Day 62 – Byron Janis: Schumann + Liszt (CD 62)

I was hooked from the first few seconds of this captivating piece of music. Some musicians, like some compositions (and some recordings), touch me immediately. Pianist Byron Janis is one of those musicians. And this is one of those compositions. And one of those recordings. The Objective Stuff For more about pianist Byron Janis (1928 … [Read more…]

Day 51 – Byron Janis: Liszt, Rachmaninoff (CD 50)

This is just the kind of music I needed this morning to broom the cobwebs out of my mind. Well, a better verb would be jackhammering. Because some of this is really, really loud and busy. On second thought, maybe I’d better turn down the volume a little. I’d like to leave few cobwebs behind … [Read more…]

Day 23 – Brahms Concerto No. 2 (CD 23)

As I might have mentioned before, I’m not really a fan of Brahms. I realize his one of the big B composers (Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms). But I’m not that fond of Bach, either. So there. For a Living Stereo recording, this sounds unusually flat. Maybe my ears are getting old (and why not? since … [Read more…]

Day 18 – Concerto No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1 + Burleske (CD 18)

I’m listening to a pianist today that I hadn’t heard of before: Byron Janis (1928 – ). Mr. Janis recently celebrated his 93rd birthday! He’s considered one of the great pianists of the 20th century. At one point, according to his entry on Wikipedia, he was even a student of famed Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz. … [Read more…]