PIANO LIBRARY (YELLOW BOX)
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION
DG Eloquence 484 3089 (22 CDs)
Continued from Part 2:
Veronica Jochum von Moltke (born 1927, still living) is the eldest daughter of German conductor Eugen Jochum. Her Klavierabend of Schumann mixes the familiar with the unfamiliar, early and late music; the Second Sonata in G minor (Op.22) coupled with three Fantasiestucke (Op.111), four Nachtstucke (Op.23) and a single Novelette (Op.21 No.8). Her sense of lyricism allied with technical prowess make this an hour well spent.
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| Veronica Jochum with her father Eugen. |
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| Not the most attractive of covers? |
Of an similar but older vintage is Elly Ney (1882-1968), infamous for being a loyal Nazi and anti-Semite, is represented by four popular Beethoven sonatas spread over two short discs. The Pathetique (Op.13) is coupled with the late A flat major Op.110, while the Moonlight (Op.27 No.2) is paired with the Appassionata (Op.57). The playing is solid and idiomatic, and a curiosity is the inclusion of a repeat in the finale of Op.57, which extends the movement by a further three minutes.
Previously released as a single CD on the Australian Eloquence label was an unusual coupling of two variations sets by two pianists who made a single recording each with DG. The German Erik Then-Bergh (1916-1982) is heard in Max Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Telemann, a relative rarity, recorded in 1951. A very secure performance of a curiosity, which cannot be said of the established classic that is Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, recorded by Swiss pianist Paul Baumgartner (1903-1976) in 1952. Lots of competition for this but Paumgartner more than holds his own. Got to love those "boring" stylised yellow DG covers of old.
The American pianist Zola Shaulis (1942-2021) made her DG debut in 1971 with J.S.Bach’s Goldberg Variations, recorded with absolutely no repeats and playing for some 36 minutes, even swifter than the legendary Glenn Gould recording of 1955. As if to showcase her versatility, a very good performance of Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata is the unusual coupling. My late grand-uncle owned the original LP, and that was my first exposure to both works. Her 1974 recording of five Bach Toccatas (BWV.911-915) cemented her reputation as a Bach specialist.
The Frenchman Claude Helffer (1922-2004), well-known as an avant-gardeist, recorded Pierre Boulez’s atonal Second Sonata and Alban Berg’s Sonata in 1970. Both are released on CD for the first time, the former being overshadowed by Maurizio Pollini’s famous recording of 1978. This astringent music is incongruously coupled with the fun and games of Darius Milhaud’s Carnaval d’Aix, a 1964 recording partnered with the Monte-Carlo Opera Orchestra led by Louis Fremaux.
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| Claude Helffer |
The Brazilian Roberto Szidon (1941-2011) has been well represented by DG in his complete sets of Scriabin Sonatas and Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies, but his contribution in this boxset comes left of field. This was my first jaw-dropping introduction to Charles Ives’ Second Sonata (or the Concord Sonata), a seminal work of modernist American pianism. This recording includes the rarely-heard obbligato flute and viola parts in the first and fourth movements, representing Emerson and Thoreau respectively. The album is completed with Ives’ Three-Page Sonata, an anarchic melange of disparate ideas.
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| Roberto Szidon |
This box-set has given me immense satisfaction, with hours of enjoyable listening and the realisation that great music can still be heard from the lesser-known and forgotten names of 20th century pianism. Their priceless art should not be forgotten.
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