Just got an email update from Marston Records that I thought I would share here: Through these challenging times across the globe, we at Marston Records strive to bring a little bit of joy to all of our supporters and listeners worldwide. We expect that our next piano release, The Complete Josef Lhevinne, will hopefully do just this when it ships in early December. Not unlike a star whose light went out too soon, the public has created a mythos based on a small output from this legendary pianist, and has clamored for more examples of his playing to further justify his reputation. The wait is now over. Josef Lhevinne studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Vasily Safonov, made his public debut at fourteen in a performance conducted by Anton Rubinstein, and graduated top of a class that included both Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin. Lhevinne is often included as one of the greatest golden-era pianists, and yet, his recorded legacy is approximately fifty minutes of repertoire for Pathé and Victor, albeit treasured and admired. In addition to the Pathé and Victor recordings, this release includes a 1943 New York broadcast of Brahms’s Op. 25 Piano Quartet with Lhevinne and members of the Perolé String Quartet, which is the cornerstone of this set. Also included will be several studio broadcasts from the 1930s. Among these broadcasts will be the second and third movements of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 from an NBC studio broadcast of 1933, which has been in the hands of collectors for many years. However, we now have a nearly complete performance of this work: Josef Lhevinne featured in this concerto during a Worcester Festival concert in 1936 that gives us a sense of Lhevinne’s unique brilliance. This set is a must for anyone collecting recordings of pianists of the golden age. If you are an All-Preferred or Piano-Preferred Customer, or have placed an advance order, you will receive this automatically. Read more about this and order here: The Complete Josef Lhevinne 53023-2 (3 CDs) | $54 ($36 for Preferred Customer) Accompanying this release will be a free piano Lagniappe for our All-Preferred and Piano-Preferred customers, Rosina Lhevinne: Piano Duet and Chamber Performances. A child prodigy, she married Josef Lhevinne in 1898 and he went on to a great international career as a virtuoso pianist. Once when someone heard her and exclaimed that she was a better pianist than her husband, she was horrified and vowed from that moment on never to play solo again. She performed only with him as his duo-piano partner until his death in 1944. Both had been teachers in New York at the precursor to the Juilliard School, and in the autumn and winter of her life she had a great career as an educator, but she was much less active as a soloist and her recorded legacy is small—a pity that especially comes to mind when hearing some of her solo work, such as the beginning of the second movement of the Mendelssohn Trio. The 3-CD set of Josef Lhevinne is priced at $54, with Preferred Customers enjoying a discounted price of $36 and the addition of the Rosina Lhevinne Lagniappe. If you have been waiting to enroll as a preferred customer, take advantage of this tremendous opportunity and sign up today to receive both of these sets when they become available as supplies are limited. If you are an existing Preferred Customer or have pre-ordered this release and your address or credit card number has changed, please contact our office right away to avoid any delay in getting these in the mail to you. With warmest regards, Ward and Scott Marston Records
Paul Paray, conductor Detroit Symphony Orchestra Schumann: Symphony No. 1; Manfred Overture Schumann: Symphony No. 2 Mercury, 1953, 1955
Musing on what current conditions have done to the ability of ensembles to perform together, I had a peculiar thought this morning. Although most of the literature is more or less off limits for the duration, string quartets are fortunate enough to have one work playable even during the pandemic: Karlheinz Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet, which isolates each player in a separate aircraft. I foresee a coming season consisting entirely of 30 quartet concerts, each with a program solely of the Helicopter Quartet. OK, I guess I'm losing it!
Know who else seems to be losing it? During Covid, apparently Daniel Barenboim has recorded yet another complete set of Beethoven sonata as I think this is 4th or 5th time through!!
Well, I guess if he keeps at it long enough eventually he'll get some of them right. If at first you don't succeed, and all that....
In the course of "breaking in" some speakers I'm to review, tonight I'm revisiting the Brahms 3d Pno. Sta. played by an 87-year-old Earl Wild on Ivory Classics. I'd rank neither pianist nor work as favorites in general, but this particular recording definitely is one. For whatever reason, the combination really "clicks" for me. Oddly enough, considering Wild's reputation as a flashy technician, what I find most impressive is the beautiful quiet he finds in the second mvt., with the tone shading down to a bare wisp at times. I know that sort of playing is deceptive, taking control far beyond what's needed for more demonstrative virtuoso displays, but still--not what usually first comes to mind when I think of Wild. One of those rare instances in which I think a relatively modern recording squarely trumps those of older generations. (Curiously, the other that springs immediately to mind is also music of Brahms: the Dmitri Sitkovetzky/Bella Davidovich disc of the vln. stas. on Novalis). I can't seem to find an image that will link here, but suffice it to say the disc is available from the Ivory Classics website for much less than Amazon is asking.
Shamelessly quoting myself and tooting my own horn, I can report that TNT-Audio just published my review of the series. If you're interested, it's here: [Review] Forest of Piano, Netflix music anime series
Congrats, David! Excellent review, thanks for posting it! I didn't know that about Clara Haskil, impressive!
Thanks! To be honest, until a couple of weeks ago the only thing I knew about Clara Haskil, other than that she played the piano, was that she was photographed with cats, and I stumbled across that article about her when I was looking for one of those pictures to post in another thread here on the forums. I blush to say I haven't paid her much attention, but I do have a few of her recordings. I suppose I really should sit down some evening soon and have a HaskilFest, just to get a feel for how she played. Out of what I have, any personalized recommendations for a good starting point? The list: on LP, Beethoven's Stas. 17 and 18 (World Series) and, with Pablo Casals and the Prades Festival Or., a Bach clavier cto. (Columbia); on CD, with Ferenc Fricsay conducting various orchestras, the the Mozart 19th, 20th, and 27th Cti. (from one of the big Fricsay compilation boxes on DG); the Beethoven 4th Cto. with Mario Rossi and the RAI Turin Or. (a cheapie purveyor of drab transfers called History); and partnering Grumiaux in the Beethoven Vln. Stas. (Brilliant, from the big complete Beethoven box set).
The works she has impressed me in are the Mozart piano concertos and the violin sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven with Grumiaux.
Hmmm...I'll admit Beethoven can be violent sometimes, but violent Mozart is something I must hear! Autocorrect strikes again! Thanks, George!
I read a few weeks ago about a new mastering of the above set that reportedly had a more open sound, better piano tone. I checked it out on Spotify and sure enough, it does! Not a small difference either. And its in print and under $14 for a 2CD set new! If that wasn't cool enough, the new set adds over 41 minutes of additional Chopin performances, some live from 1949 and some (2) unpublished recordings of the Op. 25/3 etude and the Mazurka Op. 63/3. The latter two tracks were transferred by Mark Obert-Thorn, the live stuff by Andrew Halifax and the Nocturnes by Chris Bernauer. For performance, sound, rarity and price, I highly recommend this 2 CD set.
I would be interested in thoughts on Saint-Saens piano music and preferred performers in the repertoire if anyone is a fan.
