music

Music

February 19, 2009, (Thurs.) 8 PM Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall "Birthday Celebration Concert"
Bach	Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Preludes and Fugues # I in C, XV in G, XIV in F#m.
Chopin	Nocturne, Opus 15, No.2 in F #, Impromptu, Opus 51 in Gb, Barcarolle,Opus 60 in F#, Scherzo IV, Opus 54 in E
Beethoven	Sonata, quasi una fantasia, Opus 27, No.1, in Eb
Schumann	Fantaisie, Opus 17, in C

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	NEW! Pianogarden II CD
	Mozart	Sonata in D, K. 576
	Bach	Well-Tempered Clavier (Five preludes and fugues)
	Schubert	Klavierstück in E flat D.946, No.2 and Impromptu in B flat, Op.142
	Chopin	Two Etudes (op.25, F min.) "Nouvelle Etude", (F min.)
	Chopin-Liszt	Meine Freuden
	Ravel	Sonatine

The selections on this CD, with the exception of the Bach (which was recorded at home), were performed for live audiences in salon-sized halls including Steinway Hall in New York City. Nothing on this disk was cut or pasted, opting for authenticity and spontaneity over electronic perfection.
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"Recorded live (with no patches or editing of any kind) in a variety of locations including New York's Steinway Hall, Carol Montparker sparkles radiantly across a broad spectrum of repertoire. What immediately strikes the listener In Mozart's K576 Sonata is the grace and sheer communicated warmth of Montparker's playing, qualities that spill over into a small selection of The Well-Tempered Clavier preludes and fugues, and two Schubert favorites, the D 946 Klavierstucke and the B flat major Impromptu. Finest of all is Ravel's Sonatine, an enchanting reading that brims over with affection. Some tolerance is required with the changes in recorded ambiance, but this is still a most attractive recital."
JULIAN HAYLOCK, Jan/Feb 2008 CD Reviews

Pianogarden I CD
Consists of live performances by Carol Montparker, pianist. Included are selections from her Carnegie Recital Hall debut concert about which the NEW YORK TIMES said: "A splendid debut by a pianist who starts where many pianists leave off...technical polish...forceful clean playing. The music [Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin] moved in pliant, expressive phrases, and breathed naturally. Strong pulse, rhythmic bounce, Gouldish tempos, subtlety and variety of touch marked Ms. Montparker's Bach, sustaining the suggestion of harpsichord style and sonority throughout."

"I find your playing to be unfailingly graceful and affecting. You are a real artist, which is also made clear by your book...It is a model of its kind, touching and clever and invaluable as a chronicle of musical self-exploration."
MICHAEL KIMMELMAN, The New York Times

"Listening to Montparker play Bach, hearing the sense and emotion she brings to the score, one can understand how making music may be its own reward."
PETER GOODMAN, Newsday

"I have been listening to the recorded performances on your CD and send you a rapture of thanks for the elation and pleasure your playing gives me. The music making is wonderful! Your phrasing is so beautiful that I found myself constantly going back to re-hear the music several times. And you play with such fire and involvement, I never heard the Chopin Fantasy played with such abandon. Everything glows. It is clearly playing that comes from the heart---and it reaches the hearts of your audience, the spontaneity and warmth of your personality also shine in your playing."
PAUL SCHENLY, Cleveland Institute of Music, Piano Chair

"I want to tell you how much I have admired your CD...Your performance of the {Chopin} F minor Fantaisie with its refined sweep (this is not an oxymoron!), the grace of the mazurkas, and the elegance of your Bach. You are one fine pianist!"
HAROLD C. SCHONBERG, The New York Times

"Montparker performs Mozart, Schubert, Chopin and Ravel on her CD [in her children's book] Polly and the Piano. What's surprising about the disc is that it does not speak down to children: It is absolutely adult music, played superbly, which is something children almost always respond to in a more engaged way than grown-ups expect."
PETER DOBRIN, Music Critic, Philadelphia Inquirer

"I enjoyed your whole CD as much as your superb Mozart...the Schubert, Chopin,----everywhere I appreciated the beautiful sound and it was also technically remarkable. Bravo!"
PETER FRANKL, pianist. Professor of Piano, Yale University

"Your Brahms' Op. 116 was truly an ideal performance: so large in thought and sonority, so free but without excess. Really terrific in every way! I've played the opus and would have been pleased to have done it so well! "
MOREY RITT, pianist. Professor of Piano, Queens College, C.U.N.Y.

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	Video Collaboration with Kim Parker

J. S. Bach

Partita #1 in B Flat Praeludium

(300k) .mov

J. S. Bach

Partita #1 in B Flat Allemande

(464k) .mov

Johannes Brahms

Four Fantasies from Opus 116 Intermezzo in E (Adagio)

(744k) .mov

Frederic Chopin

Mazurka Opus 24, No 2 in C

(416k) .mov

Frederic Chopin

Mazurka Opus 7, No 4 in A Flat

(256k) .mov

Note: all of the selections are in Quicktime 4. If you don't have this plugin, click on the button below.