Pascal Roge

This was a disappointment. And I'm not referring to the performance, of which I have not been able to form an opinion due to the poor sound quality. According to the booklet these are "ADRM = Analogue to Digital Remaster", and I have to say that the Decca remastering team has done a substandard job.

As pointed out by another reviewer, the volume is low so you have to crank it up, and when you do, you hear plenty of hiss.

The sound is rather muddled and dull. No sense of space.

But the biggest problem is that the stereo separation is extremely narrow. Indeed, at times it is non-existent, which gives the impression of listening to monaural recordings. Very strange since these analogue recordings very made in the 1970s.

This refers both to Rogé's Debussy Piano Works and to his Ravel Piano Works.

The playing is technically flawless, but Mr. Roge does not seem to grasp the subtle nuance necessary to bring out the genius in Debussy. For example, very rarely is it necessary or even desirable to hammer out the low notes in this music, especially in the Preludes, but Mr. Roge seems to take a heavy handed approach when a light touch is in order. Check out the recordings by Paul Jacobs if you want to hear the inner beauty of the Preludes and the Images sets. Aldo Ciccolini offers a great example of how to bring out the line and expression of the some of the early works. I would not recommend this recording for anyone other than a collector who wants to realize how truly remarkable Paul Jacobs is as an interpreter of Debussy.

Debussy superbly played, not overdone and too fast as often is the case when pianists try to showcase their technical skill rather than follow the original intent of the music. Perfect.

After wavering for months as to which set of Debussy solo piano music to buy, I decided on this one and have not regretted it for a moment. The playing and recording are gorgeous. I was scared away from Giesking based on complaints about the quality of those recordings (and I don't really like mono). The Kocsis Images recording was tempting, but not as comprehensive as this one. I can't imagine a better (or less expensive) single recording of Debussy solo piano music.

I've heard almost every major recording of Debussy's piano music. Pascal roge is the finest. the only one you need actually. Gieseking is of interest, but after carefully reviewing his recordings, Pascal Roge surpasses Gieseking in grasping the nuances and poetic form in Debussy. Gieseking served me very well until Roge's masterly recording came along.
Yes i've heard casadesus, not sure why his hype lives on to THIS DAY. Casadesus doesn't even hold his own agaisnt Gieseking, but the die hard Casadesus fans yet live on.

EDIT:
Today i pulled out this cd. There's no doubt this is the finest Debussy on record. I would give Pommier/Virgin label a very close 2nd place.
Other than these 2, there are no others which capture the most difficult piano music ever scored.
Though I place that of Ravel in a greater sense of importance, Debussy scored music of Eternal Beauty. IOW I can envision mankind 1000 yrs from now (near the end of the reign of Christ's kingdom of peace, when Satan is once again allowed freedom on earth) to considered as beautiful then as it is today. Much like the greek epic plays are considered great art in this post modern world. People in a 1000 yrs from now will say among themselves *you mean post modern mankind did not appreciate this music, less than 1% of the cultured population actually listened to Debussy's piano music? How dreadful a time on earth that must have been, how deaf they were back then!! What lack of sensitivity to beauty*
I never listen to Chopin, as the music pales in comparison with Debussy's *entriguing beauty in every note*
Paul Best
new Orleans
Aug 3,2008

I love everything about this CD but the recording quality. It is noisy for such a quiet piece and the dynamics make it very prone to distortion. At low volume this probably is not that noticeable but if you turn it up at all you get a clear white noise(shhhh or woosh) background noise and as volume on the piano goes up you can get a buzzing distortion. This may not be as bad on various equipment but I did want to warn that this is not the greatest of recordings. It also may be somewhat due to the nature of the music itself but I am looking for a better recording of these fine Satie pieces.

With Satie's best known stuff, the Gymnopedies and the Gnossiennes, interpretation is everything. Done well, they're fascinating conundrums. This album, unfortunately, is the Hello Kitty version. These are trite, flowery grotesques intended to be background music in soccer-mom vans and church socials.

