msk947's profile

Harmonia Mundi Le Style Classique CD

I have been extremely impressed with all of the Harmonia Mundi CDs I have acquired. This one is no exception. I bought this CD based solely on the fact that it was on the Harmonia Mundi label. The sound on these CDs is almost always excellent and the performances often use original instruments or are of repertoire with which I was not familiar. This CD is volume 15 of a 20 volume CD compilation tracing music from antiquity to the music of today. An ambitious project to be sure. This CD is a highlights disc which includes selections from Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. While I was familiar with much of this music before, I was not familiar with all of it. As an example, Franz Joseph Haydn's symphonic work, particularly the late symphonies, is work I know, but THE SEASONS, the cello concerto and the string quartets are not so familiar to me. All are represented well on this recording and the performances are outstanding. The listener feels that he/she is in the concert venue where the works are being performed and as that listener, that is a critical element for me in enjoying the music. The other interesting thing in the time period represented (1775-1820) is how musical tastes changed in Europe. By the end of that time period, opera had begun to flourish and long religious works for large scale chorus and orchestra had diminished in popularity. Literally, the music changed to meet the needs of the audience, and the liner notes that accompanied this CD bring that out. I found nothing to dislike about this CD. Only one selection, the Mozart RONDO ALLA TURCA, did not measure up sonically. On several selections, I did have to adjust the premp volume control to maximize the differences in musical volume, but that happens a lot with compilations. I can listen to this disc at full volume when I want to concentrate on the music or as background music for relaxation or when I'm reading. Understand that this a disc that exemplfies musical styles and is a highlights CD, so virtually no work is complete. I have not compared selection against identical selection from other records or CDs and probably won't. I like this one for what it is - a showcase for the various genres 20 or so years on either side of the year 1800 and the development for what we know today as CLASSICAL music. Based on this CD, I am going to try to find the others in the series. This disc has made for interesting listening and I'd like to hear the others.

Chopin 12 Etudes/Frederic Chiu

I was given a series of Harmonia-Mundi sampler CDs last year. Frederic Chiu was featured on two of them. I had not heard of him prior to receiving these CDs, but I immediately took notice of both the brilliance of his playing and the sound captured by the Harmonia-Mundi engineers. Further research showed that Chiu had given a controversial performance at the International Tchaikovsky piano competition in the early 1990s, bu there was no question about the brilliance of his technique. I have been trying to pick up any Harmonia-Mundi CDs with Frederic Chiu playing, and his playing, especially to someone used to listening to Rubinstein play the same repertoire, is sometimes controversial. Having said that, the combination of brilliant playing, a different interpretation than other pianists, and outstanding sound from the Harmonia-Mundi engineers, has made the Chopin Etudes a CD I listen to with some frequency. I am in the hall where Frederic Chiu is playing, and that, for me, is the highest praise I can give to a recording.