Raff Piano Works Vol 3

[Gareth Vaughan]

But the Raff and Brüll PC 2 with Cooper remain mysteriously absent...

As does, sadly, the Dreyschock Concert Piece. (But this is not meant to be a signpost to go off topic!)

[Mark Thomas]

I understand from Robert Commagère that he has not been in contact with Frank Cooper for many years.

[JimL]

I wonder why not.  My understanding is that he is still on the piano faculty at the University of Miami (FL) and has been for years.  He also still runs a Romantic Music Festival annually, and is still actively digging up unsungs.

[Mark Thomas]

I know no more.

[Mark Thomas]

Some more details about volume 3: www.naxos.com/ecard/grandpiano/gp634/

[TerraEpon]

Very lovely sample.

[Mark Thomas]

It's the first of the Cinq Eglogues op.105.

[FBerwald]

Amazing. Very different Raff indeed.

[Peter1953]

This short audio sample makes me very anxious to hear all other pieces. Indeed, so different. Just thrilling. And, like the music in Vol. 1 & 2, Tra Nguyen is so convincing in her gorgeous playing. Hats off!
I still keep wondering what the artist of the sleeve design had in mind. Most strange.

[Mark Thomas]

With the exception of the Album Lyrique's final two pieces and the Fantaisie-Polonaise, all the works on this CD find Raff at his most ingratiatingly beautiful, I think. Not that those three works aren't vintage Raff, but they are rather more driven than most of the music here. The covers of all the Grand Piano releases so far are paintings by the Norwegian artist Gro Thorsen, Peter. Personally, I think that they give Grand Piano covers a very distinctive and modern look but it's a matter of taste and the music's the thing, isn't it?

[TerraEpon]

I like the covers. They give the label a very distinct personality, aren't ugly and don't look generic.  I think as a whole the endevor has been fantastic, though perhaps my bias in loving both Raff and Saint-Saens (and Grainger...who of course isn't technically on topic here) helps there...

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Agreed! I'm utterly unable to articulate any explanation or reason for it, but I find the covers very appealing. As soon as I saw the covers on the first Grand Piano releases I thought here is something where those who are marketing the discs aren't trying to sell them by making them look like any other piano recital disc but rather announcing a new and quite distinctive series.

And, whether we are talking Raff or Weinberg, the Grand Piano series has got off to a great start. And thus whenever the eye catches an image of a future release with the same style, you just know this is going to be a disc of really interesting (and probably not previously recorded) items, wonderfully performed, with high production standards, an absence of gimmicks, and engaging, well-written, and authoritative notes in the booklet.

I'd guess much careful thought has gone into the series, and along with the Toccata label, I can't think of any other series or label that has established itself as a reliable, high class product in so short a time. My sincere congratulations to Grand Piano!

But apart from all that gush, as Mark remarks, it is the music that matters!

[Mark Thomas]

Here is Tra's promotional video for vol.3: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVdjZ3gnZJ0.

[Mark Thomas]

Audio samples from each track can now be heard at jpc here. The first nine are the Album Lyrique, followed by the Cinq Eglogues and finishing up with the Impromptu-Valse and the Fantaisie-Polonaise.

[Mark Thomas]

Now available for download from ClassicsOnline here. Physical CDs are also shipping to retailers now, I understand.