Deryk Barker, with his usual wisdom, observes:

> I've never heard Cohen live, although his Liszt disc for Naxos was
> quite superb.  The player who can make either of the Liszt concertos
> sound like great music (or even some would say, like music) is rare.

He goes on to relate how LaPlante's Liszt #1 effectively let the air out
of the Brahms Double that followed intermission.  This was exactly what
happened in Vancouver last weekend when Jackie Parker totally dominated
the program so that even Mendelssohn fell flat.

After coming home from Vancouver, I came to doubt that the Brahms
performance was really as wonderful as I thought it was at the time.
And as a test, I listened to four recordings I had on my shelf.  They
were all good, of course, but it was only the archival Horowitz + Walter
+ Concertgebouw recording from 1936 that carried the incendiary excitement
I felt with Parker's performance.

As Deryk says, Jackie is "a fine, fine pianist with fairly eclectic
sensibilities."

Yes, you should hear him play Chick Corea!

Deryk again:

> In fifteen years of reviewing nothing but concerts here in Victoria, I
> have come to the conclusion that there are more fine musicians out there
> than audiences.
>
> Alas.

Amen.  But let us be grateful for the bounty we are privileged to enjoy.

David Lamb in Seattle

             ***********************************************
The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R)
list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability
Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery.  For more information,
go to:  http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html