Classics Today's Solo Piano Reviews

[MN Dave]

How do you grade CT on their reviews of solo piano music overall? Are they fairly accurate?

Please let me know.

[Todd]

Depends on what you mean by accurate.  Since Jed Distler writes most of the solo piano reviews, they accurately represent his opinion on recordings, and he generally includes specific reasons for his opinions.  If you mean something more like "do you agree with the reviews?", then the reviews are like in other review publications: sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't.  I only take note if he says something is really great or really awful.

[MN Dave]

Depends on what you mean by accurate.  Since Jed Distler writes most of the solo piano reviews, they accurately represent his opinion on recordings, and he generally includes specific reasons for his opinions.  If you mean something more like "do you agree with the reviews?", then the reviews are like in other review publications: sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't.  I only take note if he says something is really great or really awful.

Thanks. As a rule of thumb, if they give a favorite composer's work a 9 or 10 for performance, I'm putting it on a wish list.

[Don]

Thanks. As a rule of thumb, if they give a favorite composer's work a 9 or 10 for performance, I'm putting it on a wish list.

Given their generous ratings, your method must result in a giant wish list.  Overall, I don't have a problem with their piano reviews.

[MN Dave]

Given their generous ratings, your method must result in a giant wish list.  Overall, I don't have a problem with their piano reviews.

Surprisingly enough, since Hurwitz isn't doing the ratings, it's not really that long a list. And I'm generally interested in only four composers for piano (or anything).

[Sergeant Rock]

How do you grade CT on their reviews of solo piano music overall? Are they fairly accurate?

Please let me know.

I rarely agree with Distler...or rather, his taste isn't my taste. But that doesn't mean he's not a useful critic. On the contrary, he's like my favorite critic, Robert Layton (who wrote reviews of Beethoven quartets and Scandinavian music for Gramophone). I could rely absolutely on Mr. Layton: if he hated a recording, I bought it. I was never disappointed! The guy was brilliant 

Sarge

[MN Dave]

I rarely agree with Distler...or rather, his taste isn't my taste. But that doesn't mean he's not a useful critic. On the contrary, he's like my favorite critic, Robert Layton (who wrote reviews of Beethoven quartets and Scandinavian music for Gramophone). I could rely absolutely on Mr. Layton: if he hated a recording, I bought it. I was never disappointed! The guy was brilliant 

Sarge

What do you disagree with Distler on in general?

[MishaK]

Hurwitz is the more volatile writer, but I find Distler utterly random. I don't know what claim to musical expertise he has, but I rarely find his reviews well founded or musically supported. The basis for his argument rarely makes sense to me. The piano solo reviews on that site are generally mostly useless. Hurwitz at least is amusing.

[MN Dave]

Hurwitz is the more volatile writer, but I find Distler utterly random. I don't know what claim to musical expertise he has, but I rarely find his reviews well founded or musically supported. The basis for his argument rarely makes sense to me. The piano solo reviews on that site are generally mostly useless. Hurwitz at least is amusing.

Thanks, O. Maybe I should rethink my wish list.

[Sergeant Rock]

Thanks, O. Maybe I should rethink my wish list.

Not necessarily, Dave. George and I had a brief discussion about Distler recently. He's led George to some great recordings (not necessarily my cup of tea but George is happy). I confess I haven't read much Distler recently. Unhappy with the direction Gramophone took after corporate takeover, I stopped buying the mag several years ago. I read the occasional Distler review in ClassicsToday. The only way to find out if a critic can be trusted as a buying guide is to make some purchases and see if you share his conclusions.

Sarge

[Brian]

I actually like Hurwitz' reviews sometimes - he is always able to articulate exactly why he loves or hates something, and is always ready to pull out the score and start delving into details. Dave has led me to some mighty fine recordings, on the website and via email, although he hasn't always been nice to some discs which I am quite fond of. Unfortunately, though, some of his comments can be a little wacko; he just needs a better editor. ClassicsToday reviews almost always have a "capsule" feel - unless Hurwitz gives a high or low rating and feels the need to explain - as they're usually only two paragraphs, or sometimes just a few sentences! For this reason I prefer to browse MusicWeb, even though MusicWeb is generally positive to nearly everybody and more than a little too polite. Over there, Kevin Sutton seems to be easily impressed and a couple of the reviewers' writing styles dissolve into comparing the total timing of each track to whatever the great performers of the 70s did, which doesn't help me.

As for Jed Distler, didn't he have the excellent taste to recognize Joyce Hatto's genius early on?

[MN Dave]

Hurtwitz turned me on to some cool stuff too. No complaints about him yet.

As for piano works, maybe I'll resort to ye olde sample tests. 

[Holden]

I find Jed Distler to be just like many journalists - a frequent user of inflated hyperbole and meaningless rhetoric resulting in reviews that doesn't give one a sense that he really believes in what he is writing. I wouldn't use him (or most other journalists) as a guide to buying music because he is just that - a journalist.

He has a number of parallels in the world of hifi 'critics'. I haven't come across a hifi writer who actually has the real credentials to make informed comment on the products they are writing about and Jed (along with many others) fall into the same category in the classical music world. I've read some excellent reviews on this site from members who have a vast knowledge of the their subject matter as opposed to the 'journeyman' which is what Jed Distler really is. The real proof, as someone mentioned, was his unreserved championing of Joyce Hatto. The proof is in the pudding.