Razor Blades, Little Pills and Big Pianos

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…Rhodes is a fine musician. His performance of Bach's fifth French Suite is a delight, with the pace measured, a warm and bell-like tone throughout, and the ornamentation nicely controlled. — BBC Music Magazine, May 2009, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd Feb 2009
Catalogue No: SIGCD153
Label: Signum
Length: 68 minutes

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Bach, J S: French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV816

Work length20:13

$7.00

$9.80

James Rhodes

Allemande

Track length3:33

$1.00

$1.40

Courante

Track length1:35

$1.00

$1.40

Sarabande

Track length6:12

$1.00

$1.40

Gavotte

Track length1:07

$1.00

$1.40

Bouree

Track length1:15

$1.00

$1.40

Loure

Track length3:16

$1.00

$1.40

Gigue

Track length3:15

$1.00

$1.40

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90

Work length13:51

$2.50

$3.50

James Rhodes

Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck

Track length6:15

$1.00

$1.40

Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen

Track length7:36

$1.50

$2.10

Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

Work length12:15

$2.00

$2.80

James Rhodes

Johann Sebastian Bach / Ferruccio Busoni: Chaconne in D minor

Work length15:51

Album only

James Rhodes

Moszkowski: Étincelles (No. 6 from Huit Morceaux Caractéristiques, Op. 36)

Work length3:04

$1.00

$1.40

James Rhodes

Johann Sebastian Bach / Alexander Siloti: Prelude in B minor

Work length3:19

$1.00

$1.40

James Rhodes

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James Rhodes' story is an unusual one: he has had no formal academic musical education or dedicated mentoring.The title of this, his debut album, hints at the suffering that dogged Rhodes's childhood and early adult life. Classical music became his solace and key to his survival. It was Bach, Beethoven and Chopin; not Faith, Hope and Charity, that offered him comfort. Razor Blades, Little Pills and Big Pianos explores the emotive landscape that we call 'life'.The recording, performed at the magical Potton Hall, tucked away in a seductive Brittenesque patch of Suffolk, is somewhat of a biographical expression of Rhodes's complex and unorthodox journey. And yes, he can play.

Reviews

May 2009

…Rhodes is a fine musician. His performance of Bach's fifth French Suite is a delight, with the pace measured, a warm and bell-like tone throughout, and the ornamentation nicely controlled.

The dance pulse of Bach, declamatory drama of Beethoven and cantabile texture of Chopin are conveyed with conviction and dazzling technique.

18th February 2009

One is bound to look for performances on this debut CD that "go to extremes", but Rhodes proves to be a genuinely subtle artist. The stormy first movement of Beethoven's E minor Sonata is, if anything, too understated; the long lyrical second movement, so much harder to bring off, actually works better. Chopin's Fourth Ballade is beautifully shaped and the Bach/Busoni Chaconne is grand and sensitive at once.

Sensitivity and thunder are his hallmarks

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