Put this back on the shelf, wash your hands off and go directly to the Aldo Ciccolini version.

If you enjoy simple accoustic piano arrangements played simply and beautifully you will enjoy this music.Satie has a moody and haunting way with his compositions

Excellent rendition of intimate Satie. Very evocative of Paris. Cool and quiet.

Eric Satie has composed some of the most beautiful music in the world. One of the few musical pieces that bring out real emotion in me.

I am so happy to have discovered these piano concertos from Saint-Saens. I listen to this CD very often. It truly is a beautiful collection of music. I am thrilled to have discovered Camille Saint-Saens.

This is one of my favorite CD's. I have it for my car and my home.

I bought this collection randomly, having never heard any of Saint-Saens's music. Now four years later, I have heard some of these concerti performed live several times, and I've listened to recordings of these pieces from both big names (Rubinstein, Richter, et. al) and less popular pianists (Emil Gilels, Stephen Hough, Idil Biret..), and I have to say, those guys have nothing on Roge/Dutoit. These recordings have a certain undefinable energy to them that everyone else seems to lack; it's like they're at home, completely comfortable in this music, playing the way Saint-Saens would have wanted them to. I often listen to music in the background while working, and nothing can compare to this recording's ability to pull itself into the foreground. This is some of the most beautiful classical music, played perfectly.

I know that a lot of reviewers and musical "experts" have a problem with Saint Saens, evidently because emotions are absent from his pieces. Do people, though, consider Hayden's music or Mozart's music chocked full of emotion? Not in my opinion. Not only that, but a lot of these older composers--all their music sounds the same because they wrote forty to one hundred symphonies or some large number to make a LIVING, not to EXPRESS themselves.

Anyway, I can see most people that reviewed these CDs hold either St. Saens or the conductor and orchestra's performance in high regard. I think whether or not Saens put loads of emotion into his pieces is not the point; the point is that it evokes emotion in the listener. The two that stand out in my mind now are two and four, though all of them are interesting. And every time I listen to a concerto, I feel strong emotions--grief, sadness, pity. Sure, those are all sad feelings, but they are all a part of the human, part of existence.

So, to keep myself from going too far off, these are great CDs and great concertos and a great performance of them. However technical, however lacking in depth and perspective, they are wonderous to listen to, and, most importantly, evoke emotions of the listener. Saens accomplished that while being technical, and I can't say that for all the works I've listened to.

