Piano Favorites

Well programmed and selected set

These days many music fans with grounding in good ol' rock and roll have bent their ears to light, melodic jazz standards. Here's a challenge: pick up this low-priced CD, take note of the famous names and that each track averages about 3 minutes in length - that's what us rockers have been raised on.
A little crass, but....check this one out. I can't imagine any heavy metal fan turning away from the exquisite, haunting "Waltz No. 15 in A-flat, Op.39" by Brahms, or "La fille aux cheveux de lin..." by DeBussy; factor in *5* compositions by Chopin, and you've got a keeper. Maybe just beneath Zep on the carousel (but it's all in the proverbial family).
Note that Chopin is next sectioned off, as one might expect in a Classical compilation. So the flow of the music is regenerative to the senses, as well.
Dame Moura Lympany plays with breathtaking sensitivity and delivers one for the ages. May 23, 2008

Excellent performances, good recording, great deal!

Moura Lympany, Dame Commander of the British Empire (a title not given to just anyone, and her ability deserves such note from the Brits), performs this selection of pieces beautifully. She was (she passed in 2005 at the age of 88) a talented concert pianist known throughout the world. Here, you have 20 pieces for solo piano performed by the virtouso.
The recording is exceptional with only one minor flaw; apparently Dame Moura had a heavy foot on the pedals and her tapping can be heard from time to time, but this is a minor issue and hardly noticeable. I mention it only because it took a couple of listens to figure out what that soft thumping sound was.
This gifted pianist gave her first concert performance at the age of 12, Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto in G minor, with (also knighted) Basil Cameron conducting. Cameron suggested that she "glamorise her name" and so she changed from her birth name, Mary Gertrude Johnstone, to Moura Lympany (Lympany an adaption of her mother's maiden name, Limpenny, and rhyming with timpani).
From this point forward, she pursued music and piano with a controlled passion. On practicing, she once said "None of this eight hours a day stuff. If you can't get it right in four you never will". She was known in her early years to have left the podium in tears after performing becaue "of worry over the wrong notes she had played".
She recieved the title of Commander of the British Empire in the 1970's and the title Dame Commander in the 1990's. She was the first to record all of Rachmaninoff's Preludes, certainly no small feat. She toured in to her 70's.
Suffice it to say that this woman had a gift and used it to great effect and success.
I ordered this disc primarily for the pieces by Debussy (my favorite composer) and the one by Liszt (one of my favorite pieces for solo piano), but all pieces are wonderful and I have gained a new appreciation for all of the composers and the pieces because of this CD.
Her performances on this CD are amazing, passionate and beautiful. Each piece is performed as well as any other performance I have heard and it is all here on 1 CD to be enjoyed. The bargain price is a bonus and you must buy this before Seraphim decides to raise the price from the budget bin price of about $4.00. This is definitely worth every penny and then some.
Buy this CD with confidence. January 13, 2008

Whose Favorites?

I don't listen to classical music very often, but there is some that I like, so every once in a while I get a CD like this. Personally, some of the pieces sound like a little kid playing with the keys. I skip them. I guess Yanni and Enya are more my style. They flow better. There are plenty here that I do like, so I am happy enough with the CD, especially because of the low cost. December 24, 2007

Elegance at the piano

I grew up listening to Moura Lympany's playing, especially Litolff's Scherzo. Never could understand how a person could play with absolute control at high speed. In this recording, most (though not all - the Etude in C# minor an obvious exception)of the music is more laid back, and played with great grace and with the controlled touch of a pianist at the peak of her career.
The ambience of the recording is a wide open one, giving us the full clear sound that makes listening to a grand piano to enjoyable.
If you enjoy listening to good piano music, this is a recording that you will enjoy a great deal. June 16, 2007

VALUE FOR MONEY

Dame Moura is my favourite pianist. Her great style and sublety of expression comes out in all her recordings. this CD is the best value for money ever!! August 24, 2006

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