276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Best of Piano Classics - 50 Famous Pieces - Solo Piano - (ED 9060)

£6.875£13.75Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

The piano version manages to capture the same epic, swirling sense of emotion in the famed original, especially through the gorgeous middle section. Due to the mixture between chords and melody, the flowkey version is best suited to advanced players. The big question: what is a Wonderwall? Noel Gallagher has never answered this, but said it's a "song about an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself." 11. No Doubt – Don't Speak (1995) Wonderful music, performed with charm, affection and, when required, fabulous virtuosity, by pianist Mark Viner; a superb follow up to his equally impressive first volume of Chaminade. The broken chord accompaniment in Sting's 1983 megahit is iconic enough on its own, but the way it combines with a relatively simple melody turns "Every Breath You Take" into something truly special. Throughout the introduction and verses, each chord is an added ninth—played as broken chords. This takes a progression that might otherwise sound ordinary and gives it a wistful, yearning edge that fits what have been called the world's most misinterpreted lyrics. Beethoven Symphony No 3, ‘Eroica’ (transcr Liszt) Mozart Piano Concerto No 20, K466 (transcr Alkan)

By 1854, Liszt had put the finishing touches to his monumental Piano Sonata in B minor, and took the music to perform at a private soirée. Among the guests was another composer, Johannes Brahms. Liszt took his seat at the piano and began to play. When he reached a section of the piece of which he was particularly proud, so the story goes, he glanced over at Brahms to see what he thought… only to find his fellow composer snoozing. Pianist Paul Wee proves himself a master of these treacherously demanding transcriptions, sweeping aside the technical challenges to present these great works with consummate musicianship. A deeply spiritual journey through a deeply spiritual work, a highly personal project by our recent Recording of the Year-winning pianist, and one you can read more about in the July issue.

Composer

Chopin composed his most well-known nocturne at the tender age of 20, which perhaps accounts for its youthful passion. The build-up from the main theme and waltz-like accompaniment to the dramatic trill-filled finale makes the Nocturne in E-flat Major a strong contender for the most beautiful piano work ever written. Rhapsody in Blue’wasn’t entirely positively received by 1920s critics, yet its melange of classical and jazz stylegrounded Gershwin’s reputation as a serious composer – and its jazz influences are what gives the landmark pieceits sultry and indulgent character.

Clara Schumann was one of the best known pianists of her time, but sadly she moved away from composing, saying " I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose – there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?". This beautiful piano concerto gives us an idea of her incredible pianism and musical imagination.The Well-Tempered Clavier was completely innovative for its day, and it paved the way for composers writing for keyboard instruments for the next few hundred years. Bach wrote the first of the two books that make up his workin 1722, making this one of the earliest pieces on our list. Each of the two books contain 24 Preludes and Fugues (the whole work is sometimes known as ‘The 48’), in each key of the Western scale – and each book opens with a preludein C major, closing with a fugue in B minor. No song screams "The '70s" louder than "Stayin' Alive" by the British-Australian trio the Bee Gees. Its catchy, unmistakable melody is usually enough to put a smile on the face of everyone who hears it—especially if you're the one bashing it out on the piano. Really lovely playing from Stephen Hough, who offers us the most beautifully shaped sound, and a vision of Schubert’s music that feels as exploratory as it does rich in understanding of those wonderful works. Curiously, ‘Clair de Lune’ also means ‘Moonlight’– but there’s a stark contrast between Beethoven’s Romantic classicism and Debussy’s Impressionism. Don’t be fooled by the initial simplicity of ‘Clair de Lune’: it took Debussy 15 years to write the third movement of the Suite Bergamasque, and the result is a work that sounds simple, but demands the very best from its performers. Get it right, and it allows the most accomplished pianists to shine.

Each new album from pianist Steven Osborne offers beautifully prepared interpretations with something distinctive to say about the repertoire – and this latest Debussy recital is no exception. We might anger a few metalheads by including Metallica in a roundup of pop songs, but don't just take from us—others think it, too. "Metallica are a heavy-sounding band, but they write pop songs," said Dave Gahan of the legendary Depeche Mode. Literally meaning ‘little bell’ in Italian, La Campanella borrows its melody from the final movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.2, in which the tune is accompanied with a handbell. This is the third of Liszt’s six Grandes Etudes de Paganiniand it has an ethereal beauty in its tinkling, bell-like notes. Alexander Gadjiev – the second-placed pianist at last year’s Chopin Competition – further enhances his reputation with an adventurous and brilliantly played Russian programme.It is always a privilege to hear Krystian Zimerman on record, and this programme of Szymanowski’s music – recorded either side of a 15-year interval – is predictably stunning. A fascinating and thought-provoking piece of programming – spanning the Baroque to the 21st century – that works wonderfully, thanks of course to Inon Barnatan’s hugely impressive pianism. The sonata’s third movement Rondo alla Turca is so popular, it is often played as its own musical entity. The movement imitates the sound of Turkish military bands, which was in vogue with European composers at the time.

A brilliant series ends on a note worthy of all the previous volumes – Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s desire to share his affection for Haydn’s music with us is infectious. A superb survey. A deeply fulfilling and beautifully engineered Scarlatti programme,’ writes Jed Distler of this album from Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy. Do listen to it. Klára Würtz’s Goldbergs explores Bach’s extraordinary and revered set of variations with selfless commitment and personality, bringing delicacy, drama and architectural splendour to this great music.A completely triumphant – and entirely authoritative – survey of William Bolcom’s rags, performances filled to the brim with all the character these glorious pieces require.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment