Riccardo Malipiero Complete Solo Piano Music (lopez)

This is very powerful and convincing piano writing in the style of Schumann and Brahms, but with a slightly modern twist. I consider myself a pianophile and acceptance of new music does not come easy. This disk, however, entered the pantheon of greatness approximately 10 seconds after inserting it into my overworked and underpaid CD player. I found the piano writing idiomatic and wrought with pathos, drama and exquisite beauty. The compositions are all based on traditional forms and are easy to digest. As for the performer, his name doesn't ring a bell, but its safe to say that he delivers a no-holds barred, more than competent reading.

Winner of the Prix de l Académie Charles Cros, this set brings together Robert Schumann s complete works for solo piano. This great cycle benefited from having been recorded in the unique acoustics of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, by Jean-Marc Laisné. Sales of the 13 CDs comprising this set have exceeded 20,000 copies around the world. This complete recording is now acknowledged as a reference and, at the same time, an important step in the artistic life of pianist Eric Le Sage.

Zoltán Kocsis performs the complete solo piano music of his fellow Hungarian, Béla Bartók. Completed in 2001, these critically acclaimed, definitive performances are the benchmark against which all others are considered.

This set is a remarkable bargain, containing all of Brahms's solo piano music, including such chips from his workshop as cadenzas for other composers' concertos and a series of strictly mechanical piano studies that nobody will want to listen through. No matter. Idil Biret has a firm grasp of Brahms's idiom, and she plays with insight and passion throughout the set. Although she doesn't startle with her virtuosity, she handles the considerable technical demands of the music with great confidence.