Search - Frederic Chopin, Bela Bartok, Samuel Barber :: Fifth Van Cliburn Competition: 1977 (Volume 2) [Live]

These are the three medal winners in the 1977 Cliburn International Competition, in live performances from the competition. Steven De Groote is better represented in the previous volume of the series, which he has all to himself. Here he plays Bartók with too much percussion, but at least shows he could bang with the best of them; his Chopin, though, shows great artistry. Alexander Toradze plows his way through the noisy Liszt Variations, but then gives a truly amazing performance of the Stravinsky showpiece, both technically and musically superb and worth the price of the disc on its own. Jeffrey Swann's Schumann is fine, but not memorable. The sound quality of the disc is excellent, the documentation scanty, and the title of the Liszt is severely mangled. --Leslie Gerber