Eugen d'Albert - (The) Centaur Pianist

The complete recorded picture of a titan of the keyboard

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Franz Schubert, Luigi Boccherini, Arnold (Edward Trevor) Bax, Emil von Sauer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Johannes Brahms, (Aynsley) Eugene Goossens, Carl Maria von Weber, Claude Debussy, Teresa Carreño, Eugen d' Albert, Fryderyk Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt

Genre:

Instrumental

Label: Arbiter

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 157

Mastering:

Mono
ADD

Catalogue Number: ARBITER147

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(16) Polonaises, Movement: No. 6 in A flat, Op. 53, 'Heroic' Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
(8) Pieces, Movement: No. 2, Capriccio in B minor Johannes Brahms, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Johannes Brahms, Composer
(3) Marches Militaires, Movement: D Franz Schubert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Franz Schubert, Composer
Waltzes, Movement: No. 5 in A flat, Op. 42 Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Suite Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Invitation to the Dance (Aufforderung zum Tanze) Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
(27) Etudes, Movement: F minor, Op. 25/2 Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
(27) Etudes, Movement: G flat, 'Butterfly's Wings', Op. 25/9 Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Années de pèlerinage année 1: Suisse, Movement: Au bord d'une source Franz Liszt, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Franz Liszt, Composer
(6) Ecossaises Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Scherzo Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Andante favori Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Rondo a capriccio, 'Rage over a lost penny' Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Sonata for Piano No. 21, 'Waldstein', Movement: Rondo (Allegro moderato - Prestissimo) Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Waltzes, Movement: No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64/2 Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Capriolen, Movement: No 2. Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Capriolen, Movement: No 4. Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Capriolen, Movement: No 5. Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
(3) Estampes, Movement: Jardins sous la pluie Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Mediterranean Arnold (Edward Trevor) Bax, Composer
Arnold (Edward Trevor) Bax, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Kaleidoscope, Movement: The Punch and Judy show (Aynsley) Eugene Goossens, Composer
(Aynsley) Eugene Goossens, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Berceuse Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Sonata for Piano No. 18, 'Hunt', Movement: Scherzo (allegretto vivace) Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Nocturnes, Movement: No. 5 in F sharp, Op. 15/2 Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Impromptus, Movement: No. 4 in F minor Franz Schubert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Franz Schubert, Composer
Sonata for Piano No. 11, Movement: Rondo alla turca Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Impromptus, Movement: No. 3 in B flat Franz Schubert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Franz Schubert, Composer
(Die) toten Augen Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
(6) String Quintets, Movement: No. 5 in E, G275 Luigi Boccherini, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Luigi Boccherini, Composer
(Die) Spieluhr Emil von Sauer, Composer
Emil von Sauer, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Petite Valse, 'Teresita' Teresa Carreño, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Teresa Carreño, Composer
Sonata for Keyboard and Violin No. 17 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Andreas Weissgerber, Violin
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5, 'Spring', Movement: Scherzo: Allegro molto Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Andreas Weissgerber, Violin
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5, 'Spring', Movement: Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Andreas Weissgerber, Violin
Eugen d' Albert, Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Tiefland Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Berlin Staatskapelle
Eugen (Francis Charles) d' Albert, Composer
Eugen d' Albert, Composer
Gotthelf Pistor, Tenor
The description is Bruno Walter’s (‘he appeared to me like a new centaur, half piano, half man’). A prickly, Glasgow-born (1864) Anglophobic, d’Albert was among Liszt’s greatest pupils, married six times (number two was Teresa Carreño), composed a great deal, and died in Riga in 1932. Charlotte Pangels’s 1981 study of his colourful life and difficult personality still awaits an English translation.

All 44 of d’Albert’s recordings (plus three alternate takes) fit conveniently on to two well filled CDs. This is the first time these rare discs have ever appeared in toto and they provide revelatory glimpses of one of the titans of the keyboard. All except two excerpts from his opera Tiefland are acoustic (the last piano solo recording was made in 1922; the chamber movements in 1923) so the sound, though vastly improved from previous incarnations (eg, Concert Artist’s 1986 selection), is like listening to an iPod under a waterfall.

Though there are indeed at times ‘wrong notes, memory lapses and distorted rhythms’, the playing is far from causing ‘nothing but embarrassment…inexplicable’ (Harold C Schonberg). The early recordings in particular are assured and individual even if frequently eccentric – Chopin’s A flat Polonaise with a savage chunk missing, the ‘Butterfly’ study given with repeats and Schubert’s F minor Impromptu played like a Lisztian study.

Sadly, there is but one title each of Liszt and Brahms (whom d’Albert knew well); eight of the earliest (1910-12) titles are repeated in later sessions, d’Albert’s own Scherzo appearing three times; the three selections from his Capriolen suite are ordered wrongly in the otherwise excellent booklet (d’Albert plays 4: Missis-Massa – which includes the unexpected appearance of Dixie, 5: Der Zirkus kommt! and 2: Kose-Walzer). But, in short, this set is a valuable and essential acquisition for the collections of all serious pianophiles.

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