt Récital
Franz Liszt , and Mikhail Rudy
Manufacturer: EMI Records [All429]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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Release Date: 2001-11-06

Liszt: Masterpieces for Solo Piano, Vol. 1

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Liszt: Masterpieces for Solo Piano, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Vanguard Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000AGWEN
Release Date: 2003-08-26

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Liszt: Piano Works

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tracks:

Mazeppa
Harmonies du soir
Hungarian Rhapsody No.6 in D-flat
Funerailles
Sonetto 47 del Petrarca
Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
Sonetto 123 del Petrarca
Consolation No.3 in D-flat
Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 in c#

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Piano Dreams: Romance

Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tracks:

Of Foreign Countries & People, Op.15,1 - Evelyne Dubourg
Impromptu In G Flat - Jeno Jando
Pno Con No.1 in b Flat-II. Andante Semplice - Jeno Jando
Abschied (From 'Waldszenen') - Evelyne Dubourg
Nocturne in D Flat, Op.27,2 - Denes Varjon
Impromptu in B Flat D 935 No.3 - Jeno Jando
Romance In F, Op.118,5 - Denes Varjon
Sonetto 123 Del Petrarca - Vilmos Fischer
Barcarolle In F#, Op.60 - Dang Thai Son
Pno Son In A K.331-I. Andante Grazioso - Margarete Babinsky

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Apocalisse

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ASIN: B00004W1KL
Release Date: 2000-07-25

Average customer rating:

Cziffra's technique - good for his ego or good for the music?
Absolutely Phenomenal. 10 stars
Don't quite get the reputation of these recordings...
SOME KIND OF ULTIMATE
Original, stormy, facsinating

Gyorgy Cziffra

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Polonaises | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00000IX8D
Release Date: 1999-06-01

Tracks:

Polonaise No. 2 In E
'Annees de pelerinage': Sonetto 123 del Petrarca
Fantasy And Fugue On The Name B-A-C-H: Fantasy
Fantasy And Fugue On The Name B-A-C-H: Fugue
Etude de Concert No. 3 In D Flat 'Un sospiro'
'Annees de pelerinage': Tarantella
Etude de Concert No. 2 In F Minor 'La leggierezza'
'St. Francois de Paule marchant sur les flots': Legende No. 2
Etude d'execution transcendante No. 12: Chasse-neige
'La muette de Portici': Tarantella di bravura
Mephisto Waltz No. 1

Tracks:

Etudes, Op. 10: No. 1 In C
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 2 In A Minor
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 3 In E 'Tristesse'
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 4 In C Sharp Minor
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 5 In G Flat 'Black Keys'
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 6 In E Flat Minor
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 7 In C
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 8 In F
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 9 In F Minor
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 10 In A Flat
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 11 In E Flat
Etudes, Op. 10: No. 12 In C Minor 'Revolutionary'
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 1 In A Flat 'Aeolian Harp'
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 2 In F Minor
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 3 In F
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 4 In A Minor
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 5 In E Minor
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 6 In G Sharp Minor
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 7 In C Sharp Minor
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 8 In D Flat
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 9 In G Flat 'Butterfly'
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 10 In B Minor
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 11 In A Minor 'Winter Wind'
Etudes, Op. 25: No. 12 In C Minor
Polonaise No. 6 In A Flat, Op. 53 'Heroic'

Customer Reviews:

Cziffra's technique - good for his ego or good for the music?.......2007-02-10

Cziffra's technique is simply amazing -- his passagework is incredibly clear and well-articulated and he plays with supreme accuracy. Yet this is a boring and ultimately stultifying group of recordings. After about 1/2 hour, I began to wonder what exactly was Cziffra's problem. A lot of guys drive motorcycles or fast cars; Cziffra plays difficult music. The motivation seems the same.

I acquired this set for the Chopin Etudes. My initial reaction was a "wow", prompted by Cziffra's technique. By the beginning of the Op 25 set, I was getting really annoyed. By the end, I'd given up on him. I'll never listen to it again. The Cherkassky recordings (also on the Philips set) is much superior and the Pollini set is better, too. It's hard to explain why Cziffra's interpretation is so unsuccessful, because the guy is musical and I actually liked some of his interpretational touches quite a bit. But the over-the-top triple fff exaggerations of every loud passage and the intensely aggressive approach to each and every piece (Cziffra must have thought lyricism was for wimps) just ends up ruining the music.

Cziffra plays some interesting and unusual Liszt on this set. That's a plus. But the playing on the Liszt isn't any better than the Chopin.

Absolutely Phenomenal. 10 stars.......2005-10-18

The recording is good (some reviewers often indicate exceptional pianists with horrible, very old recordings)
I like good recordings.

Many years ago, I listened a Beethoven's sonata interpreted by one of the greatest pianists of the world. I felt his virtuosistic interpretation did not convey much emotion. In that sonata, (it seemed to me) he was worried mainly about pyrotechnics.

Cziffra has the most impressive piano technique I could listen to and sometimes he plays very quickly.

What impressed me the most was that even at super fast velocities, he IS ABLE TO CONVEY EMOTION because he controls what notes to "sing" and the pressure he needs to put at each key. (Listen op 25 n.1 for example where, at that velocity, I thought his interpretation would be only pyrotechnical. Surprise!).

Besides, I liked very much to see a pianist that has interpretive creativity, that is, he is not constrained to "the conventional way of interpretation".

