Search - Franz Liszt, Fredric Chopin, Byron Janis :: Byron Janis, True Romantic - Liszt, Chopin

Profoundly considered and surpassingly executed playing.

Francis R. Wilson (opal41@gateway.n | Philadelphia, PA | 10/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So much attention has been paid to Byron Janis's battle with arthritis - in which he has lately gained the edge - that one is apt to forget what a great musician he is. Fortunately, he has a new recording out, True Romantic, to serve as a reminder. This is profoundly considered and surpassingly executed playing. Janis has an uncanny knack for being true both to himself and to the music, which is played not only as it was meant to be, but also in the way only he could play it. The Impromptu in A flat, for instance, which starts the disc, displays such a spirit of spontaneity that it sounds - well, like an impromptu, made up on the spot. Or take the Waltz in C-sharp minor. Janis brings to it a genuinely Viennese lilt by doing what Meyerbeer criticized Chopin for doing - playing two beats as if they were one (Janis, an avid reader of Chopin's correspondence, surely knows all about this). Finally, there is his playing of Liszt's transcription of Wagner's Liebestod. Deft use of agogic accentuation enables Janis to render each voice utterly distinct, but in such a way as to contribute to the unity of the whole. The result is a truly orchestral effect. This is a record of piano playing for the ages.-"

Chopin would approve.

FRANK | Milwaukee, WI USA | 05/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A refined and restrained elegance of musical expression.Sensitive and penetrating. Distinctive phrasing. Meaningful dynamics. My favorite Chopin CD."