COMPOSERS: Grieg
LABELS: DG Originals
WORKS: Lyric Pieces (various): Butterfly; Puck; Remembrances
PERFORMER: Emil Gilels (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 449 721-2 ADD (1974)
The sound is intimate and warm, the expressive quality chaste, yet not without strength in vigorous passages; technically, the playing is immaculate, every sound precisely weighed. Gilels creamed off twenty Lyric Pieces from Grieg’s total of 66, including the popular ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Puck’. They’re arranged in chronological order and show very nicely the composer’s range, confounding pat ideas about his development – a highly chromatic, contrapuntal piece (played with exquisitely detailed nuances) precedes the salonish ‘Remembrances’, an apt choice to round off the programme. Adrian Jack
Grieg: Lyric Pieces (various): Butterfly; Puck; Remembrances
The sound is intimate and warm, the expressive quality chaste, yet not without strength in vigorous passages; technically, the playing is immaculate, every sound precisely weighed. Gilels creamed off twenty Lyric Pieces from Grieg’s total of 66, including the popular ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Puck’. They’re arranged in chronological order and show very nicely the composer’s range, confounding pat ideas about his development – a highly chromatic, contrapuntal piece (played with exquisitely detailed nuances) precedes the salonish ‘Remembrances’, an apt choice to round off the programme. Adrian Jack
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:10 pm