MusicWeb International: Recording of the Month
Featured on BBC Radio 3
(Book II - world premiere)
(Book I - newly remastered)
Bridge's Complete Crumb Edition reaches Volume 20 with the first complete recording of the great American composer's recently completed Metamorphoses cycle. The "20 Fantasy Pieces After Celebrated Paintings" are Crumb's "Pictures at an Exhibition"- aural interpretations of famous paintings from our recent past including works by Picasso, van Gogh, Chagall, and Dali. Critic David Hurwitz writes: "Bridge's decision to embark on a complete edition of George Crumb's music remains one of the most significant recording projects currently in progress, as well as one of the most artistically successful."
Reviews:
"Barone worked extensively with Crumb for two decades and his understanding of the sensibility, and his command of the techniques required, and often invented, by the composer makes this recording definitive. Bridge Records here provides an exhilarating tribute and important addition to the recorded legacy of this master composer." --The WholeNote (Canada)
"A tribute to one of the great enduring spirits of our time, flawlessly performed and produced." -Robert Carl
"I think that these performances of the Book II pieces, in particular, are going to be very hard for other pianists to equal, let alone surpass. There’s just something about the way Barone plays them that stays with you long after the record is finished. If you admire Crumb’s music as much as I do, this is a must-have recording." - The Art Music Lounge
"The performances are excellent, the music everything you might expect from Crumb and the piano solo genre he has perfected, only a step further into the future present. Grab it and enjoy. It is a wonderful addition to the Crumb oeuvre." - Gapplegate
"I am delighted to praise George Crumb’s Metamorphoses as a high point in the history of musical ekphrasis. To borrow once more the words by Dominy Clements which I quoted at the beginning of this review, 'you owe it to yourself to hear it'." - MusicWeb International (Recording of the Month)
"Barone worked extensively with Crumb for two decades and his understanding of the sensibility, and his command of the techniques required, and often invented, by the composer makes this recording definitive. Bridge Records here provides an exhilarating tribute and important addition to the recorded legacy of this master composer." - The WholeNote (Canada)
BRIDGE 9551
