Prokofiev Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Sergey Prokofiev

Label: Maestro

Media Format: Cassette

Media Runtime: 0

Catalogue Number: MCS101

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Moura Lympany, Piano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Walter Susskind, Conductor
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Moura Lympany, Piano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Walter Susskind, Conductor
Moura Lympany has been active on the concert platform for nearly 60 years and on August 18th last she celebrated her 70th birthday. Hers is an impressive pedigree: she was a pupil of the renowned teacher Tobias Matthay and she was also taught by Mathilde Verne, herself a pupil of Clara Schumann. From the 1940s to the 1960s Lympany was a regular visitor to the recording studios and a sizeable list of Decca and HMV recordings from those years well celebrates her art.
The original mono HMV coupling of these two concertos received a highly enthusiastic review in our September 1957 issue, as did the stereo release listed above a year and a half later. What seems to me to be so remarkable about these performances is that they are totally unidiosyncratic and yet full of personality and wit. Lympany has a formidable technique but she never uses it for self-conscious display—it is always purely at the service of the music. The early D flat Concerto in one movement is played simply and straightforwardly but it emerges as a strong and youthfully ebullient piece. The later C major Concerto is sometimes made to seem hard and flashy in performance, but not here: there is plenty of virtuosity and excitement, especially during the climax which ends the work, but there is a feeling of warmth too. Susskind and the Philharmonia in its vintage period make admirable partners for Lympany, and the early stereo recording sounds pleasing and natural, with excellent piano tone.'

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