Search - Samuel Barber, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert :: Olga Kern: 11th Van Cliburn Int'l Piano Competition 1

Samuel Barber, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert
Olga Kern: 11th Van Cliburn Int'l Piano Competition 1
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (5) - Disc #1
1. Scriabin: Piano Sonata #9, Op. 68, "Black Mass"
2. Wagner-Liszt: Isolde's Liebstod
3. Barber: Sonata for Piano, Op. 26
4. Judith Lang Zaimont: Impronta Digitale
5. Liszt: Reminiscenes de Don Juan

CD Details

All Artists: Samuel Barber, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Alexander Scriabin, Judith Lang Zaimont, Olga Kern
Title: Olga Kern: 11th Van Cliburn Int'l Piano Competition 1
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
Release Date: 10/9/2001
Album Type: Import
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Forms & Genres, Sonatas, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 093046728922

Synopsis

Album Description

Olga Kern, age 26, was born into a family of musicians and began studying piano at the Central Music School of Moscow at the age of 5. Winning her first international competition at 11, she has earned several top prizes, including the grand prize of the 2000 Cantu International Piano Competition in Italy. Kern has already performed in many of the great halls of the world, including La Scala in Milan.

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CD Reviews

In response...

George | Greenville, SC | 07/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd have to say that, being from a younger, more receptive generation, my opinion of Ms. Kern is that of great regard. Having audited masterclasses and been to concerts, seeing her interact on the personal and professional level, it is easy to see that Ms. Kern's ability to project and produce in her abilities are much greater (and evidently more taken for granted) than other reviews would like to give her credit. Bravissima, Ms. Kern."

Winner playing with fire

Douglas R. Mcgrath | 12/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A sensational pianist at the beginning of what will clearly be an important career.Lots of fire and real musicianship."

Fantastic--See her, buy the album!

Douglas R. Mcgrath | San Francisco, CA, USA | 01/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was entralled with Olga Kern's performance when I saw her in San Jose several years ago. I was also incredibly lucky to be one of the students for her masterclass the following evening. To be honest, I wasn't that familiar with a number of the pieces she played in her recital, but I thought they were nothing short of amazing. She is a powerhouse, and my personal experience with her showed her to be a wonderfully kind, patient, and very witty person with simply phenomenal musicianship. Highly, highly recommended."

Don't people have ears?

Mithrandir | Massachusetts | 01/12/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"These other reviewers must have heard a different recording. Or else they know absolutely nothing about either good piano playing or the particular compositions that were recorded. I suppose if you like lots of harsh banging to cover up lots of wrong notes, you'll like this recording and Olga Kern. Maybe she and Lang Lang can open up a boutique for hopelessly overrated pianists who profit from the ignorance of today's audiences. They can have a portrait of "bang-bang" bombast Michael Ponti on the wall.

The featured review by Stephen Wigler shares some of these sentiments but is more diplomatic. He talks, for example, about her excelling in the "lesser" repertoire. Apart from the fact that this reviewer unaccountably puts Barber's very fine Piano Sonata in that category, what is he trying to say? That Olga Kern sucks in mainstream piano repertory? But he doesn't want to say that because it won't help sell this lemon of a recording?

The Scriabin 9th performance is utterly incoherent, even apart from the surfeit of wrong notes. The Barber lacks grace and musicianship. The Liszt Reminiscences de Don Juan is stodgy, as is the transcription of Wagner's Liebestod. I doubt that anyone will be buying this disc solely for the Zaimont (which arguably DOES qualify as "lesser" repertory).

In short -- Save your money. Far, far superior performances of the foregoing works are readily available elsewhere.

I don't know what the Cliburn judges saw in her, other than her blonde hair and her youth. But she wasn't competing to be a model now, was she?"

Virtuoso of new type

K. MIURA | Japan | 09/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

Olga Kern

Recirded: 2001

harmonia mundi usa

SCRIABIN: Piano Sonata No.9, Op. 68, "Black Mass"

WAGNER - LISZT: Isolde's Liebestod (from Tristan und Isolde)

BARBER: Sonata for Piano, Op. 26

SCHUBERT: Impromptu in B-flat major, D. 935, No. 3

JUDITH LANG ZAIMONT: Impronta Digitale

LISZT: Reminiscences de Don Juan

If someone requested the excuse of the extreme of her performances from her, about difficult pieces of SCRIABIN, BARBER and JUDITH LANG ZAIMONT in this CD, she would answer as follows: "It is not my responsibility that my performance is extreme. Moreover, it is not composer's responsibility either. It is because of the score.""