"And with this incredibly tight batch of prime 1987 Grateful Dead, we’re thrilled to bring you Dave’s Picks Vol. 36, matching the number that will be forever tied to Dick’s legacy. Thanks for sticking around this long, and for joining us through these past nine years of archival live Grateful Dead releases." - David Lemieux
Tatiana Shebanova, who also features in the Fryderyk Chopin Institute’s on-going Real Chopin series (see review special, p83), gets her own complete, modern instrument (as opposed to Real Chopin’s historic instruments) cycle on the Polish label Dux. Arranged in opus order, it presents a satisfying survey of Chopin’s development, and it spares the listener from (for example) a lack of variety in the usual hour-long sequence of waltzes.
In 2002, 17-year-old Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz won second prize in the Artur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The next year, he won first prize in the Fourth International Hamamatsu Piano Competition in Hamamatsu, Japan. The year after that he won the Grand Prix at the International Piano Competition in Rabat, Morocco. The year after that, however, Blechacz hit the quintfecta at the age of 20 by taking all five top prizes at the 15th International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw: first prizes in polonaise, mazurka, sonata, and concerto, plus grand prize overall…
The show was Great! This is my favorite line-up so far for the band- but I always say that. Greg looked and sounded super- singing and playing. He is a classic blues rock musician. Butch, Jaimoe and Marc are the best! Rico sat in for Butch on one tune as well. Way to go Rico… Marc has settled in solid with the band. Tazzz… Oteil had some crazy sounds coming out after his scat solo. Love the thunder of the bass and drums! Derek looks relaxed when he plays with the ABB.
The first part of this recording (and the first playing I had heard Andsnes do) that I heard was the third sonata, a piece that has had a lot of recordings by the great pianists through the years. What struck me were two things: a sense of spaciousness, letting the music and the phrases "breathe", and, along with that, a sense of proportion. Andsnes, here and in other recordings I have heard of his, has the guts to _not_ show off, (although, clearly, he has the fingers to do so) but, more than any other Chopin pianist I have ever heard (with the exception of Moravec), somehow illuminates Chopin's phrasing in the most natural way.
To celebrate its 50th Anniversay, harmonia mundi presents 50 masterworks in the development of Western classical music, performed by undisputed masters in their field. This set features over 36 hours of music (all complete works, no excerpts) of music in audiophile-quality sound, elequently packaged in a deluxe boxed set and offered at a very low price. Whether you are an inquisitive novice or a discerning connoisseur, you will be thrilled to experience the sonic triumphs of the world's most innovative independent label.