(20) Great Pianists

New to old piano recordings? A dip into this bran tub could be lucky

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt, Sergey Prokofiev, Manuel de Falla, Robert Schumann, Vladimir Horowitz, Sergey Rachmaninov, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Claude Debussy, Fryderyk Chopin, Gabriel Fauré, Enrique Granados (y Campiña)

Genre:

Instrumental

Label: Living Era Classics

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 77

Mastering:

Mono
ADD

Catalogue Number: AJC8563

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(El) Amor brujo, Movement: Ritual Fire Dance Manuel de Falla, Composer
Arthur Rubinstein, Piano
Manuel de Falla, Composer
Humoresques de concert, Movement: Menuet célèbre Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Composer
Ignace Jan Paderewski, Piano
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Composer
(3) Marches Militaires, Movement: D Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer
Leopold Godowsky, Piano
(24) Preludes, Movement: C sharp minor, Op. 3/2 Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Piano
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Waltzes, Movement: No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64/2 Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Alfred Cortot, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Erlkönig (Schubert) Franz Liszt, Composer
Egon Petri, Piano
Franz Liszt, Composer
Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben', Movement: Choral: Jesu bleibet meine Freude (Jesu, joy of man's desiring) Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Myra Hess, Piano
Nocturnes, Movement: No. 20 in C sharp minor, Op. posth Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Guiomar Novaes, Piano
Suite bergamasque, Movement: Clair de lune Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer
Walter Gieseking, Piano
Arabeske Robert Schumann, Composer
Robert Schumann, Composer
Wilhelm Kempff, Piano
(3) Liebesträume, Movement: No. 3 in A flat, O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer
Simon Barere, Piano
(5) Impromptus, Movement: No. 5 in F sharp minor, Op. 102 (1909) Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Robert Casadesus, Piano
(6) Etudes d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini, Movement: A minor (Theme and Variations) Franz Liszt, Composer
Claudio Arrau, Piano
Franz Liszt, Composer
Sonata for Piano No. 8, 'Pathétique', Movement: Adagio cantabile Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Rudolf Serkin, Piano
Variations on a theme from Bizet's "Carmen" Vladimir Horowitz, Composer
Vladimir Horowitz, Piano
Vladimir Horowitz, Composer
(24) Preludes, Movement: G minor, Op. 23/5 Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Moura Lympany, Piano
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
(4) Pieces, Movement: No. 4, Suggestion diabolique (Temptation) Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Shura Cherkassky, Piano
(6) Songs, Movement: No. 3, Daisies (wds. Severianin) Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Emil Gilels, Piano
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
(12) Danzas españolas, Movement: Andaluza (Playera) Enrique Granados (y Campiña), Composer
Alicia de Larrocha, Piano
Enrique Granados (y Campiña), Composer
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Kyrill Kondrashin, Conductor
Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra
Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Sviatoslav Richter, Piano
Who has still got their LP of RCA Victrola VIC1210 “Keyboard Giants of the Past”? It was instrumental in firing my lifelong enthusiasm for historic piano recordings. I hope this compilation has the same effect on another generation. Seasoned pianophiles will have all or, at least, most of the titles here, but if David Patmore's choice is perplexingly arbitrary and by no means always representative of the best work of the 20 pianists, it still provides a tempting Beginners' Guide to Historic Piano Performances.

It is also a vade mecum of studio piano acoustics, and the varying success of the transfers makes for an uneasy listen when the whole disc is played at a sitting. There is no attempt at musical or performance chronology. Thus Rubinstein's signature Ritual Fire Dance (1947) is followed by Paderewski in, all too predictably, his Minuet in G (1926) and, quite unexpectedly, Godowsky playing the Schubert-Tausig Marche militaire, a single-sided acoustic from 1920 in a transfer that sounds as if it's been processed through a blanket (listen to Ward Marston's vastly superior effort on Marston 52046).

Rachmaninov's 1919 Edison recording of the Prelude is preferred to either his 1921 or 1928 versions; Barere is represented, enterprisingly, by his 1950 Remington recording of Liebesträume No 3 (one day someone will reissue all these sessions on CD) and Gilels by Rachmaninov's Daisies (1945) in a hideous ambience. Richter is the only pianist to be heard in a concerto (the finale of Prokofiev's First). It's a bit of a lucky-dip, but such quirky randomness exercises its own charm.

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