New Audiophile Label "Play Classics"

[Bob Stern]

This new label has been discussed on the General forum from the perspective of sound quality, but I thought I should post here my recommendation of one of my favorite albums.

 

Their release of Schumann’s “Carnaval” by 13 year old pianist Guillermo Hernández blew me away.  He plays with a combination of spontaneity, depth of emotional expression and nuance that surpasses most famous pianists I’ve heard in this piece.  And the sound quality of the 24/96 download is by far the best of any piano recording I own.

 

You can listen to any and all complete tracks for free by clicking the track titles on the album page.  I suspect the free stream is only MP3.

http://www.playclassics.com/album16

 

A few of my favorite movements of Carnaval are:  4 Valse noble, 8 Replique (Sphinxes), 14 Reconnaissance, 17 Aveu.  (Movements 5 and 12 seem under-inflected, but I have quibbles with different sections of this piece by great pianists, too.)

 

OTOH, the brief Chopin Fantasy that rounds out the album seems an odd choice because Hernández doesn’t seem to “inhabit” it as he does the Schumann.  The performance strikes me as too “studied”.  Rubinstein’s 1957 recording is a day-and-night contrast in rhythmic freedom.

 

Hernández’ playing is infused with romantic rubato, which I consider judicious and lovely, but it may not appeal to admirers of tauter “modern” style.

 

(It looks like the price is 21€ regardless of whether you click the Gift or Buy button.)