Search - Wim Mertens :: Best of

Mertens above the rest

derrotista | Cadiz, Spain | 04/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is funny to see when you are trying to find music from Wim Mertens in Amazon.com that the head line contains three related suggestions: Wim Mertens, Michael Nyman and Philip Glass. It is a well-known connection. But, are those three artists so similar? I'm afraid not.



I have written reviews for the other two artists and now I am completing this "trilogy". But I find so many different things in their music. Nyman has been too subject to his "band": he has developed a very recognizable sound, unique and inimitable; only when he composed the Original Soundtrack for "The Piano" he abandoned a bit his style. Glass has been devoted to large orchestras and operas, spotting his discography with solo piano recordings.



Mertens is, for me, more versatile and, at the same time, the closest to the minimalism spirit. Piano solos (and duets) like "Close Cover", "Quatre Mains" and "Humility", piano and ensemble pieces like "Struggle for Pleasure" and the touchstone "Maximizing the Audience" and compositions for other instruments like "No Testament", "Educes Me" and "Birds for the Mind". All of them are full of the minimalist spirit and all of them are totally different.



I find Mertens' music really exciting and interesting. Even he makes some vocal parts in his pieces with his strange tenor voice closest to a female contralto.



I especially recommend this compliation from his first recordings. The quality of his music has mantained the level and I have not heard some of his new music. But, as it is usual, first recordings have more passion, anxiety and variety of feelings."

Best of one of the best

Dirk Houbrechts | Belgium | 08/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Question : How can a "Best of" of an artist that is among the finest contemporary classical composers of our era be a let-off? Answer : it can't. As the pieces that were collected were chosen from his most "accessible" work, this is in fact a must for everybody. The only disadvantage I get with Wim Mertens is I keep thinking "what ad was this piece in?", as the classy music has been recycled so many times over the years by advertising agencies all over the world."

Awesome Wim Mertens

S. McAvoy | Western NY USA | 02/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Wim Mertens CD is a nice form of modern classical music that attracts even the youth with his inspiring and virtual form of artistic expression. Amazing stuff! Refer to Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" Everyone in Europe knows it now they need to know it in the US. Great stuff with a soft technical synthesized feel. Technically wonderful music that is a treat to the ears."