What's the music in my MP3 player?

WHAT’S THE MUSIC IN MY MP3 PLAYER?

Way back in 2005, I bought myself my first MP3 player. Not an iPod, but an LG FM11 with a measly 256 MB, just 4 hours of listening capacity. What went into this portable jukebox? Piano music, of course, and here are the items which have remained more or less unchanged since 2008:

RACHMANINOFF-WILD Song Transcriptions
To The Children – Floods of Spring – In The Silent Night – Where Beauty Lies – Vocalise – O, Cease Thy Singing
EARL WILD

RACHMANINOFF-VOLODOS Andante from Cello Sonata, Op.19
ARCADI VOLODOS

Yes, I'm a complete sucker for Rachmaninoff's melodies and one will not find finer tunes than these, all dressed up in pianistic finery like Cinderella going to a ball. Both Wild and Volodos are great transcribers, as Rachmaninoff was himself.

GODOWSKY Java Suite
Gamelan – Wayang Purwa – Hari Besaar – Chattering Monkeys of Lake Wendit – Borobodur in Moonlight – Bromo Volcano and Sand Sea – Three Dances – The Gardens of Buitenzorg – Streets of Old Batavia – In the Kraton – Ruined Water Castle at Djokja – Court Pageant in Solo.
ESTHER BUDIARDJO

One of my all-time-favourite "concept discs", Oriental-flavoured and lusciously written music idiomatically and sensitively played by the wonderful Indonesian pianist Esther Budiardjo.

PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No.2
VLADIMIR KRAINEV

with Frankfurt Radio Symphony / DMITRI KITAENKO

A great if underrated piano concerto, a sort of Rachmaninov with teeth. Krainev has all the chops and that vital Russian essence; possibly greater than Ashkenazy's famous Decca recording, and definitely streets ahead of Li Yundi...

RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No.2
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
GARY GRAFFMAN with New York Philharmonic / LEONARD BERNSTEIN

This was the Rach 2 that got me started on my road of discovery in classical music. As an impressionable 14-year-old in the 1970s, Rachmaninov can have the impact of being struck by a bolt of lightning. Even if it was on a made-in-Indonesia pirated cassette costing $2 sold at a roadside stall.

RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.3
JOHN CHEN with Sydney Symphony / JANOS FURST

Recorded "live" in the finals of the Sydney International Piano Competition 2004. A passion-filled performance that captures the blood and guts of a "live" performance. A storm of bravos ensue, including a just audible vocal contribution from yours truly.

Solo highlights from the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition:

CHOPIN Étude in A minor, Op.10 No.2 DANIIL TSVETKOV
KAPUSTIN Intermezzo TATIANA KOLESOVA
POULENC Presto TAKASHI SATO
RAVEL La Valse DAVID FUNG
SCHULZ-EVLER Arabesques on the Blue Danube HOANG PHAM
SHOSTAKOVICH Prelude & Fugue in D flat major, Op.87 No.15 TATIANA KOLESOVA

Thrills and spills indelibly captured in the excitement of competition.