10 Results for : nissman
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In Celebration Of The Piano
Bates, Battersby, Berman, Brendel, Chien, Cherkassky, Cipa Dichter, Mischa Dichter, Dubal, Feghali, Hough, Johannesen, Laredo, Nissman, O'Riley, Orth, Perahia, Perlman, Rose, Serkin, Taub, ...- Shop: odax
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Noble Heart: Music of Johannes Brahms
Called the greatest contrapuntist after Bach and the greatest architect after Beethoven, Brahms adopted the harmonic language of the 19th century, but his feet were planted firmly within the Classical tradition. His second piano Sonata is an early, passionate work, written with his heart on his sleeve, but reveals what a virtuoso pianist he must have been. His early Scherzo seems to be modeled on Chopin's Second Scherzo. But it is in his intimate set of piano pieces of Op. 76, that Brahms exposes the many dark layers of his deep and complex soul. Each one is a miniature gem. His Two Rhapsodies of Op. 79 have bravura and boldness and the two Waltzes (the encores of this recital) reveal his popular roots. Remember, as a young fellow, Brahms earned extra money playing in the brothels of Hamburg. A wonderful introduction to this noble musician! "Nissman's unpredictable programming makes you feel as though you are encountering a well-known classic like Brahms for the first time. Here Nissman gives us the best of both worlds. Her clarity shows the rhythmic ingenuity while her pedaling and singing tone make the melodic flow all sound so natural and inevitable." 'Very personal, warm and vital Brahms performances by pianist Barbara Nissman.'- Shop: odax
- Price: 28.02 EUR excl. shipping
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Out of Doors
I have trouble articulating the difference between Nissman and other pianists. She seems willing to go over the cliff, hand and hand with the composer.- Shop: odax
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Longing Music of Frederic Chopin
Chopin, the poet of the piano, left his heart in Poland and always longed for his homeland during his short but fruitful life. His Polonaise-Fantasy is a tragic statement of a depressed and melancholy man who was capable of writing poignant melodies that went straight to the heart. Along with beautiful miniatures from his Etudes, Nocturnes and Waltzes, Nissman offers some of Chopin's major works for the piano, the instrument he knew and loved best. His Fantasy in F minor is a bold piece of architecture. The dramatic C# minor Scherzo with it's beautiful chorale and cascading passage work sizzles with emotion. Who doesn't enjoy Chopin's popular Fantasy- Impromptu with the 'I'm always chasing rainbows' tune in the middle and what about the heroic Polonaise with it's galloping horses! Such passion from a frail and fragile poet! His music touches the soul. 'To have that rarity today of fine Chopin playing is recommendation in itself. Add to that an innovative interpretation from a deep thinking pianist and you have a real gem.'- Shop: odax
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Love & War: Barbara Nissman
Prokofiev started writing all three of his 'War' Sonatas (Nos. 6, 7, 8) in 1939 after he had returned to the Soviet Union - the year 1939 was responsible for their nickname. These three masterpieces don't necessarily depict war but they certainly suggest conflict and this can be heard in Prokofiev's mammoth Sixth Sonata. It's a symphony written for the piano, and Prokofiev takes us on an arduous journey that runs the gamut of emotions. I call this Sonata- Prokofiev's answer to Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier.' It shows Prokofiev the classicist, coexisting with Prokofiev, the 'modernist. He gives us four movements in perfect classical form with the fourth movement finale linked to the opening theme and the conflict finally resolved on the last page of the coda. The second -movement is pure 'slapstick' (Charlie Chaplin style) done with a straight face. The nostalgic third-movement Waltz is what I call Prokofiev's reply to George Gershwin's 'The man I love' (they met many years before in Paris.) The finale is a pianistic tour-de force and explains why Prokofiev is called 'the Russian Liszt.' This is one of the great works of the entire piano literature. Chopin's Andante Spianiato and Grande Polonaise is the 'love' component in this Love & War saga. Beautiful lyrical pianism followed by a triumphant, majestic Polonaise processional. (Chopin also wrote this piece for piano and orchestra but the solo pianist can easily fill in all the orchestral parts.) Liszt provides us with love, joy and passion with his three Concert Studies- virtuoso pianism but with emotional content as well. Then the American composer, Benjamin Lees takes us on a Odyssey of his own that starts with a sense of foreboding- he explores various places but returns to just where he began the journey, and nothing has changed. Conflict returns fortissimo with Bartók's Allegro Barbaro- a direct reaction to a remark by a French critic who accused him of being 'just another one of those young, Hungarian barbarians.' How this piece, written in 1911, has influenced so many other composers of the twentieth century!! The recital ends with the popular Liebestraum of Liszt- we are back to love again but it is love mixed with regret. Quite a journey! "Prokofiev's longest piano sonata receives an immensely fulfilling performance from the lively Nissman who always was, and still is, one of the world's top Prokofiev pianists. The standout for me is her brilliantly thought-out interpretation of the Prokofiev Sonata which shows such passion and humaneness in her playing." "Magisterial performances of a fine selection of this great pianist's recital favourites. Collectively, Nissman's discography will be collectors' items for many a long year, with her links to the romantic pianism of the past, but recorded to best standards of the 2000's.' 