Among the hundreds of collections of classical piano favorites on the market, this two-disc set from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation stands out in a couple of ways. First is the nature of the repertory, shaped by the collection's Australian origins. There are several works by Australian composers (the Russian Rag of Russo-Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin is a standout piece of border-crossing), plus works that have for one reason or another fallen off of Western concert programs; Christian Sinding's Fr ...
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Among the hundreds of collections of classical piano favorites on the market, this two-disc set from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation stands out in a couple of ways. First is the nature of the repertory, shaped by the collection's Australian origins. There are several works by Australian composers (the Russian Rag of Russo-Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin is a standout piece of border-crossing), plus works that have for one reason or another fallen off of Western concert programs; Christian Sinding's Frühlingsrauschen (Rustle of Spring), for example, was blacklisted after the senile composer was talked into joining the Norwegian Nazi party. More important is the inclusion of works by crossover composers who have become very popular but somehow rarely show up on collections of this kind. Composers who have come out of the minimalist tradition, such as Arvo Pärt or Michael Nyman, fit comfortably next ot the Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, and Ravel works that dominate this and other piano...
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