Flashes of Creation

Ever the iconoclast, if there is one thing that Brian Eno has done with any degree of consistency throughout his varied career, it is presenting his art in an array of perpetually "out of the box" forums. All that changed – in a manner of speaking – with the release of two companion multi-disc compilations. Eno Box I: Instrumentals (1994) condenses his wordless creations, while Eno Box II: Vocals (1993) does the same for the rest of his major works on a similarly sized volume. Interestingly – and in his typically contrary fashion – this initial installment was actually issued last. Each of Eno Box I: Instrumentals' three CDs respectively concentrates on a specific facet of the artist's copious back catalog.

Chopin: Complete music for piano & orchestra, etc. / Weissenberg
EMI Classics | October 02, 2007 | 3 CDs
EAC | ape | img + cue | logs | 698 MB

Weissenberg's Chopin is not for the faint hearted, but it does have its fans. No less a pianist than Glenn Gould commented parenthetically in an article in the May 1976 issue of High Fidelity that: “I always felt that I could live without the Chopin concertos and managed to until Alexis Weissenberg dusted the cobwebs from Mme. Sand’s salon and made those works a contemporary experience.” Gould brands Weissenberg's Chopin as a “unique example of the rite of re-creation”, alongside Barbara Streisand's Classical Barbara album. Take from that what you will. In any case, those jaded listeners who cannot bear talk of the warmth of Chopin's limpid beauty will probably enjoy Weissenberg's bracing bucket of ice immensely.
– Tim Perry, MusicWeb International