Perahia Mendelessohn

Perahia formed the first incarnation of his full time group Joshua after quitting his studies in pre-med at UCLA in the late seventies. Joshua's 1983 Enigma debut, The Hand Is Quicker Than The Eye, preceded the Jeff Fenholt fronted Polydor release Surrender from 1986. After recruiting a new vocalist in Rob Rock (Impellitteri), Perahia returned to the studio and recorded the polished melodic metal of the critically acclaimed Intense Defense (which came out on RCA Europe in 1988). Seven long years passed – that included a stint in Jaguar with vocalist Robyn Kyle Basauri (Red Sea, Die Happy) – before he put together his new group, M Pire, and its full length debut Chapter One. Originally released on Long Island Records in 1995 (and soon to go out of print when Long Island went out of business), Chapter One was re-issued in 2001 on M&K Sound – under the new heading Joshua Perahia as opposed to M Pire – and for a second time in 2008 (but with the track “Bad Man” omitted).

Exclusive Sony Classical pianist Murray Perahia releases this collection of the keyboard concertos of J.S Bach. Celebrated by his fans and media alike on first release, several of the concertos have been unavailable for some time and make a welcome return to the catalogue, The set contains some of Perahia’s all-time best-selling recordings.

I was amazed to discover this wonderful performance of Schubert's D.959, by a pianist who I usually consider a bad Schubertist (in the Impromptus and last sonata, for example). In this work, however, he seems to get the very essence of the music. I've listened to many good and bad recordings of the work, notably Uchida, Eschenbach, Bolet (good performances) as well as Serkin, Brendel (worse, to my taste) and many others. The only good rival of this performance is another surprise: the romantic Liszt expert Jorge Bolet (Decca, not released on CD). Perahia seems to understand Schubert magnificently in this sonata.

Recorded over 13 years between 1975 and 1988, Murray Perahia's cycle of the complete piano concertos of Mozart, including the concert rondos and double concertos, remains perhaps the most enduring monument to his art. What is it about Perahia's art, some skeptics might ask, that is worth enduring? For one thing, as this 12-disc set amply demonstrates, there is his incredible tone.

The elegant and clean lyricism of Murray Perahia's playing fits this program of piano songs without words to a tee. Perahia has always had a wonderful knack for teasing out singing contrapuntal lines that other pianists ignore. Far from sounding willful, such interpretative playing seems to reveal music that one should have been hearing all along. Consequently, Perahia lends all music that falls under his hands a decidedly polyphonic cast. It is therefore not surprising that Perahia renders the richly textured Bach-Busoni chorale transcription, "Nun freut euch, lieben Christen," with unstudied charm.

Recorded over 13 years between 1975 and 1988, Murray Perahia's cycle of the complete piano concertos of Mozart, including the concert rondos and double concertos, remains perhaps the most enduring monument to his art. What is it about Perahia's art, some skeptics might ask, that is worth enduring? For one thing, as this 12-disc set amply demonstrates, there is his incredible tone. Clear as a bell, bright as the sky, and deep as the ocean, Perahia's tone is not only one of the wonders of the age, it's admirably suited to the pellucid loveliness of Mozart's music.

Sony Classical ORIGINALS offer listeners outstanding enjoyment, authentically recapturing the fascination of legendary recordings from the age of long-playing records and preserving worthwhile releases from two labels with particularly long and distinguished traditions: RCA Red Seal and Columbia Masterworks. These superb recordings by great artists have enjoyed international acclaim ever since they were first released. Showered with critical plaudits, they are part of the 20th century’s cultural legacy.