Search - Ernesto Lecuona, Michael Bartos, Thomas Tirino :: Ernesto Lecuona: The Complete Piano Music, Volume 4

PERFECTION: PIANO PLAYING DOESEN"T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

Pianomaven | Bloomington, Indiana, USA | 04/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own the entire Tirino/Lecuona series on the BIS label and I am a teacher at a major musical institution. I have heard a lot of piano playing in my life, including much Latin American piano music, which I have a special affinity for. Simply stated: Tirino plays this music like a God. Pianism of this high a calibre dosen't get any better. Period. Of all the discs in this series, this one is my favorite,(along with Volume 3). The rumba sizzles, and Tirino infuses it with breadth, stylistic colors and rhythm with real panache. And he wrote the Spanish lyric himself! Amazing. Tirino's technical skills are monumental, BIG, Lisztian in ability, certainly far above "Clementi" or "Scarlatti", good heavens. His playing is perfect for Lecuona-in fact-for ANYTHING. Beyond staggering technique he has a singing quality and subtelty of nuance and phrasing rarely heard nowadays-flexibility of sound with thousands of variations in phrasing, tone, dynamic, and pedal subtelties that make his musicianship stand FAR above many others. His tone is rich, full, NEVER BANGING (enough already, please!), aristocratic-never vulgar. Anyone who really knows good piano playing will hear it. Tirino's playing is very warm. The Danzas Cubanas (especially Lola esta de Fiesta) are magical. Put on Lecuona's recordings and compare them side by side to Tirino's. AMAZINGLY IDENTICAL! Fact: Tirino has been recognized as the Lecuona authority in the world for a reason-TIME magazine, The New York Times, and Stereo Review can't be wrong. Neither is the Lecuona family, who have endorsed his recordings, interpretations and work. There might not even be a discussion about Lecuona these days, had it not been for the work of Tirino.In summary-Tirino is a GREAT artist and one would be hard pressed to imagine anyone else coming along and improving on his recordings. Comments made to the contrary can be dismissed as silly, uninformed vulgarity. If you want to hear great Lecuona, and great Piano playing by a tremendous artist, this disc and others in this series are for you. If not, it might be advisable to learn music, and re-wire your brain to try and listen differently."

WOW!

amusiclover33 | USA | 05/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this disc. Tirino is extraordinary from the first note to the last. How dare anyone call this great artist any other name but MAESTRO. This is a must have for any music lover. In fact, this is my favorite disk out of the whole Lecuona series on BIS. Get it, or you'll be waiting till the end of time for a better recording by any artist on these works, or on any Lecuona for that matter. 5 stars plus 100!"

INCREDIBLE MUSIC AND PLAYING

musicspecialist | Seattle, WA USA | 05/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc is fabulous from begining to end. Tirino is phenomenal-don't even DARE to think otherwise! This music swings and is beautiful from top to bottom. I'm going to buy all the discs in this series-if they are as good as this one, boy-I'm in for a treat. Highly recommended."