Notes and Editorial Reviews
Byron Janis's Pictures is a performance of stupendous brio, and his Chopin is worth every scintillating note.
Byron Janis's performance dates from 1961 and his admirers will snap up this first release like golddust. For Janis "there has been no greater work for the piano" though changes "enhance certain sonorities": a touch of hyperbole and contradiction. But his actual performance is of a stupendous brio and his Horowitz-honed virtuosity in the final pages is overwhelming in its pace and dynamism. Omitting one "Promenade" he finds time for two encores which, although oddly misplaced, are worth every scintillating note. Chopin's Etude, Op. 25 No. 3 flashes and winks like summer lightning
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and in the A minor Waltz the playing is as patrician in style as it is crystalline in technique.
-- Gramophone [2/1996]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Pictures at an Exhibition for Piano by Modest Mussorgsky
Performer:
Byron Janis (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1874; Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1961
Venue: Ballroom Studio A, Fine Recording, NY
Length: 29 Minutes 35 Secs.
2.
Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 25: no 3 in F major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Byron Janis (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1832-1836; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 06/07/1962
Venue: Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 37 Secs.
3.
Waltzes (3) for Piano, Op. 34: no 2 in A minor, B 64 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Byron Janis (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831; Poland
Date of Recording: 06/07/1962
Venue: Moscow, Russia
Length: 4 Minutes 50 Secs.
4.
Pictures at an Exhibition for Orchestra (orchestrated by Ravel) by Modest Mussorgsky
Conductor:
Antal Doráti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1874/1922; Russia
Date of Recording: 04/21/1959
Venue: Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
Length: 29 Minutes 7 Secs.
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
The Presence of MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE!!! September 29, 2012
By Nicholas Dallis (Selden, NY) See All My Reviews
"It is safe to say that the quality of talent and musicality of Byron Janus is Top Shelf. However, the amazing reality of the Mercury's "Mercury Living Presence" recording technology of 50 years past is really, really something to cherish and savor. I have read about the husband and wife team of Wilma and Bill Fine. This recording proves that they possessed a miracle like ability to record giving the listener the feeling of being right on stage with the pianist and/or orchestra. It is as though one can hear the piano actually breathing. Wow! I love it!"
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