Fantasia Cubana: Variations on Classical Themes

Fantasia Cubana: Variations on Classical Themes

ASIN: B00006F1NJ

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Chucho Valdés--son of the great pianist Bebo Valdés, leader of the Cuban supergroup Irakere, and a Grammy Award-winning artist--is one of the most acclaimed musicians from Cuba. This CD highlights the third dimension of his talents and shows off his classical chops. Trained by Zenaida Romeu, Cuba's answer to Nadia Boulanger, Valdés's Liszt-like technique, sprinkled with dashes of Art Tatum and McCoy Tyner, explodes on the CD's 14 tracks, which includes works by Ravel and Debussy. On "Chopin: Three Faces of Lecuona" and "La Comparsa," which also pays tribute to the great Havana composer Ernesto Lecuona, Valdés's technique is matched by his lyrical ideas. Of his own compositions, the Afro-pulsed "Wakamba" best shows how Valdés's jazzy, percussive touch transforms the classical idiom into something like a New World of keyboard complexity. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Amazon.com
Chucho Valdés is an acknowledged master of assorted Afro-Cuban musical idioms. The Cuban-born pianist has been recording for nearly 40 years in a wide variety of settings, as both sideman and leader. Valdés is a large man (he stands 6 feet 4 inches), and his keyboard skills can include correspondingly broad chordings, played with powerful finesse. He calls Fantasia Cubana the realization of a lifelong dream. Piano lessons as a boy brought him an enduring love of classical music. Now, with a lifetime of musical explorations under his belt, he returns to that first love with confidence, exuberance, and delightful invention. This is a suite of solo piano pieces, in which his strong rhythmic grounding reveals some rather hidden characteristics in the resilient works of three masters (Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel). Valdés also celebrates his admiration for Ernesto Lecuona, the concert pianist and composer who founded the Havana Symphony, with three contrasting versions of "La Comparsa." --David Greenberger

Tracks:

Prelude In E Minor
Three Faces Of Lecuona: La Comparsa No.1
Three Faces Of Lecuona: La Comparsa No.2
Three Faces Of Lecuona: La Comparsa No.3
Wakamba
Reverie & Arabesque
Waltz In A Minor
Sunrise
My Reverie
Fantasia Cubana
Pavane For A Dead Princess
Tumbao
La Campesina
Impromptu

Amazon.com

Chucho Valdés--son of the great pianist Bebo Valdés, leader of the Cuban supergroup Irakere, and a Grammy Award-winning artist--is one of the most acclaimed musicians from Cuba. This CD highlights the third dimension of his talents and shows off his classical chops. Trained by Zenaida Romeu, Cuba's answer to Nadia Boulanger, Valdés's Liszt-like technique, sprinkled with dashes of Art Tatum and McCoy Tyner, explodes on the CD's 14 tracks, which includes works by Ravel and Debussy. On "Chopin: Three Faces of Lecuona" and "La Comparsa," which also pays tribute to the great Havana composer Ernesto Lecuona, Valdés's technique is matched by his lyrical ideas. Of his own compositions, the Afro-pulsed "Wakamba" best shows how Valdés's jazzy, percussive touch transforms the classical idiom into something like a New World of keyboard complexity. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Amazon.com

Chucho Valdés is an acknowledged master of assorted Afro-Cuban musical idioms. The Cuban-born pianist has been recording for nearly 40 years in a wide variety of settings, as both sideman and leader. Valdés is a large man (he stands 6 feet 4 inches), and his keyboard skills can include correspondingly broad chordings, played with powerful finesse. He calls Fantasia Cubana the realization of a lifelong dream. Piano lessons as a boy brought him an enduring love of classical music. Now, with a lifetime of musical explorations under his belt, he returns to that first love with confidence, exuberance, and delightful invention. This is a suite of solo piano pieces, in which his strong rhythmic grounding reveals some rather hidden characteristics in the resilient works of three masters (Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel). Valdés also celebrates his admiration for Ernesto Lecuona, the concert pianist and composer who founded the Havana Symphony, with three contrasting versions of "La Comparsa." --David Greenberger

Customer Reviews:

Latin Jazz/Classical Gem.......2004-11-26

I love both Latin Jazz and Classical music. I hate 99% of all Classical crossover CD's. I find them cheesy and unconvicing. This album works! Cucho Valdes is a master of theme and variations! He takes the Classical compositions on this CD and re-invents them in a masterful and surprising way.He reworks the Classical pieces in the same way a Jazz artist reworks a standard.He is not reverential, he invigorates these pieces. This is my favorite piano jazz CD.

A Must Have for Music Majors.......2003-01-10

For all those who have bought "crossover" albums only to be disapointed by lack of technique to pull off the classical side, or a lack of understanding of the original structure on the jazz side, or just a lack of imagination/creativity in general, finally there's an album that does it, and makes you smile in the process. Anybody that has spent hours in the practice room on "mindless finger patterns" wondering how that will ever advance their career, will recognize quite a few references in the course of this CD and smile with the recognition of "well, there's a way"! This is the "fullest" album I've heard in over 50 years of being in music - don't miss it.

Disappointed........2002-11-15

This new CD got SUCH G L O W I N G reviews by the "critics" and it sounded so interesting and unusual...I couldn't wait to try it....I even ignored the previews customer reviews...thinking "just must not be their cup of tea". After receiving the cd and listening once I thought just maybe I didn't really give it a fair listening. So I played it several times and each time found it less and less interesting.

The renditions are overly simplified and after a while become monotonous. I was so disappointed in what I THOUGHT based on the publicity was going to be something unique and interesting.

Uh Uh wasn't....ELH

Headache inducing "music"........2002-09-28

The grammatical incorrect accent on the second "a" of Fantasia should have given me a warning about this CD.
Better title would be "Tormento Cubano"
I had to make an effort to listen up to the 6th track the first time I played it.
Just to make sure, I suffered it to the end on a second playing.
Not even worth returning it. I will spare someone else the pain of even trying to listen to "this thing".
Into the garbage bin it went.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music