Chopin Music Forum

[PianistSk8er]

I was recently going through this old box of CDs, many among them scratched beyond the possibility of repair, when I suddenly came across this CD of "Classical Piano Favorites" which I used to listen to all the time when I was a young lad. Now that I know much more about music than I did then, I can realize how amazing the recordings really are. The pianist is a "Eva Sukova" and Google seems to be hiding him/her from me. Anyone have any info?

Here is the CD -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001KMY/002-7729634-0752857?v=glance&vi=samples

A few tracks I ripped...

[Goldberg]

Hmmm...nah...sorry, mate, I can't really say I share your opinions. To me, this Eva person sounds (that is, from the playing) like a stereotypical competition pianist who plays everything in a very standard and correct way--not very exciting and, occassionally, not even that well done in comparison to---say, Philippe Entremont, who has done three or four "most popular classical" CDs. If you want to, I'd actually quite recommend Entremont's "Best of Chopin" disk, which is actually very good, even if the pieces are the regular overplayed ones! It also has a very obscure piece on there: the Cello/Piano Polonaise, which I thought was THE greatest when I first heard it (probably a year after playing piano--I just love Chopin and wanted to play the Polonaise...a few years later I realised that it's actually rarely heard). If I remember correctly, it's actually a collaboration of Entremont and Yo-Yo Ma, so it's actually quite good. The other pieces are very well played. Whereas Sukova is a standard competition pianist, in my mind, Entremont is a competition pianist who has what it takes to break the barrier and get to the top, successfully earning a steady flow of recitals (and I believe he's still quite active, both in concertising and teaching).

Entremont's just one example that comes up for such CDs...he has more personality.

[calebrw]

[Peanutman]

Erm...I know that I am sounding real noob...but may I know who is the composer of "Hungarian Dance" and does anyone have the scores for that?

[Helling]

That is hungarian dance no 5 by Brahms, which exists in four handed version, two handed version and also for orchestra.

The four handed version is the original conception, but the two handed transcription by Brahms himself is rather accurate and effective. I am actually not sure about this recording of it, since it seems the version this pianist plays has some deviations compared to Brahms two handed version.

[PianistSk8er]

[Peanutman]

Alright. Thanks a lot. Does anyone has the score for the two handed version?

[PianistSk8er]

Here you go.

[Peanutman]

Alright. Thanks buddy.

[Peanutman]

Ok. Let me some of my opinions. Basically, I don't have much against. I quite like his recordings in fact. Sounds technical and quite refreshing. However, some parts are a bit rush, thus failing to bring out the mood and the feel of the composition(of course there are some other reasons as well).

[Peanutman]

Sorry, forgot to add the word "share" between "me" and "some".