Camille Saint-Saens was the master, if not the father, of french classical music; a friend to Liszt, Faure (formerly a pupil) and Berlioz (no small honor, to say the least). He was a prodigy and a genius. He began playing piano at 2, and wrote his first piece at 4. He was reading and writing by the age of 3 and was fluent in Latin by the age of 7. His first published composition, Symphony No. 1, was completed by the time he was 16. He also excelled at math and the sciences. He was truly a man to be marveled at and appreciated.
But what do you get when you listen to his 1st Piano Concerto? Wagner! The opening of the piece is so heavily influenced by Wagner that it is hard to believe that it was composed by someone other than Wagner. But, Richard Wagner was someone that Saint-Saens championed in France for many years as an instructor, compser, conductor and performer; a pursuit that would not save him later in life when his anti-Nazi retoric landed him in the 'hot seat' with the French and German governments; but as always, I digress.
These Concerti are wonderful. The treatment by pianist Pascal Roge and London's 3 great Orchestras (London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic) all conducted by Charles Dutoit, is wonderful. Each piece is thoughtfully and beautifully played with a passion that can be felt through the speakers/headphones.
PC#1 opens with a Wagnerian horn solo that fades to light strings, a soft piano melody, and more strings before breaking into the main theme of the piece. The horn is prevalent throughout, as are the strings, but the work on the piano is superb. The second movement is very dark and falls slightly short of eerie; low, slow cellos backdropped by plucking violins lead to a soft and slow piano melody that is beautiful and very satisfying. Again, the strings play a large part in the piece while the theme from the opening movement continues. The third movement mixes all of the themes from the horns, the piano and the strings in a uplifting and inspiring finale.
PC#2 opens with a lengthy piano solos that fades just before the orchestra booms to life and queitly fades back to the piano. The second movement is light and airy with joyful strings and lighthearted piano work. The third movement is quick, somewhat dominated by piano.
PC#3 opens with a glimpse of future offerings by Saint-Saens. The piano work is very indicative of (one of my all time favorite pieces) The Aquarium. The second movement is heavily influenced by strings before a dark, deep theme on the piano enters to counteract the lighter fare offered by the strings. The third movement is a bit odd; it opens briefly with strings, scrambles to piano and then weaves the two in a strange sort of give and take that results in the returning main theme, played on strings and backed by horns and the piano.
PC#4 opens softly with strings and piano and the two play back and forth in a serenade that is quite lovely. The shift to the second movement goes unnoticed as the piece was actually written as 2 movements with the opening (allegro-moderato) and the (technical) 2nd (andante) are joined and play seamlessly. The final movement moves much quicker and lifts the spirits, playing the original theme much quicker, before returning to a slower interlude that eventually builds back to a large crescendo in which the piano leads the orchestra to a large finish.
PC#5 is known as "The Egyptian" because Saint-Saens composed it on vacation in Egypt. The piece was written for his jubilee (celebrating the 50th anniversary of his premiere in 1846). The title is misleading as this composition draws on Saint-Saens WORLD travels and not just his winter vacation spot in Luxor, Egypt. The entire piece is light-hearted and follows the typical Saint-Saens interplay of strings and piano, with added moments of silence that seem to make the piece more exciting (IMO). The second movement (andante) is surprisingly intense for an andante; opening with a clash of cymbals and a large piano solo before settling in to its theme and calmly filling the bill of a true andante. The final movement moves quickly on the piano with minimal orchestration at first. When the orchestra does come in, it is definitely the support in this movement as the piano is showcased in a virtuoso style run of the keys and several (I assume as I don't play the piano) difficult chord progressions. The finale is a wonderful mix of piano, strings and woodwinds that is both breathtaking and fulfilling.

Saint-Saens led a sad life with many difficulties (2 children died within six months of each other, a seperation from his wife, depression, disagreements and cutting remarks to and from contemporaries) but his music is still so inspiring and amazingly uneffected.

The recordings are beautiful and the perforances grand. The only complaint that I could have is that the 3rd Concerto is split betwen disc 1 and disc 2 which tends to break the feel of the piece as a whole when you wait for the CD player to advance to another disc. But this is a minor issue and, due to the quality of the recording, well worth over-looking.

Definitely buy this!

As an instructor of a college level Music Appreciation course, I consider this CD to be a very handy item in my teaching arsenal. Believe it or not, these young adults appreciate being engaged in hands-on listening lessons, and the format of the composition allows for that. The quality and clarity of the sound is outstanding, and the orchestra of French musicians pays homage to their native son Camille Saint Saens. Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals
Thank you, J. Esquilin

The music is beautiful. I used it for a music lesson for Kindergarten on how to interpret animals using music. It is also very soothing in the background for working.

I found this disk to be "adequate." Other than The Swan, nothing really moved me. The swan rates five stars, the rest, four! You might like it more than I did...

I had been a fan of this recording when it was first released. While looking for the recording for my daughter, I fell upon this release.
Sensational! Who can't love the Romantics?

This CD is absolutely charming. The Carnival of the Animals is so full of different expressions- the majestic lion, the agonizingly slow tortoise, the free-flying birds, the dancing fossils, and the regal swan. Phaeton is amazing, as is le Rouet d'Omphale and the Danse Macabre. I wasn't into Saint-Saens before this CD, but now I'm hooked. For model romantic era music, buy this CD without delay :)

This is a varied and at times peaceful album, performed with exquisite taste. You probably know the Gymnopedies pieces found here. Try the samples, and you may well find you recognize them. Much of the rest of album is equally beautiful, though a few of the pieces, such as Je te veux, are on the light side, and others get rather strident. I suppose some of this was new age music created before there was new age music. The playing is nonetheless very sensitive and deeply soulful. Some of the melodies found here, particularly the Gymnopedies and Gnossienne, are deep and sad and full of emotion.

