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20th & 21st Century Piano Sonatas / Earl Wild


Release Date: 07/18/2000 
Label:  Ivory Classics   Catalog #: 71005   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Samuel Barber,  Earl Wild,  Paul Hindemith,  Igor Stravinsky
Performer:  Earl Wild
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 3 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

Earl Wild's reputation for romantic repertoire understandably, yet unfairly, overshadows his long-standing advocacy for the music of his time. He breathes fresh air into the Barber Sonata, taking the opening's Allegro Energico marking at face value. The Scherzo and closing fugue are whimsically projected and dance lightly with Mendelssohnian élan. Wild infuses warmth and witty character into the Stravinsky Sonata's deadpan countenance.


An old Wild standby, the Hindemith Third, is buoyant, enlivingly articulated, and cogently phrased. Wild's own three-movement Sonata, completed literally days before the recording sessions, is quite attractive and well-made, highlighted by a sustained, lyrical slow movement and a Read more jubilant finale inspired by Ricky Martin's heartthrob-of-the-moment brand of salsa. I hope the outcome of this work will step up Wild's creative productivity, for he is a real composer. He remains an unreal pianist at 84, whose supple fingerwork can easily be mistaken for a young, hotshot firebrand. In sum, this release is one of the finest recordings in Earl Wild's long, individual career, and cannot be recommended too highly. [11/2/2000]
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com Read less

Works on This Recording

1.
Sonata for Piano in E flat minor, Op. 26 by Samuel Barber
Performer:  Earl Wild (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1949; USA 
 Date of Recording: 1999-2000 
Venue:  Fernleaf Abbey, Columbus, Ohio 
Length: 18 Minutes 3 Secs. 
2.
Sonata for Piano by Earl Wild
Performer:  Earl Wild (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 2000; USA 
 Date of Recording: 04/2000 
Venue:  Fernleaf Abbey, Columbus, Ohio 
Length: 19 Minutes 16 Secs. 
3.
Sonatas (3) for Piano: no 3 in B flat major by Paul Hindemith
Performer:  Earl Wild (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1936; Germany 
 Date of Recording: 1999-2000 
Venue:  Fernleaf Abbey, Columbus, Ohio 
Length: 15 Minutes 31 Secs. 
4.
Sonata for Piano by Igor Stravinsky
Performer:  Earl Wild (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1924; France 
 Date of Recording: 1999-2000 
Venue:  Fernleaf Abbey, Columbus, Ohio 
Length: 9 Minutes 46 Secs. 

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