Afro-Brazillian Archive

BACH: Italian Concerto in F Major; BRAHMS: Three Intermezzi; MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition; KREISLER: Schoen Rosmarin; KHACHATURIAN: Toccata; NAZARETH: Odeon – Tango Brasiliero – Mordecai Shehori, piano – Cembal d’amour

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 4, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

Another in the thoughtful, excitingly virtuosic recitals that lit the New York stages in the course of 20 years. Mordecai Shehori – The Celebrated New York Concerts, Vol. 11 = BACH: Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971; BRAHMS: Three Intemezzi, Op. 117; MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition; KREISLER: Schoen Rosmarin; KHACHATURIAN: Toccata; NAZARETH: Odeon – Tango Brasiliero – Mordecai Shehori, piano – Cembal d’amour CD 187, 65:51 (2/19/17) [www.cembaldamour.com] ****: Culled from various New York City concert venues, 1982-2003, the assembled recital by Mordecai Shehori embraces a variety of national styles within a decidedly Romantic sensibility. Shehori opens with Bach’s virtuosic Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971, a one-instrument concerto that achieves the effect of the two-manual harpsichord while synthesizing strict counterpoint, playful ritornelli, and sonorous tuttis in the course its often antiphonal progress. The performance (from Merkin Concert Hall, 22 May 1986), enjoys a beguiling intimacy in the face of its brilliant intent, as a stunning, optimistic vehicle, especially in its outer movements. Shehori’s middle movement, the d minor Andante, projects a steady, flowing cantilena over a basso ostinato. The flexible line absorbs a fluent trill into the evolving line, lyrical and heatedly poignant. Shehori proceeds with more understated […]