Bringing up new age music is perhaps a bit misleading as there is a modern, even avant-garde flavor to a few of these pieces. Nevertheless the prevailing mood of the album is quiet and meditative, even if there are a few outbursts of discord or boldly sounded chords in several places. If you don't have them, I would recommend the first three tracks. If you like them, come pick up the rest of the album or at least the Gnossienne series.

This was a disappointment. And I'm not referring to the performance, of which I have not been able to form an opinion due to the poor sound quality. According to the booklet these are "ADRM = Analogue to Digital Remaster", and I have to say that the Decca remastering team has done a substandard job.

As pointed out by another reviewer, the volume is low so you have to crank it up, and when you do, you hear plenty of hiss.

The sound is rather muddled and dull. No sense of space.

But the biggest problem is that the stereo separation is extremely narrow. Indeed, at times it is non-existent, which gives the impression of listening to monaural recordings. Very strange since these analogue recordings very made in the 1970s.

This refers both to Rogé's Debussy Piano Works and to his Ravel Piano Works.

I cannot rate this disc because I don't own it, but thought I would offer a warning based on hearing other works by this pianist.

If Mr. Roge's interpretaion of Ravel is anything like his take on Debussy piano music, be wary of spending money on this disc. Mr. Roge's playing of Debussy is superficially correct, but lacks the depth and subtlety this delicate music requires. My advice would be to look elsewhere first.

I have to concur with Del Dotto's opinion in the yr 2000, this is as close to definitive as possible.
But why stop at just 1 excellent recording, also consider Jean Efflam Bavouzet on the MDG label. As well another definitive recording (yes its possible to have more than just one definitive) is Alexandre Tharaud's recent recording on Harmondo Mundi.

Pascal Rouge, a true master in Ravel, a very rare talent in the recording industry.

Pascal Roges recordings of Ravels great piano works serves as a honest mark of the music that never was, but perhaps might have been. Gently capturing the sheltered aura of pre-novelite Chopin, whilst endowing the music with the acousto-eco-hyperbolies of Keats, this recording is not to be missed. one can almost sense the tragic embrace that beheld Toffy and Dolly in that one moment, that one eternal moment. Ah. I shall never forget it. Ravels piano works are, in all senses, composures of 20th century modernity, suffused with the country-stylised effects of, say, Emmylou Harris, and the impecably marked greenhouse-jubilance connecting all the pieces in one final exotic anti-frenzy makes certain implications on ones ability to hate. I dont hate this cd, for example. the best pieces are Jeux d'eau, what a hit! and Le Tombeau de Couperin. Buy this cd and you will/wont be very very happy.

Having searched for ages for a definitive recording of the Impressionistic Masterpiece "Gaspard de la Nuit", I found it in this CD. Roge plays the technical inferno of Ondine and Scarbo with flawless taste and passion. This recording would rival that of Martha Argerich's famous recording of Gaspard that has long been thought to be the best. The Tombeau and Sonatine are also very nicely done. Sometimes however, with the smaller lesser known pieces such as the Minuet, you get the sense that he is sightreading, not truely feeling the music. Nevertheless this is a must have.

This is a very nice cd to listen to and sip red wine in one's back yard while reading a good book. Well worth to add to your collection.

This CD is one that I think even non-classical music lovers would like. It isn't too "classical" and some of the songs are the kind that keep going though your head until you can't help but play the disc again. It is a two disc set and priced no higher than most singles.

I agree with a previous reviewer on the minor problem
of variations in volume. Beyond that, I find every
piece beautiful. This interpretation of Barber's
Adagio is the most passionate I have ever heard. I also
find the Faure selection very touching. I love the
vocals. I recommend this set to anyone, if for no
other reason than the Barber piece.

