PIANO LIBRARY
WESTMINSTER &
AMERICAN DECCA
EDITION (BLUE BOX)
DG Eloquence 484 3829 (21 CDs)
Continued from Part 2:
The Brazilian Guiomar Novaes (1896-1979) was a favourite in Romantic repertoire, and here she is represented by Chopin’s Barcarolle, several of Debussy’s Preludes and Images, and some excellent Liszt – concert etudes Waldesrauschen (Forest Murmurs), Gnomenreigen (Dance of the Gnomes), Liebestraum No.3, Valse-Oubliee No.1 and Hungarian Rhapsody No.10.
The last two pianists were students of the great Ferruccio Busoni. Carlo Zecchi (1903-1984) became very well-known as a pedagogue. The major works in his recital disc are Mozart’s Sonata in D major (K.309) and Schumann’s Kinderszenen, and topped up with a selection of Scarlatti Sonatas, Chopin Mazurkas and Bach.
Dutchman Egon Petri (1881-1962) is the more famous of the two and is represented by five discs, the most of any personality in this box-set. These were the albums I listened to the most, moved by Petri’s rare combination of intellectual vigour and technical mastery. Bach-Busoni figures large here with a disc of transcription of organ works – the ubiquitous Toccata & Fugue in D minor (BWV.565), the Toccata, Aria & Fugue in C major (BWV.564), Prelude & Fugue in D major (BWV.532) and the St.Anne Prelude & Fugue in E flat major (BWV.552)
Fantasia Conttrappuntistica, Busoni’s fantastical completion of Bach’s unfinished Contrapunctus XIV from The Art of Fugue, complete with his own ornamentations and tangential elaborations, is another highlight. This album is completed by shorter pieces, popular Bach-Busoni transcriptions of chorale preludes, and Petri’s own transcriptions, the most famous being Sheep May Safely Graze.
There are two Beethoven discs, including the popular nicknamed sonatas (Pathetique, Moonlight and Appassionata) and the mighty Hammerklavier (Op.106).
The final guilty pleasure is the album of Liszt transcriptions, once considered vulgar beyond belief but now rehabilitated in performances and recordings. The Mendelssohn Wedding March and Dance of the Elves from A Midsummer Night’s Dream have a touch of the whimsical rather than ceremonial. The Waltz from Gounod’s Faust is imperious as is Busoni’s own edition of the Mephisto Waltz No.1, which is possibly more difficult than the original. Beethoven’s lied Adelaide provides some gravity to the programme which ends splashily with Busoni’s edition of the Fantasy on two themes from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. The two arias are Non piu andrai and Voi che sapete, of course.
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 always be celebrated.
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