Word: pianos
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...listening, however, not in the debate over inclusiveness. All the significant performances of the century are here: Artur Schnabel's Beethoven, Wilhelm Kempff's Schumann, Sviatoslav Richter's Prokofiev, Walter Gieseking's Debussy. But Deacon was too knowledgeable, and too wily, to select only the gems that every piano lover may already have. More than a quarter of the music in the collection was previously unavailable on CD, and some pieces, such as Clifford Curzon playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27, have never before been released commercially in any format. Deacon scoured the archives--and his own collection...
Great Pianists is unquestionably the compilation of all compilations, as well as a wonderful trip through the history of piano interpretation. Deacon has included performances of the same repertoire played by different artists to show the dramatic shifts in style and temperament through the century. The collection contains a recording of Vladimir Horowitz playing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 during World War II. The performance is fanatical and wild--in sharp contrast to Van Cliburn's rendition, recorded after his famed competition win in Moscow in 1958, which is tender, lyrical and full of the charm that captivated...
...technical ability propelled him quickly through the ranks at Marconi, and in 1915 he submitted an idea for a "radio music box" at a time when radio was mainly used in shipping and by amateur wireless enthusiasts. He believed his device would make radio a "household utility" like the piano or phonograph. "The idea is to bring music into the house by wireless," he wrote in a memo. It was regarded as commercial folly. But he would soon have another opportunity to find backing for his idea. After the Great War, in 1919, RCA was formed by General Electric...
...Reserved in the sense that the orchestra played No. 2 as a concerto and not as a symphony. De Waart's conducting gestures were never forced, were never angularly abrupt. This added to the fact that the muted vibrations of the orchestra and the sweet mellow tone of the piano actually, at times, cast more silence than resonance. Certainly, it was somewhat harrowing to hear the vast acoustics of Symphony Hall echo part music along with part emptiness...
...detriment of the music in the same way that a caf‚ au lait manages to retain the integrity of a shot of espresso but just in a more subdued manner. The reward of this "quiet" performance was evident for all who listened carefully. The piano-playing abilities of renowned German pianist Christian Zacharias were both impressive and compelling. Especially touching was the way he handled the "Adagio." Zacharias's ability to juxtapose articulation with lyrical continuity was particularly shown in this movement. His fingers and notes were light, breezy and even playful at times...