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Giacinto Scelsi: Chamber Works for Flute & Piano
Giacinto Scelsi, Kristi Becker
Giacinto Scelsi: Chamber Works for Flute & Piano
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (18) - Disc #1

For the first time, we can hear Giacinto Scelsi playing piano! It's short (3:51) and the recording quality substandard, but Scelsi's improvisation with Carin Levine, Krishna e Radha, gives a window into the mind of one of ...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Giacinto Scelsi, Kristi Becker
Title: Giacinto Scelsi: Chamber Works for Flute & Piano
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Cpo Records
Release Date: 8/25/1998
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Instruments, Reeds & Winds, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 761203934027

Synopsis

Amazon.com
For the first time, we can hear Giacinto Scelsi playing piano! It's short (3:51) and the recording quality substandard, but Scelsi's improvisation with Carin Levine, Krishna e Radha, gives a window into the mind of one of the greats--that until now we could only hear through the veils of transcription and composition. The other premiere is Quays, for alto flute (1954). Levine has made her mark in the avant of avant-garde flute. The remaining pieces here have all been recorded at least twice already. Kristi Becker gives welcomed new perspectives on the piano works Five Incantations and Four Illustrations. --Robert Regile
 

CD Reviews

Nice sample of Scelsi's mid period.
J. Shapiro | Holland, OH United States | 01/25/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)

"This cd plays well, and is a welcome addition to any collection. The compositions are all from the '50s when Scelsi was searching and begining to arrive at his greatness. His interest in oriental, Egyptian, and even Gaelic(!) mythology is noted on this disc. Some gems here. Rucke di guck is a tour de force of intense, highly interactive dialog for flute,pic.and oboe. This fantastic piece has also been arranged for sax, and can be great that way also. The piano pieces here display a surpisingly tough,rugged approach at times.
As a bonus, a recorded improvisation of Scelsi, aged 81 at the piano joined by Levine on flute. Abstract, enigmatic, beautiful. My only reservation with this disc is a sense of a little too much warmth and human feeling at times. I would have preferred a more austere and detached approach. Basically, it highlights the link with earlier exoticism a la Debussy, Scriabin, et al., as opposed to a more contempory one, say John Cage for example. It is a minor defect, that doesn't distract too much. The disc is a keeper, and I am tempted to give 5 stars, but I am really excited about the Arditti double disc on Montaigne that just came out!"
In doubt
György Marosi | Budapest | 06/02/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)

""...piano works Five Incantations and Four Illustrations" and three for Frustrations.

Sorry...Except in live jazz I don't really trust composers not writing scores (like Gurdjieff, Scelsi at al.)"