ClassicsToday.com: 10/10 "Highest Rating"
The latest volume in BRIDGE'S award-winning survey of George Crumb complete works presents a new recording of a major Crumb cycle and the premiere of a new composition for two pianos. Makrokosmos I and II have come to be regarded as landmark compositions in the piano repertoire, requiring the pianist to display a virtuoso's control of both the keyboard and the inside of the piano. In addition, the performer is asked to whistle, speak, and sing, while simultaneously playing some of the most dramatic and fantasy-filled piano music of the late twentieth century. Robert Shannon, a leading exponent of Crumb's music, gives the 67 minute cycle of 24 "zodiac" pieces a spectacular reading. The duo piano team, Quattro Mani, has also had a long association with Crumb's music, and can be heard playing Crumb's music on BRIDGE 9105, a disc that received ‘Best of Year' honors from Fanfare, and highest ratings from France's Repertoire, and the USA's ClassicsToday.com. In 2002, Crumb composed "Otherworldy Resonances", a 10 minute quasi-passacaglia for Quattro Mani. Based on a hypnotic four-note motif, this 10 minute composition marks Crumb's return to writing piano music after a hiatus of nearly 15 years. Both of these recordings, as with the rest of this series, were supervised by the composer.
Reviews:
“This is an astounding performance, wholly gripping and a joy from beginning to end. Equally thrilling are the sonics, which set a whole new standard in this music. Every rustle, swoosh, crunch, tinkle, crash, scrape, and thud, every nuance of overtones or pregnant pause is captured with vivid immediacy and with a huge but always natural dynamic range against an ideally silent background.” - ClassicsToday.com (10/10 Highest Rating)
“All the performances are outstanding, but I must give special notice to Robert Shannon, who plays the Makrokosmos with a level of passion and authority that’s breathtaking. His precision and confidence in the inside-the-keyboard techniques makes this fiendishly difficult material sound quite natural, and will help future players codify the music’s performance practice and redefine virtuosity.” - Fanfare
“The disc is recommended with special kudos for Bridge’s dedicatory zeal and commitment.” - Classical CD Review
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Makrokosmos, Vols. 1& 2
Robert Shannon, piano
Otherworldly Resonances
Quattro Mani, piano duo
BRIDGE 9155
Related Crumb discs:
9476, 9445, 9413, 9335, 9312, 9275, 9261, 9253, 9218A/B, 9174, 9170, 9139, 9127, 9113, 9105, 9095, 9069, 9028
Related Quattro Mani discs:
9496, 9486, 9484, 9447, 9366, 9308, 9260, 9253, 9231, 9224, 9143, 9105