A collection of Bizet's piano music is a bit more desirable as a purchase than instrumental music by other composers known primarily for opera; Bizet was a fine pianist and made money through his keyboard skills while he was struggling as an opera composer. He wasn't happy about it, however, and his complete compositions as a group reveal his ambivalent attitude. Some of the pieces on this two-disc set are student works, dating as far back as Bizet's early teens in the case of the Romance sans paroles (CD 2, track 11). Much ...
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A collection of Bizet's piano music is a bit more desirable as a purchase than instrumental music by other composers known primarily for opera; Bizet was a fine pianist and made money through his keyboard skills while he was struggling as an opera composer. He wasn't happy about it, however, and his complete compositions as a group reveal his ambivalent attitude. Some of the pieces on this two-disc set are student works, dating as far back as Bizet's early teens in the case of the Romance sans paroles (CD 2, track 11). Much of this early music reveals debts to Chopin or, in the case of the Variations chromatiques de concert, Beethoven. Other works seem to have been written for Bizet's own use, and they're not fundamentally different from the piano productions of lesser composers. The two suites from L'Arlésiennes, arranged by Bizet, do not survive the transition to the keyboard terribly well; they're purely commercial productions. The Grande valse de concert in E flat major would be hard to pick out as...
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Add this copy of Complete Music for Solo Piano to cart. $43.51, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by Naxos.