Martin Jones

[ian_j]

Martin Jones has been very prolific in the recording studio, having set down the complete piano works of Brahms, Grainger, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Hoddinott, Granados, Korngold, Szymanowski etc...

I have the Brahms and Symanowski sets and the latter in particular is excellent. The Brahms is recorded in a very reverberant acoustic.

Does having such a wide repertoire and such a prolific need to set down recordings detract from an artist? Are his interpretations informed with a high degree of knowledge and understanding or are they just shallow and on a production line?

[ian_j]

Hello (echoing). Anybody there? (more echoing)

[thalbergmad]

I guess it is possible to be a jack of all trades and master of none, but i don't think this is the case with Martin Jones.

I have not listened to all of the CD's you mention, but  i have listened to some of the Mendelssohn, Brahms and a fair amount of the Gottschalk and i like the lot.

In addition, he did a splendid disc on rare transcriptions, which immediately puts him in my good books.

Thal

[jre58591]

i find martin jones's playing, and otehrs who play complete works, to be very dry. i have heard his szymanowski and some otehrs and i prefer many others over him. he jsut doesnt do justice to a lot of these pieces. he just records these pieces just to say that he has recorded everything by a cerain composer. like, for example, his performance of szymanowski's 2nd sonata was just dry and lifeless. hamelin and richter, howeer, do this piece justice.