This CD offers an enjoyable selection of works by Earl Wild, with pieces from both Spanish and French composers. The recordings have been expertly remastered, providing crystal-clear clarity. Remastered audio ensures you can experience the music to its fullest, preserving Wild's beautiful interpretations.
Ivory Classics CD-70805
Earl Wild plays Spanish and French Gems
Piano: Earl Wild
Producer: Michael Rolland Davis
Engineer: Ed Thompson
Piano: Steinway
(ADD) Recorded 10/64, 10/65, 4/68.
Mastered using 20-Bit State-of-the-Art Technology - HDCD Encoded
Earl Wild, considered by the critic Harold C. Schonberg to be the last of the grand Romantic pianists, plays fifteen of the most evocative Spanish and French tone-paintings. These musical landscapes by Falla, Albéniz, Debussy Granados, Moszkowski, Mompou and Ravel, are performed with the extraordinary finesse and sensitivity of a true Romantic Master.
Disc.Reviews
This compilation of tracks recorded in the 1960s shows the American virtuoso at his brilliant best. All the playing is wonderfully precise and imaginative.
BBC Music Magazine, May. 1999
Earl Wild's performances here dating from the 1960's offer scintillate playing where required: in the tangy rhythms of Albeniz's Castilla, the brilliant outer sections of the Moszkowski, in the darting of Debussy's goldfish, or in the ending of Ravel's Jeux d'eau, which he invests with a glitter few other pianists can equal. Rarely has Reflets dans l'eau so transcended the piano's percussive nature. Next to Wild's succulent Albeniz and Granados, Alicia de Larrocha's classic interpretations seem monochromatic and wiry. The sound, as on all Ivory Classics releases, is first rate. A disc to treasure.
Fanfare Magazine, Feb. 1999
The real gem of this collection is Earl Wild, who at 83, has been playing the piano for 80 years and giving concerts for over 70. He has always placed his legendary technique at the service of his vast repertoire. Everything that he plays emerges with a clarity and simplicity and a welcome freedom from eccentricity. Each jewel in this shimmering collection is played with consummate artistry that only a true master has at his command. In these performances recorded in the mid 60's, Earl Wild shows that he is a master. The sound remains crisp and clear in Ivory's superb remastering. A pianophile's delight.
American Record Guide, Feb. 1999
The music on this disc is full of fiery atmosphere and intensity. Wild incarnates the Spanish musical idiom with relish and sensitivity. I like his less ponderous approach to Debussy, who can be over-sentimentalized. He tosses off the Moszkowski Caprice espagnole with confident verve and brilliant coloration. All 15 tracks are a splendid effort fully worth your attention. The mastering and production values on this and all the Ivory Classics releases are of the highest order.
www.cosmik.com/classics, Jan. 1999
Now a remarkably vital 84, Earl Wild has always commanded a fabulous technique and he gets around the keyboard as elegantly as any pianist still active. Those attributes distinguish his appealing recital of favorite Iberian and Gallic miniatures from the 19th and 20th Centuries. Wild's polished pianism, knowing application of color and refined poetic sensibility make every piece come alive.
Chicago Tribune, Dec. 1998
