Schiff playing Smetana's Polkas is my new favorite CD!
J. Culbertson | Philadelpha, PA USA | 11/01/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Don't be put off by "polkas." Smetana does for the polka what Chopin did for the mazurka. Besides, Smetana writes Bohemian polkas which is definitely not the kind of music the Polka King plays. Schiff's playing is, as usual, both translucent and luminous."
Nice Ethnic Art...
Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 07/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
".
The brilliant Hungarian pianist András Schiff does a fine job with this nice ethnic art. As someone has mentioned, these Polkas are similar in ethos to Chopin's Mazurkas: taken from its central-eastern European folk-roots origin, and made into an higher art-form.
Other complaints concerning Schiff's readings here as compaired with Walter Klien ( Smetana: Polkas ) are questionable. I have both readings; both readings are fine. It's simply a question of individual artistic vision: embrace it.
Nice Brueghel-ish cover art, too!
."
Average
R. Pohl | Brno, Czech Republic | 05/04/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Not bad... Interesting phrasing and free rhytm - perhaps too much. But the best Smetana's player of today is Antonin Kubalek. Try his Czech Dances and Memories of Bohemia and you'll see."