The selections and the arrangements are truly excellent. There are some hard to find (on the same CD) pieces and adagios--Spartacus ; Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez; Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavelleria...
But, better turn up the sound and then get away from the speakers. Parts of the selections are played so very softly that, when you turn up the volume to hear them, you will get blasted by those sections that have cresendos, or just plain louder sections. Too bad!
Very hard to enjoy in a car--or, even at home. if this problem did not exist, this is a 5 star plus!

I was stunned to see only two and a half stars for romantic adagios. I don't know how much you get to know by listening to only one "song" out of so many in this collection, but in my opinion this CD collection deserves a lot of credit. I had heard of Samuel Barber's Adagio for strings many times before and I was impressed but this was the first time that I was completely mesmerized. I highly recommend to any Barber fans to listen to this interpretation by David Zinman which is incredible. There seems to be so much passion and emotion! Also others such as Adagio of Spartacus and Clarinet Concerto just make the collection even better.

I admit to having had mixed feelings about Poulenc's piano music. They are charming and sometimes enjoyable, but lack the sometimes depth or illusion of depth found beneath the playful surface of, say, his best chamber works. But one thing is certain; if you want to sample the piano music, there could hardly be a better opportunity than this release. Indeed, I found myself thrilled and thoroughly entertained throughout the whole disc - and in urgent need of reevaluating some of the works; the Soirees de Nazelles in particular, which mix various influences in such a masterly way and to such an immensely satisfying effect that one is reminded of the best Schumann works in quality and execution if not in terms of actual musical material (although, in fact, the comparison isn't that far fetched with respect to that parameter either). And the Novelettes are just as fine. The improvisations are slighter, perhaps, but unfailingly musical and endearing, sentimental but always in a refined manner typical of the composer. Of course, the Mouvements Perpetuels are the centerpieces here, and both these and the remaining works are so exquisitely made and so superbly handled by Pascal Roge that one is at times almost convinced that they are unqualified masterpieces.

And the quality of the disc is, indeed, just as much due to Roge as to the composer. He plays all the works with a delicacy and a stylishness that is, as far as I know, unrivalled. The sound quality is excellent as well, so this disc can be more than safely recommended.

For anyone wanting to hear Poulenc's piano works played by an artist of real means, talent and expression, this album is the one to get! Before I bought this recording, I have to admit that I'd never heard of pianist Pascal Roge. But, after listening to this album, it's easy to discern that he's a artist of the highest rank. He brings out all of the subtleties and nuances of these short pieces, rendering very artistic playing at its best.

Poulenc's piano music has many notable influences of fellow French composers Satie and Chabrier but takes them further in his invention. Poulenc's sound world is endlessly fascinating in its unpredictable, spunky rhythyms and structures - yet not without an attractive poetic depth in the slower movements.

Normally I give more technical reviews on the music, history, performer and performance, but my response to this curiously chromatic, often quirky and upbeat and delicately nuanced music is one of pure emotional inspiration. Hearing this music always now puts me in a good mood. I'm sure I'll one day more analyze the style and compositions in detail, but for now its quite rewarding just to enjoy such interesting music and fine pianism.

There is something to be said of a French pianist playing French music as Pascal Roge's performances here just sound so right for the music beneath his hands. The full and vivid Decca sound quality makes this music sparkle like the Parisian nightlife of Poulenc's time. Compositions - 4.5 stars; Performance - 5 stars; Sound - 5 stars.

Francis Poulenc was among the "Six" who demonstrated to have a special knack to bridge the gap between the classical and modern styles through his inexhaustible melodic inspiration, piquant melodies and sense of humor, much more suggestive respect Darius Milhaud, for instance in the music for piano.

