Ivory Classics CD-70803
Dances for Two PianosSergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943):Suite No. 2, Op. 1701. Waltz (Presto)06:56 ('68)Symphonic Dances, Op. 4502. I. Non allegro10:50 ('68)03. II. Andante con moto (tempo di Valse)09:17 ('68)04. III. Lento assai - Allegro vivace13:02 ('68)Maurice Ravel (1875-1937):La Valse - poème choréographique05. Mouvement de Valse viennoise11:59 ('68)Piano: Earl Wild
Piano: Christian Steiner
Producer: Michael Rolland Davis
Engineer: Ed Thompson
Piano: Steinway
Mastered using 20-Bit State-of-the-Art Technology - HDCD Encoded
Rare artistic collaboration... Ravel's La Valse and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, Op.45 and Waltz, Op.17 in their original two-piano versions harmoniously interpreted by the legendary Earl Wild and celebrated photographer, Christian Steiner!
Disc.Reviews
Christian Steiner is best known as a portrait photographer, but he's also a pianist - and, as illustrated by the acuity with which he partners Earl Wild in these 1968 Reader's Digest performances, an exceptionally fine pianist at that. These are superlative performances, offering wide expressive range that takes in the music's indulgences without diluting its venom. Sound, as usual from Ivory Classics, is exceptionally vivid. Highly recommended.
Fanfare Magazine, Dec. 1998
Messrs Wild and Steiner play with an easy, imperturbable assurance. This is virile, no-nonsense Rachmaninoff that values musical architecture. The Wild coda is a hot-house of boisterous abandonment. Steiner's collaboration with Mr. Wild suggests the workings of a fine musical mind.
American Record Guide, Oct. 1998
Together, Wild and Steiner create elegant, probing and poetic music. As beauteous as is all the playing it is grounded in the most thorough and transparent musicality.
Los Angeles Times, Jun. 1998
