Quite a respectable selection of music. You folks (men mostly I suppose--I once saw one woman in attendance at a meeting of the Minnesota Audio Society)--can not just tackle for also appreciate the more difficult material. A couple months ago I compared Beethoven piano sonata performances by Igor Levit and Andras Schiff. Gilels has been my long term favorite with this material. I expected Levit to be an impetuous youngster who overplayed. As it turned out I prefer Levit's playing. I remember listening to the MN Orch recordings of the Beethoven symph.s. Nice recordings but so controlled. It was like they were playing Beethoven after they've learned to master Sibelius, R. Strauss, and Mahler. They performed Beethoven as if it were twentieth century music. However, it was written at the time of Napoleon. It needs a little Napoleon to come alive. It isn't Vaughan Williams. Otherwise, let me recommend Alicia de Larrocha playing Albeniz Iberia movements one through nine. The first movement is worth the price of admission. Truly. At a concert once I saw her perform and it was rare for me but I was seated up front. I enjoyed noting the shoes she wore. Lastly, anyone out there ventured into the Ligeti piano etudes? They will stymie and defeat the analytical mind. Enough for now...too much probably.