Gifted of unusual skills for finding motives from different sources, his powerful imagination allowed him to create pages filled of colorfulness, cheerful lyricism, hovered by a Pagan humor; he was by far, the most Dionysian composer of the group, despite of the fact the whole attention of great audiences seemed to focus around orchestral proposals as Erick Satie with Parade or Milhaud's Creation of world or Honegger's Pacific 231, to my mind, this was due Debussy was the supreme Midas King of the piano by then and the new orchestral sounds were bitter, sinister and profoundly delirious. The boiling point of so many artistic tendencies, conveyed the interest of a new public much more visual than rational or auditory. On the other hand the artistic concerns of Oliver Messiaen found an absolute receptivity in the late generations after the WW1, who found in his music a kind of spiritual lightning together with Alan Hovhaness for instance. In this sense, his music simply was overlooked during the first decade of the XX Century and it had to wait for new blossom in the early sixties when pianists of the artistic height of Gabriel Tachino, Leonard Pennario and Aldo Ciccolini made of him a widely known throughout the world.

Pascal Roge has emerged as one pof the most prominent inheritor of a generation of French colorist pianists, which has contributed by fat to diffuse his music. Go for this album.

His music works out as a deserved expansion of the sonorous possibilities, elusive lyricism, and irreverent whacks, spattered of humor and good taste.

Recommended without hesitation.

This disc won a Gramophone award in 1988, the citation praising in particular the `tenderness and sensitivity' of the performances. That seems fair to me. I would not call the playing here any exhibition of ultimate refinement in the manner of Michelangeli or of Gould, but this is not music that requires anything of that kind.

The 31 pieces here are very unpretentious. Only one lasts longer than four minutes, and nearly half of them clock out after less than two. The harmony is almost entirely tonal (after some Stravinskyish assertiveness at the start of the very first number), and most of the recital consists of items that seem to have started life as improvisations. Nine numbers go by that title explicitly, and if they don't seem to be one's normal idea of improvisation, having more thematic content than I for one would have expected, that may simply reflect the fact that Poulenc was an outstandingly gifted improviser. The suite Soirees de Nazelles with which Roge opens the recital is reported to have originated in pieces that he improvised at some kind of informal Schubertiads during his residency there, and they also have more substance than show about them.

The sense of improvisation is strengthened in the Nazelles suite by what sounds to me like an unmistakable allusion in the Preamble and again in the Cadence to Bach's Chromatic Fantasia, itself highly improvisatory in manner. Allusiveness in general is another strong characteristic of these works. There is an explicit Homage to Schubert and another to Edith Piaf, for instance. Poulenc was closely associated with Stravinsky, and while I can't hear much of Stravinsky in the three `perpetual motion' works as the liner-note writer tells me I should, I hear him loud and clear in the Preamble to the Nazelles suite. Nor do I think it unduly speculative to detect the influence of Schumann in the finale to the same suite, and while the attractive melody of the Valse may of course be Poulenc's own something leads me to doubt it.

Above all what these miniatures recall to me is Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. This is not a matter of specific allusions or of the musical idiom, it's just a matter of the overall impression created. They show the same kind of variety and resourcefulness within a fairly restricted range of expression, and the harmonisation is also, with a couple of exceptions, cautious and unadventurous as Mendelssohn's tended to be - there is no experimentation in the manner of Faure, still less that of Debussy or Ravel. For all that, these works have real character and personality, and they are thoroughly agreeable and companionable, even striking a distinctly deeper note in the Pastorale from the Three Pieces. The `variations' in the Nazelles suite are not variations as Franck or Bizet (or any of the German masters) used that expression, more a little collection of miniature tone-poems, and you may be relieved to learn that the three `perpetual-motion' works are hardly that at all - one toccata is quite enough for me. I would rather not get into the topic of the Satie-style names for the `variations', an issue for which `tiresome' would be a restrained characterisation.

Roge's playing suits the music very well. The first `improvisation' and of course the toccata call for a bit of virtuosity, which he is not short of. Otherwise the technical demands seem generally fairly moderate, the real requirement being to capture the intimate and `off-duty' feel of the music which, as the Gramophone critics said, he does very well. The sound comes over very agreeably too, in part through Roge's tactful and sympathetic pedalling, in part from the acoustic, but above all, of course, from the player's touch.

