Reception

In his review for Allmusic, Alex Henderson notes that "Diabelli Variations is strictly for broad-minded listeners who have no problem with the Euro-classical and jazz worlds interacting". ^[3]

On All About Jazz C. Michael Bailey said "Like his previous forays into the classical realm, Caine willingly combines classical and jazz elements, seasoning the festivities with a bit of barrelhouse boogie woogie in one place, a bit of Harlem Stride in another, and a bit of Bill Evans impressionism in yet another. The results are a very listenable bit of genius that should appeal to those with a jazz and/or classically bent alike".^[4] Writing in JazzTimes, Andrew Lindemann Malone observed "Caine's interpretation never feels like something new so much as self-indulgent, extravagant riffing on this great work. True, Caine can make his riffing very interesting indeed, but it's hard to imagine that most music fans won't find a good recording of the original (William Kinderman on Hyperion, say) far more memorable than this enjoyable but inessential record".^[5]

Track listing

1. "Theme" - 1:00
2. "Variation I" - 2:13
3. "Variation II" - 0:56
4. "Variation III" - 1:15
5. "Variation IV" - 1:14
6. "Variation V" - 1:04
7. "Variation VI" - 0:59
8. "Variation VII" - 1:49
9. "Variation VIII" - 1:22
10. "Variation IX" - 1:29
11. "Variation X" - 0:38
12. "Variation XI" - 0:59
13. "Variation XII" - 0:54
14. "Variation XIII" - 1:00
15. "Variation XIV" - 2:53
16. "Variation XV" - 0:31
17. "Variation XVI" - 1:17
18. "Variation XVII" - 1:44
19. "Variation XVIII" - 1:27
20. "Variation XIX" - 1:05
21. "Variation XX" - 2:28
22. "Variation XXI" - 1:09
23. "Variation XXII" - 0:50
24. "Variation XXIII" - 1:06
25. "Variation XXIV" - 1:14
26. "Variation XXV" - 3:23
27. "Variation XXVI" - 1:00
28. "Variation XXVII" - 1:35
29. "Variation XXVIII" - 0:50
30. "Variation XIX" - 1:14
31. "Variation XXX" - 1:58
32. "Variation XXXI" - 5:03
33. "Variation XXXII" - 5:50
34. "Variation XXXIII" - 2:22

Personnel

• Uri Caine - fortepiano

Concerto Köln:

• Werner Ehrhardt, Jörg Buschhaus, Stephan Sänger, Markus Hoffmann, Frauke Pöhl, Martin Ehrhardt - first violin
• Hedwig van der Linde, Antje Engel, Corinna Hildebrand, Gudrun Engel-hardt, Kathrin Tröger, Chiharu Abe - second violin
• Antje Sabinski, Giovanni Zordan, Lothar Haass, Stefan Schmidt - viola
• Werner Matzke, Jan Kunkel, Susanne Wahmhoff - violon cello
• Johannes Esser, Miriam Wittulski - double bass
• Cordula Breuer - flute
• Pier Luigi Fabretti - oboe
• Diego Montes - clarinet
• Lorenzo Alpert - bassoon
• Dileno Baldin - horn
• Hannes Kothe - trumpet
• Stefan Gawlick - timpani

References