Search - Bartok, Schiff, Fischer :: Piano Concertos 1-3

Finally he reveals his true ability

12/01/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Always his recordings do not sound as good as his live performances. Before I went to his recital, I thought that he was just one of the boring pianists just judging by his rather-detached performances of Bach on Decca label. So I was truly astonished by his tone richness when I had an opportunity to go to his concert. At that time he played works for 2 pianos with Peter Serkin (in Minneapolis). Sorry for Serkin, a son of the great pianist in 20th century, but Schiff's sounds was always sticking out and truly dominated that performance. In this anticipated Bartok's concertos, recordings finally caught his true ability with piano. His hands never make too much harsh sounds as can be heard in most of Bartok's performances. I am amazed that Bartok's concertos can sound like this, exquisite, elegant, refined, and colorful. If you are tired of too much aggressive performances of Bartok, then you must listen to this CD. Strongly recommended."

A good one, but not The One

fotografus | Budapest, Hungary | 05/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Schiff is an excellent pianist. Emotional and incredibly musical with a perfect technique. Nevertheless, this is not his finest recording. In my reading, Bartok's piano concertos are much harder, much more elemental than the soft interpretation of Andras Schiff. This certainly does not make this CD a bad buy, it is an interesting approach, just not the perfect one, in my view. (Have you heard the one with Kocsis, for instance?)"