Lullaby Album

The only songs here that Nana sings in English are Deck the halls, O come all ye faithful, Hark the herald angels sing, White Christmas, God rest ye merry gentlemen, All through the night and Lullaby.

Five songs are taken from an album of German Christmas songs, including Stille nacht heilage nacht (Silent night), and O tannenbaum (O Christmas tree).

Nana sings Minuet Chretien (O holy night) and L'enfant au tambour (Little drummer boy) both in French. Ave Maria is here as well but I haven't worked out in which language. I recognize some other songs here from the tune, but there are plenty of high quality songs that I don't recognize at all (or only recognize from other foreign language recordings).

I have the French edition of this album, which has the title Les plus beaux Noels du monde, but the track listing and front cover artwork is the same as the American edition.

Tracks:

Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra, Op.12: Allegro
Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra, Op.12: Larghissimo
Concerto No. 1 For Piano And Orchestra, Op.12: Allegro con fuoco (Maccaber Dance)
Concerto No.2 For Piano And Orchestra, Op.36: Allegro moderato
Concerto No.2 For Piano And Orchestra, Op.36: Presto
Concerto No.2 For Piano And Orchestra, Op.36: Adagio
Concerto No.2 For Piano And Orchestra, Op.36: Allegro
Six Pieces From Album For The Young, Op.43: Ostinato (Andante)
Six Pieces From Album For The Young, Op.43: Hommage a Faure (Allegretto)
Six Pieces From Album For The Young, Op.43: Starry Night (Moderato)
Six Pieces From Album For The Young, Op.43: Rainy Day (Andante)
Hommage a Alkan (Allegretto)
Six Pieces From Album For The Young, Op.43: Lullaby (Lento)

Customer Reviews:

Is this really contemporary classical music?.......2007-02-18

Who cannot admire the technical felicity of Liebermann's second piano concerto? His mastery of classical and romatic form and orchestration are plain. But should we be seduced by the blatent references to Rachmaninoff and recycling Ravel. These naughty -- but not really very naughty at all -- dissonances and irregular rhythms are really too timid.
What could Liebermann do with all his immense technical powers?
I would have been shocked in 1907, but in 2007 I think I was stroked too much.

Great music, well performed.......2005-10-27

I'm totally new to Liebermann's music, although his opus numbers imply he is not totally new to composing...
I would describe these pieces of music as brisk - interesting and pleasant on first listening, without being sweet.
They remind me of music by other neoclassicists, such as Stravinsky and Poulenc.
About this performance: Stephen Hough plays very gently. I like it (and I'm sure the composer does too), but it would be interesting to listen to an alternative, more aggressive playing in some parts.
As this is my first (and only, so far) encounter with any of Liebermann's compositions, I cannot give any comparative comments.
Regarding this CD: the sound is clean and rich.

To conclude - unless you really dislike neoclassicism - buy this CD!

A star ascending.......2002-06-09

If you ever wonder who will be the great composers of the early 21st century, you can start your list with Lowell Liebermann.
It's hard to remember that at one time, people actually looked forward to hearing the latest works by the composers of the day. For the past 50 years or so, the public has usually gone to the concert hall with dread when new music was on the program -- or they didn't go at all. Liebermann, on the other hand, is the type of composer you want to hear again and again.

That doesn't mean his music is easy or obvious -- just that he cares what it sounds like and doesn't view composition as a mathematical equation to be solved.
The first concerto, a relatively early work, has more of the thorniness that was de rigeuer in music schools. But the finale is a wild, frenzied dance macabre, quite memorable.
The second is written on the grand scale, with cascading piano passages, lush orchestration, etc. You'll hear passages that make you think of Rachmaninoff or Prokofiev or Shostakovich or others, but it's none of these. It seems that Liebermann has assimilated the best the 20th century had to offer and has gone on from there. One day, "Liebermann 2" will be a landmark.
Buying new, unfamiliar music can be frustrating. But I assure you, this is a silk purse, not a sow's ear.

Threading various styles together - successfully.......2002-03-06

I was introduced to Liebermann's 2nd piano concerto a couple of weeks ago in Toledo, Ohio as played by the local symphony and Stephen Hough as pianist. As a standing ovation greeted the performance, the composer made an appearance on stage to get his due recognition. The performance was so brilliant, that maybe some of the details of the music where lost in the glare.
Liebermann has composed a brilliant work - combining romantic sweeps, toccata passages, and moments of near silence - it seems that rachmaninov, prokofiev, ravel, and schoenberg sat together to write this work. And by no means it lacks in originality, his greatest merit has been the ability to put this conglomerate together in such a way that it works and also is unrecognizable as any well performed music. The 2nd concerto is gaining acceptance in the standard repertoire and so is Liebermann's music - deservedly so.
The first concerto and the accompanying solo works are also fine works in their own, but pale in comparison to the 2nd concerto. The first concerto works also, but for my personal taste i could not find much to hold on to. But those who favor Bartok or Ravel's concerto for the left hand will love this work.
In regards to the pianist, Liebermann could not find a better match than Stephen Hough for this work. The writing, obviously virtuosic, is handled brilliantly by Hough and the dark introspective passages are played with attention to detail and reserve. And the live performance i attended was even better!
The recorded sound captures the bbc scottish symphony orchestra in top form.
It is so heartwarming to hear new music performed with so much care and attention - i surely hope Liebermann continues to get the success works as these should entitle him to.

Nominees for repertory status.......1999-08-12

The Gramophone review is spot on about these concerti being somewhat conservative. But they're also jazzy, sassy, tuneful, tender, virtuosic, brilliantly played and recorded. There are a number of American piano concerti written in fairly recent past that could perhaps have been written sixty years ago and yet still deserve to be played and loved. Those of Menotti, Hoiby, Ward, Oldham come to mind. These two belong in that company.