Site Search
Follow us on
Affiliates
DVD Review
The Golden Age of the Piano
A Documentary on the Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century
- Claudio Arrau
- Franz Liszt:
- Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este
- Gnomenreigen
- Ballade #2 in B minor
- Felix Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso
- Rudolf Serkin
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in E Flat Major, Op. 81a "Les adieux"
- Franz Schubert: Sonata in B Flat Major, D. 960
- Vladimir Horowitz
- Alexander Scriabin: Etude in D Sharp minor
- Glenn Gould
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita in E minor, BWV 830
- Wanda Landowska
- Folk Dance
- Myra Hess
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"
- Artur Rubinstein
- Felix Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Op. 67 #4 "Spinning Song"
- Alexander Brailowsky
- Frédéric Chopin: Valse brillante in A Flat Major, Op. 34 #1
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski
- Paderewski: Minuet in G Major Chopin: Polonaise in A Flat Major, Op. 53
- Josef Hofmann
- Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prélude in C Sharp minor, Op. 3 #2
- Percy Grainger:
- Maguire's Kick (Irish folk song)
- Alfred Cortot
- Claude Debussy: Children's Corner: Serenade for the doll & Golliwog's cake-walk
- Van Cliburn
- Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1 in B Flat minor, Op. 23 (Conducted by Kirill Kondrashin)
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"
- Schumann/Liszt: Widmung
- Claudio Arrau with Philadelphia Orchestra/Riccardo Muti
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4 in G Major, Op. 58 (complete)
Produced, directed and edited by Peter Rosen
Written and narrated by David Dubal
Philips 075092-9 115m NTSC Multiregion DVD
Watching a pianist such as the legendary Paderewski in full flight is one of the most wonderful memories in all music and this splendid DVD is replete with such moments.
David Dubal is a knowledgeable and cultured presenter and he traverses the history of the piano legends with almost enviable facility and clarity. Footage is also of outstandingly high quality throughout especially in the older relays.
I was bowled over by Cliburn in the Tchaikovsky First and was also open mouthed at Glenn Gould's incredible Bach playing. But to single out one pianist for special praise would be indeed very unfair as each of them has a special place in the canon of the great.
The bonus recording of the Beethoven Fourth is Arrau and Muti in splendid harmony and it is a wonderful document of sorts. This is definitely an unmissable DVD for all serious lovers of the piano repertoire.
Copyright © 2003, Gerald Fenech