'A tremendous achievement, one which should be far better known and celebrated wherever the 19th-20th piano repertoire is enjoyed."- Shop: odax
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Journeys of Soul: From Bach to Balakirev
Each of these composers takes us on a personal journey with their music. They allow the performer and the listener to enter their private sound world, and they are willing to share their deepest emotions. Inspired by the music of the Italian Vivaldi, Bach composed his 'Concerto in the Italian style' and dedicated it to 'music lovers, to refresh their spirit.' Bach returns to the baroque concerto, imitating it's solo and tutti contrasts. Written originally for a two manual harpsichord, the pianist imitates these contrasting keyboards with their alternating dynamics. There is a sense of joy and triumph throughout, especially in it's opening and closing movements. The middle movement is a touching vocal aria, sung over a moving ostinato bass. The Concerto joyfully concludes with the presto finale- a brilliant and virtuosic tour-de-force. According to Bach, all of his music was written to glorify God. Ravel was thirty years old when he composed his 'little' Sonata. There is an elegance, a purity and a peacefulness to this miniature gem. No sense of struggle here- Ravel knows the pathway he is following. My favorite movement is the 2nd movement Minuet- minimally written- not one note too much or too little- perfection in every way. The last movement is a virtuosic finale and according to Ravel, this movement was much too difficult for him to play. He wasn't a virtuoso like the great Franz Liszt. Liszt struggled all his life with his personal relationship with God, and his Sonata in B minor serves as his spiritual confessional. Since a young child, Liszt was torn as to how best serve the Lord- whether he should enter the church with a life devoted to prayer or whether as an artist he could still serve. He finally resolved this conflict in his fifties when as Abbé Liszt, he took minor orders in the Catholic Church . His Sonata in B minor is one of the masterworks of the entire piano literature and represents his personal journey, running the gamut of emotion. He takes us from birth through life and then to what lies ahead. The ending of this work is extraordinary for Liszt makes us experience in it's last measures the ascension of the soul towards a higher place. We feel it's peaceful acceptance before the final low B- It's quite a journey! For me as a performer, this work is always evolving- every time I perform it, it let's me know exactly where I am- where I've been and where I'm headed- a bit like taking my musical pulse. Scriabin also walked the pathway of discovery. I think if he were alive today, he probably would be dressed in flowing robes and beads, and be living and seeking truth somewhere in an ashram in India. I adore his early Etudes, we can hear Chopin's influence but we also can feel Scriabin's Russian romantic soul. He wrote his Etude, Op. 2 No. 1 when he was only fifteen and it's a beauty. In his Etude, Op. 8, No. 10 in double thirds, we are reminded of Chopin's Etudes but also combined with lots of Lisztian virtuosity. With the Etude, Op. 42 No. 5, the passion and sense of forward momentum that Scriabin creates is just dazzling. Scriabin studied to be a pianist and while practicing Balakirev's Islamey, injured his right hand. That's why he wrote the Nocturne for the left-hand alone. Hard to imagine that only one hand is responsible for this beautiful composition. We conclude with the virtuosic showpiece of Balakirev, Islamey. Balakirev was basically self-taught and became one of the leaders of the 'Russian Five.' This group of composers wrote music linked to their homeland- nationalistic music inspired by Russian folklore and history. In this 'Fantasy-Orientale' Balakirev includes the folk songs of Central Asia. You might recognize the middle section tune that we know as 'Stranger in Paradise.' The piece might sound a bit dated nowadays but it is fun for the pianist to play and entertaining to hear occasionally. From Bach to Balakirev- it's been quite a trip!! "Nissman's opening movement raptures me out and tells me something new about Ravel's music. Nissman shows the passion and the 'lovely bones' beneath. She plays the second-movement minuet so beautifully, it stops your breath. This may be the finest recording of the Sonatine I've heard, at least equaling my benchmark, Gieseking." "She also provides the bonus of bringing clarity to Liszt's complex textures and made me realize how truly contrapuntal the work is. There's plenty of excitement and genuine tenderness in her account. She also shares with Argerich a spontaneity. I can't predict how she will finish a phrase or what subtle adjustments in tempo and dynamics she will make to a line, but it nevertheless sounds not merely individual, but right." "Since Nissman plays Chopin so beautifully, she turns each of these Scriabins into gems. She actually makes Scriabin sound as natural as breath, like Fred Astaire dancing." 