The liner-note is short and fairly basic, but fine as far as it goes. All in all, this is a very pleasant disc that can be commended in good conscience to all but the most ultra-conservative listeners. I am very pleased to have spotted it, and very happy too to endorse the acclamation it was given in 1988.

I must agree with the prior review - there are SO many classical piano compilations that have the same overplayed Romantic-era pieces on them - and usually not terrific performances of them at that. Decca put together the opposite of your average "piano for relaxation" collection here. I'll just make a quick list of why this is better than the rest - an atypical review for me, but necessary to point out why this album stands far above what's generally a lousy genre of compilation CDs.

-The first CD is generally Romantic-period and prior music and progresses in roughly chronological order. The second is composed of primarily 20th century pieces - sure, the order is not totally faithful on either CD, but it is refreshing to see a collection arranged so that one can literally listen to the trends in piano composition grow and fade.

-Decca chose top-notch pianists, many of whom are widely regarded as the supreme interpreters of Composer X. For this reason, you have a very simple piece like Grieg's Notturno played with an emotional urgency and crystal clarity you're unlikely to hear from a lesser pianist than Emil Gilels, or a very complex, often banged-out piece like Prokofiev's Toccata navigated fearlessly by the Argentine goddess of piano, Martha Argerich.

-They showed some guts in their choice of pieces. Sure, no Schoenberg appears here, but this is not your typical conservative don't-rock-the-boat piano collection. Bartok's aggressive, relentless Allegro Barbaro pairs wonderfully with the Ravel and Prokofiev toccatas on either side of it on disc 2; a quick tour of Rachmaninoff's Preludes follows an incredible rendition of Balakirev's harrowingly difficult Islamey. One of the most beautiful piano works ever composed - and ignored by 99% of piano music compilers - makes an appearance in the middle of disc 2: Granados's Goyescas (Quejas, o la maja y el ruiseñor), an infinitely subtle and sublime - and modern twist on the late Romantic/Impressionistic piano tradition - handled impeccably by the composer's compatriot and student Alicia de Larrocha.

I haven't said quite enough about CD 1 - sure, their choices of Chopin, Schubert, and Liszt works are good as well. But I'm showing where my heart lies in solo classical piano - impressionists and early 20th century composers, I feel, are as good as it gets. Für Elise makes its token appearance, but even it seems well contextualized on the first CD between the immortal Adagio of the Moonlight Sonata and Chopin's delightfully simple Nocturne in E Flat, which immediately recalls Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" for those who have seen it.

In short, CD 1 and 2 share the unique qualities of a careful yet daring selection of piano pieces played by indisputable masters of the instrument. If CD1 is good as gold, then CD2 is platinum. Simply amazing. Thanks Decca!

This album has it all, believe it or not. There are loads of cheesy #1 blah blah albums that are horridly popular. Sure, there are many well-known pieces on this, such as Alla Turca, the Adagio Sostenuto of the Moonlight, Fur Elise and the Minute Waltz. But almost everything else is relatively unheard of outside of the closely knit piano community.

That said, these CD's opened my eyes to some of the greatest piano works of all time, those including: Schubert Impromptu in A-flat, Rondo Capriccioso, Liszt's Liebestraum, Liszt's second Hungarian Rhapsody, Islamey, all three Rachmaninoff preludes, Granados' Goyescas, and Prokofiev's Toccata in C. I have begun learning a good many of these pieces as a result.

This set will not dissapoint. Do yourself a favor and buy it.

I sent this as a gift and here's what my cousin had to say about it "absolutely fabulous. we lit some candles and had dinner outside last night with the cd on. it is perfect. "

For the music it has ... 5 stars.

For the quality the tracks has been recordered .... 1 stars.

For this kind of music, quality sound should be excellent, almost. This CD has a bad remastering quality.

This music is great to accompany a candlelight dinner, or relax with at bedtime. Highly recommended for those who enjoy soft music played quietly in the background.

What a collection of piano greats, Ashkenazy, Lupu, Roge, et al, playing the likes of Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Schurbert, et al.

The charm and magic of this is exceptional. Romantic for one or candlelight with someone special.

Outstanding!