Jennifer Lim - Mystical Mozart - Complete Piano Sonatas - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Bryce Morrison, the celebrated critic and authority on piano music, described the pre-eminent Hungarian pianist as follows 'Annie Fischer was among the greatest and most richly comprehensive of all pianists'. The distinguished Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, notoriously critical, described her as 'an artist imbued with a spirit of greatness and with genuine profundity'. Fischer was universally acclaimed in Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert and Chopin as well as her own compatriots, Liszt, Bartók and Kodály. Despite her international reputation, however, in comparison with other pianists of her generation she is probably the least represented on disc. This was mainly due to a distaste for the recording process - she preferred the freedom and spontaneity of live performances. It is a well known that her studio recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas were made over many years and with many different producers. She was never satisfied with the results, so in this BBC recital of selected Beethoven sonatas, Annie Fischer is heard as she would have wanted - live and caught on the wing, making this recording very valuable. Misha Donat, her producer for Sonata No.30, said Inchshe hated working in the studio so these are real performances; they were always done in a complete 'take', though sometimes she would play through a movement twiceInch.

Rooted in European music, native folk traditions and often infused by jazz, Brazilian music encompasses a huge variety of dance forms and songs. Prize-winning guitarist Pedro Aguiar has selected a panoramic recital to illustrate these elements which include the choro and music rich in melody and rhythmic vitality. From Villa-Lobos, whose Charos No. 1 is one of the most popular guitar solos ever written, through to the work of the revered Dilermando Reis, and on to contemporary examples of the genre, this is music of dazzling virtuosity and finesse.

Mark Dresser - Banquet [COMPACT DISCS] date 11/18/1997