Circus and Magic Bloch, Debussy, Prokofiev, Ligeti Reinis Zarins – piano Champs Hill Records: CHRCD048 Repertoire, repertoire ! That is what determines some of our choices to review amongst too many received. Bloch's Circus Pieces Suite (1922 - a good year, c.f Hindemith's Suite 1922) reveals in capsulated form "a distaste for the injustices that are inflicted on the less fortunate by those who should know better"; it's a huge discovery. Prokofiev's Cinderella Intermezzo is so rich that you should take a half-way break in listening to this programme - maybe to look up my favourite DVD of the ballet...? Then via Ligeti to the Stravinsky Petrushka transcriptions. A very good listen. The notes by the pianist and another commentator are good, as are Alga Ozo's witty studio photos; so I let you see both of them. Peter Grahame Woolf
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