Earl Wild - tell me more

[Teddybear]

Hi there. A piano student from Finland joins you. Please forgive me my bad English. It used to be better.

So much for introductions. Some time ago I heard a recording by Mr. Wild, who played Mozart's concerto no. 21, and it was the best Mozart I've ever heard in my life. I'd be interested to know if he's equally at home with other composers. Are there recordings you simply must hear?

Cheers,

T

[BoliverAllmon]

I don't know alot of his music, but I did hear his virtuosic etudes based on themes by Gershwin or something like that. They were real cool stuff.

boliver

[odsum25]

Earl Wild is a wonderful pianist who turns 90 this year and is touring the world accordingly.  His technique is phenomenal and any young firebrand would want it.  He is at home in all repoertoire and makes things sparkle, but is mainly known for his Liszt and other romantic repertoire.  He is a master transcriber and quite a good composer as well as being a very interesting man.

[Regulus Medtner]

Wonderful pianist, indeed. He also recorded several Medtner works, the Paderewski and Scharwenka 1 concertos and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. All these I wholeheartedly recommend. And anything else by him, really.

[musicsdarkangel]

His Mephisto Waltz is digustingly good.

Yes, he is incredible at everything!

[Kassaa]

He's going to play here in the concertgebouw, 25 september. He's going to play some rachmaninov, chopin 4 ballades, gershwin and les jeux d'eau à la ville d'este

[odsum25]

I'm seeing him at the official birthday recital at Carnegie Hall on November 29th.  The one thing that does trouble me somewhat about his playing is the Ballades, as he takes so many freedoms with that.  However, they are very clearly thought out and work for him, but I would not do them that way myself.

[brokenagraffe]

hey. has anyone heard or have a audio file of the Four Swan Transcription by Wild?

[Teddybear]

Hi. Thank you for replying. So far I've found a Liszt collection with the sonata, some Etudes de Concert, Etudes d'Execution Transcendante and Hungarian Rhapsodies. I've only listened to the sonata, I'll check out the other pieces later.

Listening to the sonata was an odd experience. My first impression is that he indeed has a good sound, which is rare among piano players. He obviously has a sense of phrasing, but I was unsatisfied with the way he interpreted the music. It was jerky and very formal. It made me feel like this kind of rhapsody-like music is not his thing, but I think drawing conclusions this quickly would be a mistake. I'll try to find more recordings.

T