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Title: My pick from Jarrett/Ashkenazy/Nikolayeva
Review: I own recordings of this work by Jarrett, Ashkenazy and Nikolayeva (on Hyperion). Ultimately it is Jarrett's version that I find myself listening to most often. My main gripe with Nikolayeva is that she can be excessively slow. Ashkenazy -- though technically strong as one would expect -- has a tendency to hammer out some of the fugues in rigid staccato that suppresses the natural lyricism of the music. The flip side as argued by another reviewer is that Jarrett is sometimes "mushy", but that seems a little harsh to me. Unless you have a very particular opinion on how these pieces must sound (in which case you can listen to them yourself) this recording makes a fine choice.
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