- Van Cliburn歌迷最喜歡的歌曲
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This Complete Album Collection contains the complete recordings than Van Cliburn made as pianist for RCA, plus a documentary on DVD. It does not include his sole recording made as a conductor (issued in 1965 on a limited edition LP), nor recordings that have turned up on other labels.
By the time I became aware of Van Cliburn he had already retired, and my co-workers at the Classical record store where I was employed dismissed him as a "burn out". It wasn't until some of his recordings were issued on SACD hybrid discs that I began to listen to his recordings.
Despite Cliburn's All-American, apple pie loving boy from Texas image, his musical training was solidly in the Russian School. It's not for nothing that his teacher was Rosina Lhévinne, doyenne of Russian piano teachers.
Listening anew to these recordings, it's also easy to see why he won the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958. Cliburn had technique to burn, but never felt the need to get into a speed race - even when he played such warhorses as Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto. Yet it's Cliburn's recording of that concerto which brings a lump to my throat at the final statement of the third movement's "big tune." Cliburn was among the most sincere of interpreters. He didn't feel the need to drown his performances in eccentricity, yet one can instantly tell it's Cliburn performing. His temperament ran warm, but not hot like Rubinstein's and certainly not molten like Horowitz's. In many ways, Cliburn resembled Benno Moiseiwitsch, the master of relaxed virtuosity. Also, Cliburn's ringing sonority reminded many of Rosina Lhévinne's husband, Josef. (Vladimir Horowitz once remarked that he and Arthur Rubinstein together couldn't match Cliburn's tone.)
Let's get one thing out of the way, Cliburn was a good musician - not a one hit wonder. There is a misconception, mostly centered in the Germanic circles, that one has to be a great Mozart and Beethoven interpreter to be a great musician. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of this stems from Artur Schnabel's statement that he limited his repertoire to music that was "better than it could be played." There are plenty of Romantic works that are "better than they can be played". Fact is, there have been plenty of pianists who turn in fine performances of various Beethoven and Mozart works - including Cliburn for the most part. (There are also plenty of pianists who have been lauded for their Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert interpretations for no good reason.) There are not many pianists who can hold together the Liszt Sonata, or make as strong a case as Cliburn does for the original 1913 version of Rachmaninoff's Second Sonata.
As with any recorded legacy, there are high, middle, and low points. The Rachmaninoff Third Concerto, a warm, lyrical performance that proves the piece is more than a pianistic warhorse, belongs in every record collection - despite a rather lackluster accompaniment from the Symphony of the Air. Cliburn makes the best case I've heard for the heavier, chordal cadenza. The Prokofieff Sixth Sonata and Barber Sonata rank with the best - and the Brahms Handel Variations is one of my favorite versions. Many of the other recordings, including works by Chopin, Liszt, and the impressionists, rank as solid but seldom first choices - of course, the same thing could be said about the bulk of Vladimir Ashkenazy's copious output. The low point for me was the opening movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, played rather loudly and lacking in atmosphere.
Cliburn was wise enough to know his limitations and be selective in the music he chose to present to the public. Chronologically and stylistically, the repertoire here starts with Mozart and ends with Barber's Piano Sonata. Cliburn didn't embrace serialism or twelve-tone because music without a "line" didn't speak to him. Nor did he play much chamber music. Instead, he concentrated on the core Romantic solo and concerto repertoire - and he played it very well.
While many know-it-alls crowed over Cliburn's retirement, at least he knew when enough was enough. That can't be said for many of the intellectual crowd's pantheon of musical heroes - including Claudio Arrau and Rudolf Serkin, great artists who should have left the stage years before they did. Then there are those who shouldn't have begun in the first place.
As with many of their recent reissues, Sony has organized this set to match the original LPs - which means short playing times - and included the original cover art. A perceptive essay by Jed Distler is also included. The recordings do not sound newly remastered, but Cliburn got better sound at RCA than many of his contemporaries at that label did - everything is acceptable sonically.
By the time I became aware of Van Cliburn he had already retired, and my co-workers at the Classical record store where I was employed dismissed him as a "burn out". It wasn't until some of his recordings were issued on SACD hybrid discs that I began to listen to his recordings.
Despite Cliburn's All-American, apple pie loving boy from Texas image, his musical training was solidly in the Russian School. It's not for nothing that his teacher was Rosina Lhévinne, doyenne of Russian piano teachers.
Listening anew to these recordings, it's also easy to see why he won the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958. Cliburn had technique to burn, but never felt the need to get into a speed race - even when he played such warhorses as Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto. Yet it's Cliburn's recording of that concerto which brings a lump to my throat at the final statement of the third movement's "big tune." Cliburn was among the most sincere of interpreters. He didn't feel the need to drown his performances in eccentricity, yet one can instantly tell it's Cliburn performing. His temperament ran warm, but not hot like Rubinstein's and certainly not molten like Horowitz's. In many ways, Cliburn resembled Benno Moiseiwitsch, the master of relaxed virtuosity. Also, Cliburn's ringing sonority reminded many of Rosina Lhévinne's husband, Josef. (Vladimir Horowitz once remarked that he and Arthur Rubinstein together couldn't match Cliburn's tone.)
Let's get one thing out of the way, Cliburn was a good musician - not a one hit wonder. There is a misconception, mostly centered in the Germanic circles, that one has to be a great Mozart and Beethoven interpreter to be a great musician. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of this stems from Artur Schnabel's statement that he limited his repertoire to music that was "better than it could be played." There are plenty of Romantic works that are "better than they can be played". Fact is, there have been plenty of pianists who turn in fine performances of various Beethoven and Mozart works - including Cliburn for the most part. (There are also plenty of pianists who have been lauded for their Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert interpretations for no good reason.) There are not many pianists who can hold together the Liszt Sonata, or make as strong a case as Cliburn does for the original 1913 version of Rachmaninoff's Second Sonata.
As with any recorded legacy, there are high, middle, and low points. The Rachmaninoff Third Concerto, a warm, lyrical performance that proves the piece is more than a pianistic warhorse, belongs in every record collection - despite a rather lackluster accompaniment from the Symphony of the Air. Cliburn makes the best case I've heard for the heavier, chordal cadenza. The Prokofieff Sixth Sonata and Barber Sonata rank with the best - and the Brahms Handel Variations is one of my favorite versions. Many of the other recordings, including works by Chopin, Liszt, and the impressionists, rank as solid but seldom first choices - of course, the same thing could be said about the bulk of Vladimir Ashkenazy's copious output. The low point for me was the opening movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, played rather loudly and lacking in atmosphere.
Cliburn was wise enough to know his limitations and be selective in the music he chose to present to the public. Chronologically and stylistically, the repertoire here starts with Mozart and ends with Barber's Piano Sonata. Cliburn didn't embrace serialism or twelve-tone because music without a "line" didn't speak to him. Nor did he play much chamber music. Instead, he concentrated on the core Romantic solo and concerto repertoire - and he played it very well.
While many know-it-alls crowed over Cliburn's retirement, at least he knew when enough was enough. That can't be said for many of the intellectual crowd's pantheon of musical heroes - including Claudio Arrau and Rudolf Serkin, great artists who should have left the stage years before they did. Then there are those who shouldn't have begun in the first place.
As with many of their recent reissues, Sony has organized this set to match the original LPs - which means short playing times - and included the original cover art. A perceptive essay by Jed Distler is also included. The recordings do not sound newly remastered, but Cliburn got better sound at RCA than many of his contemporaries at that label did - everything is acceptable sonically.
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