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Title: Clapped-out pianola
Review: I recently heard Freddy Kempf play this piece in Leeds Town Hall and was completely blown away. For some odd reason, Mr Kempf has not yet deemed his performance worthy of a CD release, so I though, (maybe carried away with the hype from 'Shine') that David Helfgott might do this piece justice (I particulary enjoyed his rendition of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 on 'Brilliantissimo').How wrong I was. The climax of the first movement is absolutely ruined by bum notes, such that the performance sounds as if Helgott was replaced by a four-year-old playing on a clapped-out pianola.And coundn't the piano have been miked up so that you can't hear Helfgotts heavy breathing/miscellaneous noises? It's extremely distracting and adds nothing to the performance.
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