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Recordings (17 Cds) Works Reviews


Scarlatti:  Sonata in D Major, K.29




Price: $13.50


Cembal d'amour CD 99
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

DOMENICO SCARLATTI
Six Sonatas: K.322, K.27, K. 87, K.29, K.302,  K.24
BEETHOVEN
Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 in C Major
BRAHMS
Variations on a Theme by Paganini
Books 1 & 2

 

"A throwback to an older style of pianism, with interpretive individuality and gleaming tonal richness as defining virtues."
Ultimate Audio

"...A killer disc... Shehori captured his own powerful pianism in faultless sound, with sparkling treble and deep rumbling bass rarely heard on piano discs."
Fi-The Magazine of Music & Sound



C
hopin-Liszt: My Joy


Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 100
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

MOZART

Fantasy in D minor, K.397       
Andante for the Mechanical Organ in F major, K.616, Adagio in B minor, K.540, Rondo in D major, K.485  
BEETHOVEN
Sonata Op. 2, No. 2, in A major
CHOPIN-LISZT
Six Polish Songs
LISZT
Spanish Rhapsody             
      

 

 

"...Shehori is rock solid and deeply musical. This is a big-hearted interpretation, with a beautiful variety of tone colour and a sense of empathy with the composer."
BBC Music Magazine


Chopin: 
Polonaise in F-sharp minor


 

Price: $13.50
 
Cembal d'amour CD 101
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

Bach-Siloti

Prelude in B minor
Handel
Chaconne in G major
Beethoven
Sonata Op. 31, No. 2 in D minor, "The Tempest"
Chopin
Barcarolle; Polonaise in F-sharp minor
Schubert-Liszt
Serenade, Atlas, To Be Sung on the Water
Liszt
Saint Francis of Paula Walking on the Water
"Shehori: Poetry in Music."
The Washington Post


Schubert: 
Wanderer Fantasy


 

Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 102
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

Schubert

Fantasie Op. 15, in C major, "The Wanderer"
Faure
Nocturne Op.63, No. 6,  in D-flat major
Liszt
Sonata in B minor

 

 


"Signs of a Poet And a Daredevil
...Fiery displays of muscle, with poetic undercurrents to remind listeners that there is art within this musics gymnastic contours...It is this balance of daredevil showmanship and pure musicality that explains the lure of Mr. Shehoris playing."
The New York Times


Scarlatti: 
Sonata in A minor, K.532



Price: $13.50
 
Cembal d'amour CD 103
Mordecai Shehori, Piano


Domenico Scarlatti

21 KEYBOARD SONATAS
K.532, K.481, K.398, K.232, K.184, K.95, K.127, K.128, K.124, K.474, K.98, K.44       K.175, K.173, K.33, K.213, K.259, K.421  K.64, K.517, K.547      

(Different sonatas than those on CD 99)

 

 

"The Scarlatti sonatas he has selected are not among the most often heard and were obviously chosen for contrast in mood and style. Shehori treats them seriously, as a kind of precursor to Chopin-elegiac, expressive, logical, witty, with similar mixture of brilliance and lyricism-and plays them with an emotional depth and intensity that is not apparent in the printed notes. His articulation is crisp (he tosses off repeated notes, trills, and arpeggios with impressive ease), his phrasing is subtle and effective."
American Record Guide


Rameau:
 Tambourin




Price: $13.50 
Cembal d'amour CD 104
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

Jean-Philippe Rameau

PIÈCES DE CLAVECIN
Allemande in A minor; Allemande in E minor; La Dauphine; La Livri; LesTourbillons; La Triomphante   
Gavotte Variée;  LEnharmonique 
La Joyeuse;  Tambourin;  Les Soupirs; LEgyptienne; Les Tendres Plaintes; La Poule; Le Lardon; Les Cyclopes    LEntretien des Muses; Les Sauvages  Le Rappel des Oiseaux   

 

"Shehori makes the most of their strong contrasts, integrates their elaborate ornamentation nicely into the musical flow, and again his skillful phrasing and rhythmic zest are very engaging.   These performances will infuriate the purists, but they are likely to please anyone who cares about excellent piano playing and lovely music."
American Record Guide


Brahms:
Scherzo from the 
Sonata in F minor, Op. 5


 

Price: $13.50
 
Cembal d'amour CD 107
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

The New York Recitals
Volume One

Recorded live:  2 April 1977 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

BRAHMS
Sonata in F minor, Op. 5
CHOPIN
Nocturne in F major, op. 15, No. 1.  Nocturne in B major, Op. 9, No. 3. Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, op. 39.
RAVEL
Gaspard de la Nuit

 

"What sets Mr. Shehori apart from most virtuosos with their off-the-shelf performances is the poetic inwardness and rapturous intensity of his playing.   
Mr. Shehori has developed a cult following in New York piano circles." Mr. Shehori has developed a cult following in New York piano circles."
The New York Times


J. S. Bach:
Musette in D Major




Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 108
Learning by Example, Vol. 1

Mordecai Shehori, Piano

47 works by 18 composers of the most loved piano pieces for the young and not-so-young pianist.

