PIANO CONCERTOS
ADDINSELL. ROTA .
PIAZZOLLA
DONKA ANGATSCHEWA, Piano
Vogtland Philharmonie / Stefan Fraas
Ars Production 38 168 / ****1/2
CINEMA CLASSICS
THE PIANO AT THE MOVIES
SEE SIANG WONG, Piano
Sony Classical 88985353612 (2 Cds) /
****
The
ability of the piano to bring out human emotions and feelings accounts for its
ubiquitous use in movie music to augment real-time action on the silver screen.
These two recordings mine a well-excavated vein that does not look like
exhausting soon.
Not
all the works in the album by Bulgaria-born pianist Donka Angatscheva was
originally conceived for piano, but every bit sounds evocative. Richard
Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto (composed for war movie Dangerous
Moonlight) is a classic in recycling Rachmaninov's lush Romantic
renderings.
Nino Rota's Concerto Soiree is a concert piece in
four short movements, reliving the different styles of his movie music – the
pathos-laden, dramatic and comedic. Astor Piazolla's Four Seasons
Of Buenos Aires is a celebration of the sultry tango cast
as a four-movement piano trio concerto, with hot-blooded passion
overflowing.
Dutch-Chinese
pianist See Siang Wong's double-disc of piano solos from the movies leans
heavily on the New Age and minimalist groove, which makes for enjoyable lounge
music.
There are tracks by Michael Nyman (The Piano), Dave Grusin
(On Golden Pond), Ryuichi Sakamoto (Merry Christmas,
Mr Lawrence and The Last Emperor), Philip
Glass (The Hours and The Truman Show), Joe
Hisaishi (Spirited Away) and Yiruma (River Flows In
You), but not everything such as Pachelbel's Canon or Mahler's Adagietto
translates equally well for piano. This is nonetheless easy listening.
No comments:
Post a Comment