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3 1/2As with almost all similar records of the virtuoso's live improvised solo performances, Vienna has its peaks and valleys- enough to excite followers but not entirely persuade newcomers. The clean, more restrained, darker melodic meditations account for one of his most polished performances, but can stall from theoretical similarities to his other works which cannot ensure this hands-down-best.
The problem here, as in similar solo improvisational albums, is that the technique is an end in itself. But what does it prove. Jarrett is at his best, in my opinion, when facing a score. Wow, look at those hulks move weights.
Caveat emptor. Don't buy the Vienna concert until you've heard, say, a half hour's worth. He also plays splendid Bach and Handel. In this album, as in others, his technical prowess at the piano is amazing. At times, it seems as though there are two, perhaps three, pianists playing simultaneously. Listening to this often painful album is like watching a world's strongest man contest. And after you've seen it a couple of times, who cares any more.
If you can fight off the headache, make the purchase. Yes, Keith Jarrett is a wonder. There is little beauty, wit, or thoughtfulness. His The Melody At Night, With You is one of the most gorgeous and sensitive albums I know of.
More than in any of Jarrett's other solo concerts, the capacity for waywardness is kept in check and he delivers a marvellously focused performance, synthesising styles that would seem to be irreconcilable into an inevitable whole. I was obsessed by Jarrett's playing for many years and while now I can find myself irritated by the enormous ego and its sometimes stultifying effect on his music, Vienna Concert remains for me a sublime creation which made a profound impact on me the first time I heard it. As a professional classical pianist, I'm tempted to say that of all piano records I've heard, this one has been the most influential.
Nice record, a little scared. just get involved into the music, and you get released.
It is an aural pleasure Excellent. Keith Jarrett considered this to be his best recorded performance (see wikipedia), and he was right. All the complexities of his improvisation, the well of melody, the tenderness, and the diversity are here. Something to which one must listen and not simply hear.
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