PIANO LIBRARY
WESTMINSTER
& AMERICAN DECCA
EDITION (BLUE BOX)
DG Eloquence 484 3829 (21 CDs)
We have just listened through the Australian-curated Piano Library of old Deutsche Grammophon recordings which I casually referred to as the “Yellow Box”. Now we have the “Blue Box” of 21 discs featuring just ten pianists, of older countenance, and possibly of greater historical significance.
Several of them are very famous, and were very prolific in recording, often appearing on multiple labels, but here we relive their recordings on the American Westminster and American Decca labels, both catalogues of which have been absorbed under the Deutsche Grammophon / Universal umbrella. Some remain cult figures, and some just names which survive in the memory, but do not deserve to be forgotten. There is a fair bit of repetition of repertoire, especially with popular Beethoven sonatas, but there are several surprises of works which we do not get to hear nowadays.
Of the ten pianists, the only one I got to witness live was the Austrian Jörg Demus (1928-2019), who performed Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1981. He is also remembered as the four-hands piano partner of the better-known Paul Badura-Skoda. There is a separate box-set of his Bach recordings reissued by Australian Eloquence, but the two discs here see him in unusual French territory.
The first is Cesar Franck’s Bach-inspired Prelude, Choral et Fugue, coupled with the Prelude, Aria et Final, both major works. The second is a Gabriel Fauré recital comprising the first five Impromptus, Nocturne No.6, Barcarolle No.6 and the underrated Theme et Variations. These are masterly performances despite grainy mono sound dating from 1952 and 1956 respectively.
The Hungarian Edith Farnadi (1911-1973) has a big 21 CD box-set issued on Scribendum, which include her two discs here. The first is a rare outing for all nine of Franz Liszt’s Soirees de Vienne, which are fantasies and conflations of Waltzes, Landler and Ecossaises by Franz Schubert. The most famous ones are No.6 and 7, which were championed by Horowitz, and it’s good to hear all nine works in perspective, performed with such feeling and grace.
The second disc contains the three virtuoso paraphrases of Johann Strauss waltzes by Leopold Godowsky titled Symphonic Metamorphoses. Die Fledermaus, Kunstlerleben (Artist’s Life) and Wein, Weib und Gesang (Wine, Women and Song) were the subjects, and Farnadi is almost the equal of modern virtuosos like Marc-Andre Hamelin, but remember these recordings come from 1955!
Legendary Romanian pianist Clara Haskil (1895-1960) needs little introduction, having made many well-loved recordings on the Philips label. For Westminster, she recorded 11 Scarlatti sonatas, which are impeccably turned out. The fillers are three Chopin Mazurkas from the Russian-Romanian French pianist Youra Guller (1895-1980). Why we don’t get more of his playing is not satisfactorily explained other than that she got far less exposure than Haskil or Monique Haas.
There is another very satisfying Scarlatti sonata recital from the Moscow-born Nina Milkina (1919-2006) who emigrated to UK during her youth. There is simply no duplication in her selection of 11 sonatas with Haskil’s. Her second disc comprises four sonatas by the underrated Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), fifth child in J.S.Bach’s second marriage, which are persuasive but ultimately non-influential. These still make a good listen for some 39 minutes.
Continued in Part 2:
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