He was a superb artist, so that he could choose what notes to emphasize.(etude op.25 n1)

Quickly, I bought the last album with international shipping available from Amazon.

Now, listen the Chopin etudes samples (ex: op25, n.2) and tell me if you know someone that can beat his technique.

Very Impressive.

Don't quite get the reputation of these recordings..........2004-07-04

I was prepared to be blown away. I was *hoping* to be blown away. The on-going quest for a "perfect" set of Chopin Etudes never stops. But there's more to these works than show and speed. The moments of color, of poetry, of mystery and drama, are not there. The big bangy Etudes are impressive, but the others, such as Nos. 3, 5, and 6 of Op. 10, and No. 3 of Op. 25, lack poetry and are too "straight-forward" for my taste. The mysterious, spooky qualities of No. 7 in Op. 25 aren't there. There's little in the way of dynamics in many of these works, No. 1 of Op. 25 is a good example. And as far as the virtuoso label goes, while No. 4 of Op. 10 starts out the gate at an amazing pace, it becomes unraveled and the lack of rhythm reminds me of Schnabel trying to play very fast, actually. And his interpretation of the "Winter Wind" prelude is a bit unconventional; I'm not sure if I like it, though I definitely wouldn't want to hear it this way every day. You'll have to decide for yourself.

Most of all, though, my problem is with Cziffra's tonal pallet, or lack of it. I didn't expect Cortot, but I do expect more than I get here, which, formidable technique aside, sounds very unremarkable, indistinguishable from any modern piano student.

I haven't listened to the other disc, of Liszt. I'm going to give this another try, but overall these are too monochrome, too driven, too "when all else fails, floor it!" to have a place of honor on my shelf. The quest for a great complete cycle of Chopin Etudes continues.

SOME KIND OF ULTIMATE.......2003-08-12

I guess that if you like Horowitz you will like Cziffra. His career was all too short, ending abruptly on the tragic death of his son. He was a Hungarian gipsy born in 1921 and dying in 1991, the year that also saw Serkin, Kempff and Arrau summoned away in short order. By now I have lost track of the pianists I have seen described as ultimate technicians -- Hofmann, Rachmaninoff, Horowitz, Michelangeli, Argerich, Pollini, Gavrilov, Kissin and of course the obligatory Richter among others. My own two finalists in that particular competition would be Michelangeli and Cziffra. Michelangeli is sui generis, a different pianistic animal from any of the others. Cziffra is in something like the 19th century virtuoso tradition as I know it from Hofmann and Rachmaninoff. Speeds are typically fast, as they were from Rachmaninoff, and virtuosity is a key element in Cziffra's way of expressing the music. This is entirely as it should be in my opinion. When Cziffra's career was at its height something dangerously like staidness was in vogue, and something known as 'virtuosity for its own sake' was widely viewed as a Bad Thing. I have never even known what it was supposed to be, let alone why it was such a bad thing, but I recall Cziffra falling foul of this particular critical waffle, and it goes a long way to explain why he is not better known. Anyway Cziffra treated technical brilliance as an integral part of the musical expression in certain pieces, and rightly so say I. Why playing brilliant pieces in an unbrilliant way should be considered a plus for expressiveness is the bit I have never understood.
The recorded sound is rather hard in the Chopin studies, much better in the Polonaise, where it is interesting to compare him with Horowitz. In the middle section both are absolutely dumbfounding, the main difference being that Cziffra does not go through his tone as Horowitz does. This was something that Horowitz carried off with aplomb, but something everyone else has had the good sense not to copy. Where I like Cziffra very much better is at the start, where Horowitz deploys a peculiar dry touch that he was sometimes prone to adopt on inappropriate occasions. Rubinstein pedals heavily here, which is fine by me, but Cziffra's finger-legato is easily the best way. In the studies I would not say that I prefer Cziffra to the fine sets by Ashkenazy (here at his all-too-rare best) or Pollini. It's near-impossible to rank three such players in 24 short pieces. What I would ask you not to believe is the booklet, which nearly falls into the 'virtuosity for its own sake' morass. There is plenty of soul and expressiveness from Cziffra here, although the hard recorded sound doesn't help. I don't believe, for instance, that Cziffra banged at the bass in the 'butterfly' study or the one in sixths the way he comes across as recorded here.

In the Liszt pieces if you take away the virtuosity there is little or nothing left, but virtuosity plus belief like this almost had me taking them seriously as music, which is saying a lot. They are simply astounding, and I apologise for using such a term to anyone who is as weary of it as I am. This time it's true. In the very last resort Cziffra seems to me even more of a virtuoso wonder than Horowitz, and this playing is full of heart, soul and fire. I do not know whether as a Hungarian Cziffra represents some specially authentic Lisztian tradition. What I do know is that he does more for Liszt as far as I am concerned than anyone else has ever done.

There is actually an account of the op25 Chopin studies that is surprisingly like Cziffra's. It is a historical reissue, it is not madly well recorded, and it comes from a quarter you might not expect. It is by Serkin, and it comes with the new biography of him issued earlier this year.

Original, stormy, facsinating.......2002-01-28

Cziffra is considered chiefly as a Liszt interpreter, but I don't like Liszt at all, and the piano pieces in disc 1 are no better than other Liszt works. The main issue is the Chopin etudes. Cziffra lights the fire from the first etude, and the whole series sounds like one sweeping storm. You forgive his capricious playing, since the outcome is irresistable. Recommended only for those who are already acquainted with more conservative performances of the etudes. so they can appreciate the difference.

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