Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Jenö Jandó :: Schubert: Impromptus (Complete)

Great music, good performance at a bargain price

klavierspiel | TX, USA | 03/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the LP days Alfred Brendel was known as the "King of the Vox Box" due to his prolific recordings for that label of the Classic repertory. Judging from his numerous listings for the low-priced CD label, Jeno Jando must be anointed the "King of Naxos," not only for his sheer productivity but for the generally high level of his playing. The eight Impromptus on this disc are played with warm tone, clear fingerwork and an elegant sense of proportion. The sound is somewhat pedestrian but clear. Minor drawbacks are that the recorded piano is, surprisingly, not perfectly in tune, and also the total amount of music on this CD amounts to just less than an hour--a bit of "filler" would have been welcome. Still, this is a good CD of essential piano repertory at Naxos' typical bargain price."

Highly Entertaining

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 04/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Four Impromptus D. 899; Four Impromptus D. 935.

Jenö Jandó, piano

Recorded at the Italian Institute in Budapest, Hungary, in April, 1989.

Naxos NX 8.550260



While listening to this I gained the impression that Jenö Jandó had warmed to Schubert, His first Schubert CD with the Moments musicaux and the 3 Piano Pieces was, to my way of thinking, still a little patchy, but his performance of the Impromptus I found highly entertaining. Jandó manages to capture the spirit of each of these eight pieces while at the same time setting off pianistic fireworks in the faster sections (Impromptu in E Flat Minor, second Impromptu in F Minor). As the whole appears to be as well recorded as one might expect, I have no hesitation in recommending this disc. A fellow reviewer has stated baldly that the piano used was out of tune; I am not a pianist and do not have absolutely perfect hearing, but as an enlightened listener I can only say that I did not hear anything that grated on me at all. This is another great Naxos bargain.

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