Pianist Andrew Rangell presents listeners with a splendid selection of five sonatas from the first quarter (with one exception) of the twentieth century. Rangell's sound throughout the album is strong, clean, and sensitive; his use of the pedal is minimal, expertly allowing his ample technique to build legato passages. The recorded sound of the instrument is quite satisfactory; there is little if any reverb added and listeners are able to truly enjoy just the sound of the piano, a much appreciated feature of this album. The ...
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Pianist Andrew Rangell presents listeners with a splendid selection of five sonatas from the first quarter (with one exception) of the twentieth century. Rangell's sound throughout the album is strong, clean, and sensitive; his use of the pedal is minimal, expertly allowing his ample technique to build legato passages. The recorded sound of the instrument is quite satisfactory; there is little if any reverb added and listeners are able to truly enjoy just the sound of the piano, a much appreciated feature of this album. The liner notes offer a very detailed formal analysis of each of the five sonatas.The Halffter sonata, one of his earliest and most successful works for the piano, begins the set of five. His sonata, subtitled "Homenaje a Domenico Scarlatti," comes much later on the album and is the only work on the disc written after 1926. Two other sonatas are quite representative of their composers. The Stravinsky sonata is part of his neo-Classical period and Rangell treats it as such. The Janácek...
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