Deryk Barker asks me about the Dinu Lipatti "Great Pianists" CD set:

>Steve, I forget what you said was in this album.  Is the Schumann concerto
>(or Mozart K467) present?

The Schumann is.  Very nice indeed.

On the other hand, I also got the Argerich set, which I listened to for
the first time over the weekend.  Although I had some of the pieces on other
CDs (Rach 3, Prok 3, Ravel G, Ravel Gaspard), I'm not sorry I bought this
one.  The best Liszt 1 I've ever heard (better than Rubinstein and as good
as Richter), a gorgeous Ravel Sonatine, and an eye-opening Bach Partita 2.
A strong personality I think dedicated to revealing new things about
well-known works.  I wish she would record more Bach and more solo work in
general.  Wasn't her last solo CD in 1978? At any rate, the set engaged me
far more than the Lipatti, which - don't misunderstand - I thought good,
but generally speaking unexceptional.  I doubt I could pick out Lipatti
from a number of good (not necessarily great) pianists.  I guess I'm put
off by what seems to me his self-effacement, his unwillingness to snap my
head back - that is, in everything I've heard except his Chopin.  I do
prefer his Chopin to Argerich's.

Steve Schwartz