Fantasies and Delusions: 10 Classical Piano Pieces by Billy Joel

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Over 30 years have passed since Billy Joel debuted as a pop/rock singer with his "Piano Man" album  Listeners throughout the world know him as a versatile songwriter/singer with the ability to change styles almost effortlessly. And even in some of his "pop" songs, careful listeners can detect influences of such classical composers as Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Grieg. 

 Listen, for instance, to the doo-wop styled "This Night." The catchy chorus? The melody is from a Beethoven piano concerto. His "Lullabye (Good Night My Angel)" started out as a straightforward solo piano piece; owners of the Limited Edition box set can hear this version on the fourth CD of the collection. I have even heard that "Uptown Girl" was once a piano piece....I close my eyes and can hear the melody as a Mozart-like composition. 

The 10 compositions for solo piano are played skillfully by Richard Joo, and they definitely show the influence of those composers Joel admires most. Although my favorite piece is Waltz #1 (Nunley's Carousel) because it is bold, brisk, and somewhat sunny, I also enjoy his very quick Invention in C Minor, which lasts less than one minute! There are also reflective pieces (most piano music in this style is suitable for reflection and daydreaming on rainy days), and his Suite for Piano (Star-Crossed), the longest composition in this CD, is particularly atmospheric and melancholy. Lovers of Ireland will be stirred by allusions to "Danny Boy" in Air (Dublinesque), and fans of 1940s films will love Fantasy (Film Noir). 

Despite what some snobby classical music critics might say about Joel's classical debut as being derivative, I enjoyed Fantasies and Delusions very much, not only as a Joel fan, but as a music lover. 

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