For more details as well as audio samples please double click on the following link:
Learning by Example Page

 

 

"Mordecai Shehori is a musicians musician that is, the sort of pianist whom it will profit other pianists to study."
New York Newsday


Cantique d'amour (Complete)



Gretchen am Spinnrade (Complete)



Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Complete)  


 

Price: $13.50
 
Cembal d'amour CD 116
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

Shehori Plays Liszt

Volume 1
Love and the Devil

Cantique d’amour
Scherzo and March
Gretchen (Second movement from Faust Symphony)  
Gretchen am Spinnrade (After Schubert) 
Ständchen von Shakespeare (After Schubert) 
Réminiscences de Don Juan (After Mozart) 
Mephisto Waltz No. 1


 

 

"Mordecai Shehori is a marvelous pianist in almost every conceivable category.  Indeed, if elegance had a middle name, it would be Shehori.  At last here is a pianist who not only understand the power of gentleness but puts it to work at every opportunity.  Though it goes without saying that his technique is impeccable, something more is afoot when he plays, as he found a way to harness the storm before the storm."
John Bell Young
American Record Guide


Muzio Clementi:
Spiritoso from Sonatina Op. 36, No. 3
in C Major

Georg Anton Benda:  Sonatina in a Minor




Friedrich Kuhlau: 
Allegretto grazioso from Sonatina Op. 55, No. 3 in C major



Dmitri Kabalevsky:
Presto from Sonatina Op. 13, No. 1 in A minor

Price: $13.50

 

Cembal d'amour CD 119
Learning by Example, Vol. 2
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

14 Sonatinas by: Clementi, Benda, Mozart, Beethoven, Spindler, Dussek, Kuhlau, Diabelli, and Kabalevsky.
 
 

Beethoven
: Sonata Op. 111 in C Minor. Arietta (segment)

Rachmaninoff: Musical Moment, Op. 16, No. 4

 


Kabalevsky: Sonata No. 3 in F Major. 3rd Movement, Giocoso (segment)



Liszt: Dante Sonata (segment)


 

Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 128
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

The Celebrated New York Concerts, Vol. 2

BEETHOVEN:
Sonata No. 32, Op. 111 in C minor

RACHMANINOFF:
Six Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 

KABALEVSKY:
Sonata No. 3, Op. 46 in F Major                                       

LISZT:
Après une lecture du Dante-Fantasia quasi Sonata
 

Couperin: The Cukoos



Burgmuller:
The Farewell



MacDowell:
To a Wild Rose

Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 131
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

Learning by Example Series, Vol. 3

For more details please double click on the following link:
Learning by Example Page

J.S. BACH
Largo from the Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, (BWV 1056)  Arranged for piano solo by Mordecai Shehori



CHOPIN:
Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20

 

Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 133
Mordecai Shehori, Piano
The Celebrated New York Concerts, Volume 3

J.S. BACH
1. Largo from the Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, (BWV 1056)
Arranged for piano solo by Mordecai Shehori
BEETHOVEN
Sonata in F Major, Op. 54
2. Tempo d’un Menuetto
3. Allegretto
CHOPIN
4. Berceuse in D-flat Major, Op. 57
5. Polonaise in E-flat minor, Op. 40, No. 1
6. Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20
SCHUBERT-LISZT
7. Gretchen am Spinnrade
8. Erlkönig
9. Soirées de Vienne-Valse, Caprice No. 6
LISZT
10. Consolation No. 3 in D-flat Major
11. Mephisto Waltz No. 1, After Lenau’s Faust
MORIZ ROSENTHAL
12. Carnaval de Vienne-Humoresque after themes by J. Strauss
 

"The third volume of Mordecai Shehori’s ongoing New York recital series is now with us. The recitals range from 1979 to 1987. Most were recorded at the usual venue, the Merkin Concert Hall, but three things were taped at the 92nd Street Y.
 
Shehori’s Chopin is usually special. His B minor Scherzo is full of fancy and colour, long on contrasts, full of delicacy and gravity and palpable depth of feeling. There’s no artifice in this reading and there are no extraneous gestures and rhetorical effects; it’s entirely musical, musicianship devoted entirely to the service of the text, none of which excludes a most terrific and brilliant conclusion. The vein of rich poetry, of which Shehori is a master, can be felt in his Berceuse in D flat major. Once again he ensures that architectural concerns are uppermost, and that the music flows within the parameters he has established. It’s a reading of the utmost beauty of tone.
 