'an impressive series: brilliant, technically and musically. Lifelike sound and totally satisfying discs." "A true transcendental performance. In her journey to the spiritual, technique, intellectual structure and dramatic structure have all been transcended."- Shop: odax
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Romantic Tales
Each composer has a tale to tell, and they make us listen. Chopin writes a 'ballade' without words, returning again and again to the same refrain. He doesn't give us a story-line to follow or tell us what inspired this large-scale, dramatic work- he allows us to fill in the blanks and prepare our own script. Ravel, on the other hand, shares the poetry that inspired the three pieces of 'Gaspard de la Nuit' - the sea-nymph 'Ondine' who tries with her beautiful and seductive singing to lure mortals to her water kingdom- then let's out a shriek of laughter before returning to her palace at the bottom of the ocean. 'Le GIbet' paints a contrasting and much bleaker picture of a doomed man on the scaffold. Ravel makes us feel the eerieness of the dark night and sense the hanged man's limp body swinging back and forth in the wind. Then there is 'Scarbo'- seeming to emerge from the pages of 'Harry Potter.' Scarbo is an elf but a thoroughly bad elf, always causing mischief and chaos wherever he goes. Quite an amazing assortment of characters! Prokofiev supplies a brief interlude with a transcription of a prelude and fugue written for the organ by Buxtehude - a favorite from his student days. He transcribed this piece and shortened it during his period in America, planning to use it in his American concerts. The question remains as to why he took out the difficult middle section and the complicated bits- did he think that American audiences weren't sophisticated enough to understand the really complicated stuff? The first work that Prokofiev wrote after he arrived in America in 1918 (after missing the Russian Revolution in his homeland) was his delightful 'Tales of the Old Grandmother'- four brief tales, told by a confused and rather senile old woman, who sometimes revealed flashes of clarity with her magical stories. By the way, Prokofiev thought No. 4 was the best one of the lot- I find all of them delightful! Another Russian, Alexander Scriabin also has a tale to tell with his impassioned one-movement Fifth Sonata. He seems to journey right to the edge of a steep cliff, begging us to come right along with him. Contrasts are extreme and the gamut of emotions are wide. This man was intense!! Scriabin wrote that ecstasy 'was the ultimate answer to all questions and all activity of mind and body.' After the intensity of Scriabin and before plunging into the manic world of Schumann, Mendelssohn returns us to innocence with his charming Etude in F major- uncomplicated fun and thoroughly delightful! The G minor Sonata was a favorite of Schumann's wife, Clara and she loved performing this work. We feel Schumann's energy and vitality, and the first movement was written to show off Clara's virtuosity. He writes that the first movement should be played 'as fast as possible' and later on says 'faster' and by the coda writes again 'still faster.' He gives us some rest with the lyrical Second movement, and follows this with a gruff, three-part scherzo. Clara didn't like the original finale so Robert wrote another one for her- a virtuosic rondo with two themes that ends with a coda marked 'always faster and faster.' As an encore, Rachmaninoff's poignant Prelude in Gb completes our journey. With this dirge-like composition, this Russian explores his deep dark soul Ah, the wonderful places we can travel with these composers!! "An amazing traversal of many of the monuments of the solo piano literature. Nissman's intelligence, ardor, and versatility all recommend themselves to a listener. I wish I could adequately convey Nissman's ability to make the piano sing. It's the key to her magnificent Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff. It's never over-the-top or swooningly sentimental. I might call it 'chaste,' if that word didn't imply 'passionless,' which it certainly is not. It puts me in mind of Hofmannsthal's Marschalin - patrician, clear-eyed. " "This is bravura writing at it's most virtuosic and Nissman meets it head on with stunning bravura." "So Nissman gives us fine accounts of Chopin and Rachmaninoff, delights us in Prokofieff and Mendelssohn, and opens up eyes in Ravel and Schumann. I wonder what she'll do next? I can't wait."- Shop: odax
