Few Pianists have Explored and Recorded Such a Wealth of Keyboard Literature as Vladimir Ashkenazy. During an Association with Decca which Stretches Back Almost 40 Years Now, Ashkenazy Has Completed Cycles of Some of the Most Important Concertos (Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Bartók and Rachmaninov), as Well as an Extensive Amount of Solo Literature.two Of the Greatest Figures in 19th-century Piano Music Are Chopin and Schumann, and Music by Both Composers Has Featured, and Continues to Feature, in Ashkenazy's Recitals. He Has Recorded Almost all of Chopin Solo Works and During the Years 1984-95 Undertook a Major Survey of Schumann's Solo Literature (Some Works Including the Sinfonische Etüden, Fantasie, Kreisleriana and Humoreske) Ashkenazy Had Recorded Earlier in his Career). These Digital Recordings Are Now Presented as a Box Set for the First Time and Are an Invaluable Collection of the Composer's Most Important Keyboard Works, Performed by One of the Greatest Pianists of his Ge

For less than $60, this seven-CD set brings the buyer almost all of Schumann's important works for solo piano performed by one of the great pianists of the last 50 years. Ashkenazy is nearly as insightful an interpreter of Schumann as he is of Chopin and the quality of these performances, which were recorded between 1984 and 1995, is generally high. The gnarled F-sharp Minor Sonata is beautifully organized, as well as emotionally compelling; "Papillons" has style, color, and flexibility; "Waldszenen" displays poetry, strength, and simplicity; the G-Minor Sonata is clearly outlined and impeccably delivered; "Kinderszenen" is played with fluidity and nuance; and "Carnaval" is delivered with bigness of conception, virility, and authority that make it among the finest ever recorded. Even on those occasions when Ashkenazy fails to reach such heights--as he does, for example, in a "Davidsbundlertanze" that is a mite too solemn and deliberate for the music's helter-skelter whimsy--his performances still achieve a distinguished standard. Nevertheless, it is Ashkenazy's misfortune that he must compete against his younger self. The readings in this set of the Symphonic Etudes, the Fantasy in C Major, "Kreisleriana," and the "Humoresque" fall short compared to those Ashkenazy recorded in the 1960s and early 1970s. In those earlier performance--reissued on a Double Decca set--the notes roll off the pianist's fingers in a dazzling and melting manner, with a singing tone and a sense of rapture, that he was unable to match 20 years later. --Stephen Wigler