Chicago Concertos: Piano Concertos by Rudolph Ganz and John La Montaine. Ramon Salvatore, piano; Paul Freeman, Chicago Sinfonietta and Slovak Radio Symphony. Cedille Records CDR 900000 028.Chicago Concertos: Piano Concertos by Rudolph Ganz Rudolph Ganz (24 February 1877, Zürich, Switzerland – 2 August 1972, Chicago) was a Swiss pianist, conductor and composer. He claimed direct descent from Charlemagne. and John La Montaine John La Montaine (b. Oak Park, Illinois, United States, 17 March 1920) is an American composer who won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Piano Concerto no. 1, Op. 9, "In Time of War" (1958), which was premiered by Jorge Bolet. . Ramon Salvatore, piano; Paul Freeman, Chicago Sinfonietta sin·fo·niet·ta n. 1. A symphony that is shorter than usual or that calls for fewer than the usual number of instruments. 2. A small symphony orchestra, especially one consisting of stringed instruments only. and Slovak Radio Symphony. Cedille Records Cedille Records is the independent record label of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation — a foundation dedicated to preserving Chicago’s rich musical heritage by documenting the work of its finest musicians, ensembles, and composers. CDR (1) See CD-R and extension. (2) (Call Detail Reporting) See call accounting. (3) (Common Data Rate) A standard sampling rate for digital video for 480i and 576i systems. The rate is 13.5 MHz. See ITU-R BT. 900000 028. The two piano concertos represented here, Ganz's 1940 Concerto in E-flat Major and La Montaine's 1989 Piano Concerto No. 4, were composed by men who spent significant portions of their lives in the Chicago area. It seems a rather nebulous connection between the disc's title and the fact that both composers once lived in or near Chicago, neither composition having anything remotely to do with Chicago, but we'll allow the producer some license for creativity in promoting the disc. The nice thing, album title or no, is that while the two concertos differ remarkably in style, they are both so appealing. Even more remarkably, it is the newer work that is the more accessible. La Montaine's Fourth Concerto is light, colorful, sunny, inventive, and highly agreeable. Its slow, mystic, almost surreal introduction quickly eases into an abundance of imaginative beats and cheerful melodies. Ganz's Concerto is heavier, darker, more relentlessly rhythmical and, for its time I would imagine, quite progressive. Sonically, however, it is La Montaine's piece with the Slovak orchestra that is also the better recorded -- cleaner, better defined, and with a greater sense of depth. For those listeners looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. something different, particularly those seeking something modern yet not unduly grating, the two works on this disc are worth considering. |
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