Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1; Schumann: Introduction and Concert Allegro.Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1; Schumann: Introduction and Concert Allegro. Idil Biret, piano; Antoni Wit Antoni Wit (born 1944, Kraków) is a Polish conductor. He is the present musical director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Wit graduated from Krakow's State Higher School of Music, studying conducting under Henryk Czyz and composition under Krzysztof Penderecki, going on , Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Naxos 8.554088. The resident pianist of the Naxos label, Idil Biret, was bound to get to the Brahms First Piano Concerto sooner or later, so better now than never. After one of the longest introductions to any concerto anywhere, the piano finally makes its entrance at about the four-minute mark, providing the pianist has stayed awake long enough to come in on time. Ms. Biret attacks the opening movement with vigor and pounds out the notes in appropriately heroic fashion. If she misses some of the craggy crag·gy adj. crag·gi·er, crag·gi·est 1. Having crags: craggy terrain. 2. Rugged and uneven: a craggy face. work's subtler moments, especially in the Adagio a·da·gio adv. & adj. Music In a slow tempo, usually considered to be slower than andante but faster than larghetto. Used chiefly as a direction. n. pl. a·da·gios 1. , she more than makes up for it in pure adrenaline. I especially enjoyed the closing Rondo rondo (rŏn`dō, rŏndō`), instrumental musical form in which the opening section is repeated after each succeeding section containing contrasting thematic material. The complex rondeau of French keyboard music of the 17th cent. where the massive structure of the concerto's beginning gives way to a more lyrical yet still energetic tone. Ms. Biret seems more at home here and concludes the piece in a most poignant manner. Frankly, though, I liked the companion work, Schumann's Introduction and Concert Allegro, better than the Brahms. Schumann's work, written in his late period, 1853, is a kind of condensed con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. piano concerto in a single, 15-minute movement. It works fine, and Ms. Biret brings out the poetic charm as well as the Romantic bravura bra·vu·ra n. 1. Music a. Brilliant technique or style in performance. b. A piece or passage that emphasizes a performer's virtuosity. 2. A showy manner or display. adj. 1. in it. The sound of the disc is typical Naxos, meaning it's a little thick, dark, and soft for my taste. It has good range, to be sure, good stereo width, and moderate depth. Still and all, in comparison to competitors like Giles on DG, Curzon on Decca, and, at full price, Kovacevich on EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) An electrical disturbance in a system due to natural phenomena, low-frequency waves from electromechanical devices or high-frequency waves (RFI) from chips and other electronic devices. Allowable limits are governed by the FCC. , both the sound and the performance on the Naxos issue may be found wanting. The two earlier competitors, Giles and Curzon, are framed in more transparent, if slightly noisier, sound; and Kovacevich has the advantage of modern digital recording. Nevertheless, if price is a consideration, there is always the fact that this release is going to cost you about a third to a quarter the Kovacevich. You get what you pay for. |
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