13th minute

The Art of Ashkenazy
$17.98
it would have to be this one.
Ashkenazy's assured playing, his exquisite interpretations, his glorious range of musical expression, are all captured here. I can listen to this daily without ever becoming bored with it and appreciating afresh each time, the pleasure he brings. There are times when I find myself wishing that some of the composers were alive today to hear his playing - surely this was how they intended this particular section of a piece to sound? - other interpretations sound clunky and clumsy once you know Ashkenazy's interpretation. And I always feel that he plays each piece as though he is discovering anew that very time the wonder of the music, there is nothing but freshness and thoughtfulness.
I play this in the car, at my desk, in the kitchen, in the sitting room - it never fails to delight.

57th Minute Of The 23rd Hour
$0.99

Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Selections from the definitive collection [Sampler]
$11.98
This is an introductory 2-CD set to introduce a very grand series of CD's featuring the 20th Century's greatest pianists.
As a sampler, there are some incredible jewels here, for example Nikita Magaloff's sparkling Chopin Tarantelle and Paganini Etude No.3: 'La Campanella' played excitingly by John Ogdon. There is even an early recording of Paderewski playing (predictably) Paderewski. This sampler seems a bit of a Euro-centric, but the editors wisely chose to include Earl Wild doing Gershwin and Roslyn Tureck doing Bach. I ended up purchasing the Andre Watts volume from this series, and wondered what it would be like to own the whole shootin' match. I saw the entire CD series on display in a top notch music store in Germany--it was overwhelming to see the line of brown covers stretching impressively across an entire wall. The sampler is a good way to have a taste of this ambitious series of the giants of piano in the 20th Century. I listen to it often with great enjoyment.

The Oompa Minute: May 13th 2009

Mimi the Sardine