Rossini "Complete" Piano Works on MDG

[TerraEpon]

Obviously Rossini isn't unsung but his piano music is. MDG just reissued the 8 CDs of his piano music performed by Stefan Irmer in a box set. Suffice it to say, I'm happy to FINALLY have all of this (despite not actually being complete)....so much great music that actually looks more forward than one might think in a lot of ways (some of it anticipates Satie, as noted in the notes).

And Irmer is by far the best in this -- the performances by Paolo Giacometti on Channel are on a tinny period piano ('authentic' maybe but not enjoyable) and Alessandro Marangoni on Naxos just drags....

So yeah.

[FBerwald]

I have this set and can recommend it wholeheartedly. Stefan Irmer delivery is solid and he manages to convey all of Rossini's wit and idiosyncrasy which like @TerraEpon says anticipates Satie. Btw I thought this was the complete solo Piano music. What has he excluded?

[TerraEpon]

Well the series on Naxos has a bunch of stuff not recorded before, but there's also two or three pieces outside of that that aren't part of Péchés de Vieillesse (so were the set called 'Complete Published Piano Music from Péchés de Vieillesse' that'd work....though it also includes Prelude Religieux from Petite Messe Solennelle)

[adriano]

In 1999 the label Agorà published a 3CD album with piano works by Rossini (LP re-issues), performed by my late friend Dino Ciani. It's highly recommendable. It contains the complete "Péchés de Vieillesse", the "Album de Chàteau" and the "Album de Chaumière". As a bonus there is a Sonata by Kotzeluch, a Capriccio by Asioli, plus a Rondo and a Sonata by Hummel. I met Dino in 1967 and we were befriended until his early death in 1974. Dino adored performing unusual repertoire. He made a splendid recording of Weber's four Sonatas on 2 Ricordi LPs in 1965. Today one can also have the complete Beethoven Sonatas and various boxed sets with mixed programs, plus an (Italian) DGG box (first issued by Brilliant Classics) with the complete recordings he made for that label (which also includes 2 Weber Sonatas recorded later - and great Chopin pieces). As far as Weber is concerned, nobody surpassed him so far!

[eschiss1]

unless Mr Ciani had voices, violin, horn etc with, then he didn't perform the complete Péchés of course. Indeed at a quick look about half? the set is songs... (some items for chorus and organ, as in volume 3, etc. The corresponding article on Italian Wikipedia has a more detailed list.)

[TerraEpon]

The Naxos series is I believe 13 discs total across the 11 volumes (all the chamber music and songs including), though it includes a few things not from Peches as well that I mentioned above (and there's a few piano pieces that are on MDG's set which technically are part of Peches but not in specific 'albums as well as some songs, I'm sure Naxos recorded those as well but I haven't done a checking of the Naxos discs against the master list yet)

[adriano]

Sorry, eschiss1 for my terrible mistake. In fact, the booklet does not say "complete" - and only the two mentioned "albums" have been recorded (12 pieces each). So I guessed these would make up be the complete solo piano pieces of "Péchés", since the main title of the disc is "Péchés" and the two albums follow as subtitles. Still, the event is important, considering the year the series was recorded (1968) - and its excellent performance. Ciani's may have been, in other words, a premier recording of the two "complete" albums?
So perhaps Stefan Irmers's 8-CD album on MDG, called "Péchés de Vieillesse - Complete Piano Works" may be a correct title?

[eschiss1]

my mistake, sorry, and thanks!