There is a sequence of Schubert-Liszt transcriptions. Some of these have been associated on disc, at various times, with titans such as Petri and Horowitz amongst many others. Gretchen am Spinrade was certainly a Petri speciality and he played it with a strong series of dynamics and an almost vertical sense in terms of voicings. Shehori is richer and warmer, more chordally resonant, and spins out the song with enveloping sensitivity. Erlkönig finds Shehori on superb form – virtuosic and atmospheric. Soirées de Vienne is another piece that Petri recorded – but then so did Horowitz, Rosenthal and de Greef (in a truncated version). Shehori plays quite pungently here – and this is the one occasion where I think the recording level is against him; it imparts a touch of hardness to his tone that one doesn’t notice in his other performances. Of course there are the more refined and delicate moments where one can appreciate his tone in a more natural way though no one has quite matched Rosenthal’s grandeur and capricious rubati here. 
 
Shehori’s own Bach arrangement from the familiar Keyboard Concerto is solemn, slow with a chorale texture – and with great gravity implicit in those bass extensions. The brace of Liszt pieces contains an excellent Consolation No.3. Shehori plays it at a Horowitz tempo but doesn’t of course seek to replicate Horowitz’s very personal rubatos. The Mephisto Waltz No.1 is a cracking display of virtuosity, control and eloquence and it leads onto the disc’s finale, Rosenthal’s Carnaval de Vienne, a Straussian confection which Shehori plays with remarkable virtuosity and admirable command – though maybe the composer teased out a greater sense of playfulness in his more technically fallible 1935 recording.
 
Once again the Shehori recitals prove a seedbed of poetry and digital control. He balances both these facets with accustomed eloquence, allowing the music to speak with naturalness, shorn of interventions, crudities and gaucherie. If you’re lucky enough to see him advertised in concert, don’t miss the chance to hear Shehori, one of the unsung giants of our time.
 
Jonathan Woolf
Musicweb.com

 
 



Liszt:
Harmonies du soir



Schumann-Liszt: Widmung


Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 135
Mordecai Shehori, Piano
Shehori Plays Schumann & Liszt

SCHUMANN:
1. Arabesque in C Major, Op. 18
LISZT:
2. Harmonies du soir
(Transcendental Etude No. 11)
SCHUMANN-LISZT:
3. Liebeslied (Widmung)
SCHUMANN:
4-7 Sonata in G minor, Op. 22
LISZT:
8. Saint Francis of Assisi Sermon of the Birds
9. Ballade No. 2
 

 

 



Haydn: Arietta and 12 Variations in A Major, (segment)

Schubert: Sonata in A minor, Op. posth. 143. Third movement Allegro vivace


Racnmaninoff:  Etude-Tableau in E-flat Minor,
Op. 39, No. 5

Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 139
Mordecai Shehori, Pianist


The Celebrated New York Concerts, Vol. 4

1. HAYDN: Arietta and 12 Variations* in A Major
(Hob.XVll:2, Mindru Katz’s arrangement*)

SCHUBERT: Sonata in A Minor, Op. posth. 143
2. Allegro giusto
3. Andante
4. Allegro vivace

RACHMANINOFF
5. Mélodie in E Major, Op. 3, No. 3
6. Barcarolle in G Minor, Op. 10, No. 3
7. Etude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, Op. 39, No. 5
8. Valse in A Major, Op. 10, No. 2
9. Humoresque in G Major, Op. 10, No. 5
10. Prelude in E-flat Major, Op. 23, No. 6
11. Polichinelle in F-sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 4

12. LISZT: Tarantella (from Venezia e Napoli)

13. Shehori announces Mozart’s birthday
and the following encore

14. MOZART: The Bread and Butter Valse
 

 

 



MOZART: Rondo in A Minor, KV 511



MOZART: Allegretto from Sonata in B-flat Major, KV 570




Price: $13.50

Cembal d'amour CD 141
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

Mordecai Shehori Plays Mozart


1. Fantasie in C Minor, KV 396
(Completed by Maximilian Stadler after the
fragments of the Sonatensatzes for Violin and Piano)

2. Rondo in A Minor, KV 511 

3. Fantasie in C Minor, KV 475 

4-6. Sonata in B-flat Major, KV 570

7-9. Sonata in C Minor, KV 457

Total playing time: 69:22



GLINKA-BALAKIREV: The Skylark




BALAKIREV: Islamey (segment)



PROKOFIEV: Precipitato from the Seventh Sonata




Price: $13.50
Cembal d'amour CD 143
Mordecai Shehori, Piano

Mordecai Shehori Plays

Russian Music


PROKOFIEV: Seventh Sonata, Op. 83
GLINKA-BALAKIREV: The Skylark
BALAKIREV: Islamey
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Lark
(From the Seasons, Op. 37)
Romance in F Minor, Op. 5
Dumka, Op. 59
TCHAIKOVSKY-PABST: A Paraphrase after the Opera
Eugene Onegin


Total playing time: 65:09