Naxos
Bax: Piano Works / Ashley Wass
$19.99
Details
- Composer
- BAX
- Artist
- Ashley Wass
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Naxos
- Released
- Feb 21, 2006
- Catalog #
- 8557769
- UPC
- 747313276929
About
Having admirably survived Bax's discursive piano sonatas, Ashley Wass devotes all of his third volume of this composer's piano works to relatively smaller-scaled fare. Actually, the opening selection, What the Minstrel Told Us, times out to 11 minutes. The outer sections feature a bardic melody gently supported by slow moving, impressionistic chords and arpeggiated figures, while a middle section develops this material more agitatedly. Wass summons up all the tone color and sustaining power needed to convey the orchestral sensibility of the piano writing.
He plays the nocturne-like Princess's Rose Garden a bit straighter than Eric Parkin's more garishly-voiced Chandos recording, yet he shapes the chromatic motives with plenty of affection. By contrast, Wass doesn't clarify A Hill Tune's left-hand melodic content and right-hand accompaniment to Parkin's more fluid distinction. However, he scores with more rhythmic snap in the Spanish-tinged Mediterranean and renders the Gopak steadier, sharper, yet slightly slower in contrast to Parkin's brisker, looser approach. In short, collectors who've enjoyed Wass' previous Bax discs also will find this well-recorded, superbly annotated release to their liking. I look forward to this cycle's fourth and final volume.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
He plays the nocturne-like Princess's Rose Garden a bit straighter than Eric Parkin's more garishly-voiced Chandos recording, yet he shapes the chromatic motives with plenty of affection. By contrast, Wass doesn't clarify A Hill Tune's left-hand melodic content and right-hand accompaniment to Parkin's more fluid distinction. However, he scores with more rhythmic snap in the Spanish-tinged Mediterranean and renders the Gopak steadier, sharper, yet slightly slower in contrast to Parkin's brisker, looser approach. In short, collectors who've enjoyed Wass' previous Bax discs also will find this well-recorded, superbly annotated release to their liking. I look forward to this cycle's fourth and final volume.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
Tracklist 11 tracks
-
1 What the Minstrel told us 11:03
- Track
- 1
- Title
- What the Minstrel told us
- Duration
- 11:03
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
2 A Mountain Mood 05:38
- Track
- 2
- Title
- A Mountain Mood
- Duration
- 05:38
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
3 The Maiden with the Daffodil 04:20
- Track
- 3
- Title
- The Maiden with the Daffodil
- Duration
- 04:20
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
4 Paean 03:38
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Paean
- Duration
- 03:38
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
5 A Hill Tune 04:15
- Track
- 5
- Title
- A Hill Tune
- Duration
- 04:15
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
6 Mediterranean 03:06
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Mediterranean
- Duration
- 03:06
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
7 The Princess's Rose Garden 07:23
- Track
- 7
- Title
- The Princess's Rose Garden
- Duration
- 07:23
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
8 No. 1. May Night in the Ukraine 10:16
- Track
- 8
- Title
- No. 1. May Night in the Ukraine
- Duration
- 10:16
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
9 No. 2. Gopak 06:23
- Track
- 9
- Title
- No. 2. Gopak
- Duration
- 06:23
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
10 Lullaby 04:27
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Lullaby
- Duration
- 04:27
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass
-
11 Sleepy Head 05:28
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Sleepy Head
- Duration
- 05:28
- Composer
- Arnold Bax
- Performer
- Ashley Wass