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If you liked this CD:
and/or this one:
you might be interested in Ms. Zhao's latest release of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas. She was 13 when she recorded the Chopin and 16 when she did the Liszt. Now at the ripe old age of 20 she has committed the Beethoven sonatas to disc. I have the discs on order from MDT. The cost is slightly under $40. Amazon has the MP3 version for around $18. You can also stream them on Spotify.
I've listened to a few key sonatas, and they are mostly very good. The sound is quite good, too. Much better all around than HJ Lim but for some that is a low bar :)
She may be ambitious, but she seems like a serious musician.
Follow Ups:
of the complete Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt sonatas do we need? And what
is going to be the real differences between and amongst the various
versions? And how many of us could distinguish the artist in a blind test?
Maybe - highly likely, actually - it's just me, but I don't think there's
a great demand for this woman's efforts. I'm not dismissing her talents
or abilities, but this particular repertoire has been done to death. Try
something else, lady.
That's the thing with masterpieces - every good performer brings something new to the game, and often something new with each performance.
I heard Garrick Ohlsson play last year, and a couple years before, both recitals with some of the same Chopin. His newer take on a couple pieces was quite different from the previous outing. Would I go hear him play the same pieces again? In a heartbeat. Great performers keep evolving, even with their most established repertoire.
I just ran across this 1956 vid of Rubinstein playing the A-flat major Polonaise. I've never been a big fan of his take on that piece, but watching this several times makes me want to rethink that.
The other thing that's going on with masterpieces is this: the more you know a piece, the more you can get out of it. Dig into them deeper and deeper. They will reward you. I just got goosebumps watching that vid for the third time. Not the first, and not the second. It was a complete surprise, as I know his recordings well and heard him play many times.
It's never enough. We need them all, and them some. With great music, be greedy.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
and can agree with them - on a theoretical level, anyway.
Personally, I'm happy when I find one or two versions of a particular
piece that get my attention. As a for-instance: I just love "Blue Lou",
a swing era warhorse, as done by Roy Eldridge and Chu Berry, and by Jack
Teagarden and an all star group in (I think) 1939, which also featured
Bunny Berrigan. Other versions - and there are many - just pale by
comparison.
As a 2nd example, I'm a big fan of Domenico Scarlatti's work, and have
discs featuring several different pianists. But Mikael Pletnev's version
of these pieces just leaves everyone else in the dust. So it's the only
one I ever play. I suppose I would audition someone else's versions, and
would purchase same if good enough, but I think Pletnev is the gold
standard here.
YMMY, of course.
Have you heard Horowitz Scarlatti disc? I am not a fan of his but this is very nice
Alan
but I am always curious to hear if current piano players can top the old masters or come up with some fresh insights or new spins on old scores. I have my favourites but also am open for new ideas.
I found that a repetitive listening of an average Beethoven Sonata is less torturous than lacklustre Chopin pieces which could be a total bore for me.
... if we must have dozens and dozens of recordings by young girls, let's hear something other than the same old same old. There is a huge trove of great piano music that rarely gets recorded. I think all those young girls (or "babes" as Chris calls them) ought to be required to record less familiar music before they are given permission to record the same old same old that has been recorded hundreds of times already.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
nt
Labels like CPO, Sterling, Toccata and other specialty labels do quite well producing lesser known music. Hyperion has had great success with its Romantic Piano Concerto series, most of which consists of composers you never hear in concert anymore, yet it is wonderful music.
Fact is, I rarely buy warhorse music any longer. I've got more than 80 recordings of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto, more than 100 of his 3rd, and don't even want to count the numbers of recording of symphonies by Brahms, Mahler, Dvorak, etc. I've got quite enough of the same old same old. And with more than 30 recordings of the Bach cello suites, a pretty face is not going to entice me to buy another.
I now much prefer discovering less familiar music. There are websites specifically for discussions of less familiar composers and music. There are a lot more people who buy that music than you'd think.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
You are more optimistic than I. Unknown young performers playing non-standard repertoire does not a best-seller make. Would that it could be possible.
A "best seller" in classical music is not a lot of CDs. And "best seller" is not the point. Small labels are able to record music with full orchestra and sell enough copies to make a profit. But they typically do not use performers who have already achieved superstar status, or the top tier orchestras and conductors, because they can't afford them. Still, some of these recordings do quite well in sales. It's probably a larger market than you'd thing, because there are a lot of classical music lovers who are just tired of listening to the same old same old every time they sit down. There are "best sellers" in the world of un-famous composers.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
There are several factors in my buying/listening decisions. First, can I afford it? Second, is it someone I've heard and liked before? Third, is it music I know well and like a lot? Is it something someone else recommends, like a friend or a critic, whose opinion I respect? I think music collecting is a lot like the surfer looking for the perfect wave, but in our case, the perfect recording. It happens rarely, but it's just part of the collector part of music collector.
They were pretty amazing IMHO. I'll bet her Beethoven Sonatas are better than H. J. Lim's and I'm curious to hear them.
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