Great Pianists Of The 20th Century, Vol. 59

Zoltan Kocsis - piano

This is an incredible collection of music, all played spectacularly well. You will be awed as his technique and heartfelt interpretations. Another rare treasure here is Debussy's Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, a work that should be better known but isn't, simply because it doesn't treat the piano as a solo instrument. In this work and in the Dohnanyi, the orchestral accompaniment provided by the orchestra with Ivan Fischer conducting is also top notch, and especially nice playing from the brass and winds. Maestro Fisher is able to stick to Kocsis like glue through all the twists of Dohnanyi's Variations. I wish there were more Hungarian music here (Bartok, for instance) because that is really Kocsis' specialty. Buy this 2CD volume and then look for more Kocsis Bartok recordings elsewhere. Five stars.