Sent right down the middle of the alley, Dmitry Kabalevsky's piano concertos are bound to strike a familiar note to fans of early twentieth century Russian music. Composed in 1928 and 1935, Kabalevsky's piano concertos are tuneful, colorful, vivacious, and altogether charming. The brilliant First won him his initial fame and the Second comes from the time of his opera Colas Buregnon and shares its exuberant style. When it was released in 2004, this recording of both concertos performed by young Korean pianist In-Ju Bang ...
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Sent right down the middle of the alley, Dmitry Kabalevsky's piano concertos are bound to strike a familiar note to fans of early twentieth century Russian music. Composed in 1928 and 1935, Kabalevsky's piano concertos are tuneful, colorful, vivacious, and altogether charming. The brilliant First won him his initial fame and the Second comes from the time of his opera Colas Buregnon and shares its exuberant style. When it was released in 2004, this recording of both concertos performed by young Korean pianist In-Ju Bang with Dmitry Yablonsky leading the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra was one of only a handful of available recordings. Unfortunately, while Bang is a fine young pianist with a light touch and a nimble technique, Yablonsky is a more than capable conductor, and the Russian Philharmonic is a more than competent Moscow studio orchestra, their only competition outgunned them by including more of Kabalevsky's music on much longer discs. So while this disc was an easy and very attractive way to...
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