Cheap Piano Sonatas (Music) (Soler, Hinrichs) Price

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Customer Reviews of Piano Sonatas

A Sophisticated Player of Sensuous Spanish Music
Soler was almost half a century younger than Domenico Scarlatti with whom he is most often compared. Indeed he studied with Scarlatti. But he came along at a time when the contrapuntal baroque style was giving way to the oncoming 'style galant' (sometimes called 'rococo') and thus there is less counterpoint. He is Spanish through and through and the Spanish melorhythms are apparent in all he wrote. Much of the music on this CD is gently melancholic and in minor keys, although there are a number of faster, brighter pieces.

I had never heard of Marie-Luise Hinrichs but I'm wondering why. This woman is a superb pianist. The thing that strikes one first is her touch; she has a striking ability to coax lovely tone from her piano, and she possesses a velvety legato when required. Her playing has a sensuosity with no need to be propped up by speedy virtuosity, although she certainly has keyboard technique to spare. Another way of saying this is that she is making music, not showing off.

I had thought until I recently began exploring the music of Soler that he was a second-rate composer. But this CD, along with a couple by Isidro Barrio (who apparently specializes in Soler's music), have convinced me otherwise. Although the pieces were almost certainly written for harpsichord (and Scott Ross recorded some of it beautifully on that instrument), I find that Soler's music comes across better for me on the piano. But then I'm an old broken down pianist still in love with the sound of the instrument, so take that for what it's worth.

At any rate, I recommend this CD strongly.

Scott Morrison

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amazing!
One of the best piano recordings I have ever heard! Who is this woman? Where can I find more of her performances???

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Superb Soler.
You lucky Amazonians, while I had to get this cd from an Amazon affiliate on the other side of the globe, you guys are only a few clicks away from a true revelation.

I have listened to this cd at least weekly since January 2002 and my conclusion is simple: Hinrichs does here for Soler, what Horowitz did previously for Scarlatti. Suddenly a composer, who was known in the harpsichord world and even then mostly for his Fandango, gets the five star treatment thanks to the imaginative mind and the very agile fingers of a master pianist.

I know quite a few Soler recordings by van Asperen, de Larrocha, Puyana, Ross and Yepes, but this cd is from an entirely different universe. Thanks to Hinrichs choice of sonatas, Soler stands as a composer of both passion and reflection and great harmonic invention.

It is with a sense of amazement that I often read the enthusiastic responses to some of Martha Argerich's lesser recordings. Some of them really are cheap, fast and out of control. So Martha adorers pay attention to this disc. Helped by a technique that is on par with Martha's and equal passion levels everything here remains focused, tasteful and fully under control.

Like Horowitz' this is a very personal view of a composer, that gains it validity by its sincerity, devotion to detail and technical perfection. Some may argue that a number of the Sonatas are too slow, but in the absence of metronome markings from the composer that will always remain unproven. More important though, it is the meaning that can be derived from this music to the contemporary listener that warrants its classic status.

The quality of the recording, a co-production of EMI and German radio is very good and it is with anticipation that I am awaiting the second Soler cd that Hinrichs recorded earlier this year.

A classic!