Herringel Eugen

Gilels had immense physical power and impeccable control, but he was also capable of exquisitely refined poetry and had an acute perception of the lyrical impulse lying behind even the most assertive of Brahms's writing. The firmness of attack and the depth of sound that make his (and the Berlin Philharmonic's) playing so thrillingly dynamic can be offset by the most poignant of delicate gestures. There is undeniable grandeur to these readings, but with those additional qualities of wise thinking, generous expression and artistry of great subtlety, these performances are in a class of their own.

Here is a superb recital following Piers Lane’s earlier Hyperion release of d’Albert piano concertos (4/96) and, once again, provoking astonishment that music of such quality could have lain neglected for so long. Variety is, indeed, the spice of d’Albert (1864-1932), the legendary, six times married pianist so greatly admired by Liszt. Tending to leave his wives as soon as they bore him children (one for the Freudians), his occasional sense of confusion – including an outburst to Teresa Carreno, his second conquest, “Come quickly, my child and your child are fighting with our child” – hardly detracted from a dazzling career and a series of compositions of a special richness.

These three masses are early works but Bruckner had already gestated into Bruckner by the time of their composition. His symphonies regularly quote motifs from these works; they resonated in his mind down the years (and in fact, the F Minor Mass was written as a palliative gesture when the poor bugger was madder than usual).

Everyone seems to agree that this mono Brahms cycle is one of the great ones, and the only question that really matters is a personal one: can you put up with decent mono sound, or must you have stereo (or to go a step further, digital?). The matter is further complicated by the fact that Eugen Jochum rerecorded this music in fine stereo for EMI, and those performances are also available on two twofers. It's your call, but by all means do sample this marvelous conductor's inspired way with Brahms.

With "Bucharest 1994", IN+OUT Records presents a very special live event by Eugen Cicero, who has created something unique in his mediation between classical music and jazz standards. This is the first concert with exceptional bassist Decebal Badila, which layed under lock and key for 28 years. The album contains both entertaining, technically demanding and documentarily indispensable material.

IN+OUT Records has unearthed another treasure of Eugen Cicero: „Lullabies“, a trio studio recording from 1995 with Decebal Badila on bass and Ringo Hirth on drums. This album was originally only released for the Japanese market and is now available for the first time.