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Dramatic Visions
Powerful visions in bold and vivid colors create musical drama! Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata can be tragic and the Love and Death scene from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde - heart-breaking. Prokofiev's Visions display fantasy, charm and wit and his one-movement Third Sonata reveals how impetuous this composer can be at the piano. Schubert is majestic and triumphant in his Wandererfantasie, constructing his grand dramatic vision from a simple theme from one of his beautiful songs. Chopin dreams of moonlit evenings with his nocturnal vision. And then there is the razzle-dazzle of the virtuoso Franz Liszt who knows how to tell a story at the keyboard like nobody else- Mephisto and Faust dancing wildly at the Village Inn! Ah- the power of drama- tragedy, fantasy, bravura- all created from the composer's imagination and in brilliant colors of sweeping sound! "This is a full-blooded player, perfect for the repertory from Beethoven on. However, she also has a sharp and questing musical intelligence. Nissman never gives you a reading like everyone else's. Not only is she an individual, but she doesn't keep 'her' interpretation static. She combines passion and intelligence." "Nissman plays superbly." "Listening to these recitals is to be reminded of what is now generally held to be a bygone era. With so many musicians focusing on the notes rather than what actually lies behind them, Nissman gives an object lesson in musical semantics. Time and time again she finds a way of subtly articulating important musical events in a way that illuminates the music that surrounds them."- Shop: odax
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Not Too Serious
The Viennese publisher, Anton Diabelli wasn't much of a composer, but he did compose a simple waltz theme as a publicity stunt to help promote his publishing business. He asked 50 composers to contribute one variation for a collection that he intended to publish. Even the 11 year old Liszt was included along with Schubert, Czerny, Moscheles, Hummel -just to name a few- and of course he asked the master Beethoven. Beethoven initially declined the offer because he dismissed Diabelli's simple dance theme with it's obvious harmonies as a 'mere cobbler's patch.' As the story goes, he happened to ask Diabelli how many composers had contributed thus far and when Diabelli answered 'thirty-two,' Beethoven replied, 'Alright then, I will write you thirty-three,' and the masterpiece was born! And what a masterpiece it is! It turns out that Diabelli had given Beethoven the perfect 32-measure theme to exploit. With Beethoven's genius for motivic technique, he uses all of it's elements and varies them melodically, rhythmically, harmonically, dynamically while preserving it's two-part structure. He also makes use of contrapuntal techniques- imitation, canon, fugato, and delivers a four-voice double part fugue in the next to last variation. Beethoven takes the listener on an inevitable journey. It's interesting that most of the variations remain in the key of C major (except for the variations leading up to the Eb major fugue) and preserve the triple rhythm most of the time - only 12 are written in duple meter. And what about Beethoven's gruff sense of humor! He can make us laugh out loud with his paraphrase of one of Mozart's comic arias, and his final joke is to end this fifty-one minute work with a tongue-in-cheek version of an eighteenth-century minuet! Contrast combined with a keen sense of humor, wit and charm, a wide emotional range and an imaginative color palette is key to bringing this work alive! This is definitely one of Beethoven's masterworks- divinely inspired! And so much fun! We follow Beethoven with the Rumanian Dances of Bartók- this is dance music inspired by Hungarian folk music. We can hear the cimbalom and the percussion, even the bagpipe drone, and can imagine the peasants in their colorful costumes having fun dancing to these ostinato rhythms. We can hear Liszt's pianism throughout these virtuosic pieces. Music by the Hungarian Franz Liszt is also heard in this recital- the 'Ricordanza' from his 12 Transcendental Etudes- a study inspired by memories and nostalgia, and Liszt had so much to remember- a bitter-sweet, sentimental compostion filled with wonderful pianism. We conclude this program with the music of Sergei Prokofiev, a composer known for his sharp sarcastic wit as well as his charm. The delightful Prelude in C major was originally composed for the harp. One of his girlfriends at Conservatory happened to be a harpist, but the piece can be played on both harp and piano. And we conclude with the March from Prokofiev's opera, 'The Love for Three Oranges,' full of sarcasm and wit. Hope you enjoy this fun program but remember- not TOO serious!! "Nissman gives me one of my favorite accounts of the Diabellis. I've never heard it played with greater penetration. She takes you on an intellectual and (I hate the word) 'spiritual' trip through a great composer's mind. This has to be one of my records of the year." "A landmark Diabelli Variations."- Shop: odax
- Price: 26.22 EUR excl. shipping
