Various Artists - Long 17th Century (2CD)

Facts The ever-inquisitive pianist Daniel-Ben Pienaar presents The Long 17thCentury: A Cornucopia of Early Keyboard Music. The Long 17th Century refers to the period from the late 1500s to the early 1700s, an era noted for forward-thinking individuality and invention in all areas of life. This two-and-a-half hour recital surveys a pan-European variety of styles, genres and techniques, and comprises 36 works, each by a different composer, many not recorded before on a modern piano. Daniel-Ben Pienaar has been critically acclaimed for his previous albums on Avie: "a gloriously multi-faceted opus maximus... Amazing and very much worth hearing" -Der Spiegel (on Beethoven's Complete Piano Sonatas, AV2320) "dizzying virtuosity... fresh, spontaneous, original readings that shed new light on the keyboard player's Bible" -BBC Music Magazine (on J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, AV2299)