Word: pianistics
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...PIANO AND ORCHESTRA (Angel, 3 LPs). After returning to the U.S. last year from a decade-long self-imposed exile, Weissenberg, now 39, changed his first name from Sigi to Alexis. He obviously had some new musical ideas on his mind too. In the Rachmaninoff, the Bulgarian-born pianist displays a Horowitz-like technique, a poet's heart and vast reserves of power; he throws up wave upon wave of volume without ever losing the shimmering roundness of his tone. In the Chopin, he adheres to the composer's theory that the melodic line should bend gracefully...
WALTER GIESEKING: BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5 IN E FLAT (Seraphim). This is the second low-priced issue of a Gieseking Emperor; the first (on Odyssey) is older and not as up-to-date in sound. For a seasoned campaigner, the late German pianist could be surprisingly youthful when he turned to Beethoven. Here he treats the Emperor more like a prince-in-waiting than an absolute monarch; he never stoops to imperious rhetoric, his tone is lithe and silvery, and he moves with quickness and grace. It is not the only way to treat the music...
EMIL GILELS: BEETHOVEN'S FIVE PIANO CONCERTOS (Angel, 5 LPs). Recorded last April in Cleveland with Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, this set often finds the Soviet pianist more in a mood to polish his tone than to push Beethoven's cause. The concertos are all neatly and expertly done, but they rarely express the excitement, abandon and sheer joy of the music. Gilels does better in the three sets of solo variations that constitute the sidefillers; the 32 Variations in C Minor is especially notable for its logic and rhythmic verve. But as a whole, this ambitious...
MILES DAVIS, MILES IN THE SKY (Columbia). Some small changes have crept into Trumpeter Davis' newest recording. He plays meaner, less prettily. In Paraphernalia, Guitarist George Benson augments Davis' usual group, which consists of Pianist Herbie Hancock, Tenorman Wayne Shorter, Bassist Ron Carter, Drummer Tony Williams. In Stuff, Hancock plays an electric piano that, coupled with Williams' steady rock beat, gives an earthier, more organic undertow to the trumpet's aerial treks...
...McLoone is the comedian and entertainer. Just when his teammates were beginning to tire of his Ed Sullivan routine, along came a new batch of sophomores for an audience. "Spider," who picked up his nickname from his uncontrolled running style, spent the summer as a singer-pianist at a club in New Jersey. A lifelong fan of rock-and-roll music and pop culture, McLoone had his finest hour when he appeared at a party last winter in his complete Superman costume...