Search - Scott Joplin, Rifkin :: Piano Rags 1-3

A masterpiece - same as it ever was!

Michael S. Goldfarb | Verplanck, NY United States | 03/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ever since I first heard Joshua Rifkin's first LP of the Scott Joplin rags (when searching for music to play along with Super 8 silent comedies back in the early 70s), I have been in love with these recordings.Rifkin's sensitive playing finds a dignity and variety of moods in these rags, waltzes, senerades, dances, etc., that is simply astonishing. This music is the link between romantic classical music and early jazz, and it combines some of the finest elements of both. Having a classicly trained musician perform it (vs. someone from the stride or barrelhouse - much less honkytonk! - school) reveals much of the subtle beauty and invention in these compositions... Once you've heard this, both the "fingerbreaker" high-speed approach to ragtime that preceded this, and the Hamlisch-ized popularization of this music that came later, fade into insignificance!And having nearly all of the 3 original LPs on a single CD is fantastic. My ONLY complaint is that the recordings themselves, particularly the first group from 1970, seem somewhat flat and lacking in the rich tone and dynamics that we expect nowadays. No matter, these performances are wonderful. No other recordings of Joplin come close - do yourself a favor and grab this one!"

It remains definitive even after 30 years

chefdevergue | Spokane, WA United States | 10/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, the production values are pretty lousy at times and no, it is far from being a complete collection of Joplin piano music. However, if one is forced to choose a single recording of Joplin rags, again and again one returns to Rifkin, even after all of these years. Nobody has supplanted him. His interpretations remain definitive.



As so many other reviewers have mentioned, Rifkin knows how to play a rag properly. Pacing is everything --- he allows the music to breath. With the proper measured tempi, the listener is allowed to appreciate the intricacies of Joplin, intricacies which are blurred when other pianists insist on a breakneck pace.



If you are determined to have a complete Joplin collection, so be it --- but Rifkin will be the cornerstone of any ragtime collection."

Consumate musicianship

M. H. Page | S. San Francisco, CA USA | 05/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just a short note to state my admiration for Joshua Rifkin, the consumate musician who is equally at home playing Scott Joplin on the piano or conducting J.S.Bach's Mass in B Minor."