I’ve stated previously that I believe we are living in the best time for the availability of historical recordings and 2019 was a banner year that proved that point. We saw increasing numbers of stellar releases of fantastic performances, some previously available and others not. At the click of a button, today’s pianophiles can order and have delivered to their homes rarities with an ease that was simply inconceivable to imagine for previous generations of collectors.
Here is a presentation of some of the releases that I found particularly noteworthy in the last year – with the proviso that this is not an exhaustive list of every single worthwhile release but rather those that particularly struck me. If you are interested in ordering them (and I encourage you to support as much as possible the companies that are making these recordings available by doing so), the bold text in each paragraph contains a link that will open up a new page featuring the release at an online retailer.
The year began with the release of a production that I was involved in that was the closing of a nearly 35-year circle for me: the French label Solstice’s edition of Dinu Lipatti’s Last Recital. The first time I saw Dinu Lipatti’s name was in 1985 with an excerpt of his last recital in an Angel Records sampler in my high school record library (the words ‘Dinu Lipatti’s Last Recital’ struck me as rather morbid and caught my attention. I could never have imagined how involved I would become with the Lipatti legacy, including this release.
This new Solstice production is the first time that the original broadcast tape has been remastered since the initial release on Angel Records in 1957, and it was also the only time that all of the pianist’s warm-up arpeggios were released (EMI issued those before the Bach and Mozart, but for no clear reason never included the preluding before the Schubert and Chopin portions of the programme). This is also the only time that the broadcast announcements have been published – and the Schubert G-Flat Impromptu is, at long last, complete: the official release until now has been a composite edit that cut out a wrong note was edited from the broadcast. My colleague Werner Unger and I found in 2015 a transcription disc from Madeleine Lipatti’s collection that included the unedited performance from Besançon, and the missing portion of the performance is included for the very first time.
I wrote an extensive booklet text for this production, which also includes the first appearance in print of several of the photographs taken during the course of the recital by local photographer Michel Meusy, as well as other photos taken the morning of the recital. The sound quality and presentation are absolutely magnificent, a remarkable tribute to this revered pianist – it is virtually like hearing these performances for the first time. Click here for ordering information.
This radio programme with James Irsay finds me discussing some of the elements of this legendary concert and this new release along with excerpts from each of the four composers featured in the recital, plus some excerpts from the lost Lipatti recordings released last year on Marston Records:
Pristine Classical continued its series of releases devoted to Jascha Spivakovsky, the Russian-born pianist who had a tremendous career but who issued no commercial recordings prior to his death in 1970. The ‘Bach to Bloch’ series begun in 2015 by Pristine together with Jascha’s son and grandson added three more volumes in 2019, all of them stupendous to my ears. I have been enchanted by this pianist since the first volume and have been working together with the family and producer on all subsequent releases, which will see the final disc coming at the end of January 2020. I have no clear favourite amongst the latest productions as they have all moved me in different ways, though the Brahms Capriccio from Volume 8 shared below is certainly remarkable for its clarity of texture and interplay between left and right hands. For more examples of Jascha’s playing and to learn more about him, click here for my feature on the Piano Files website.
My love for the playing of Marcelle Meyer is known to fans of my page and this year saw a remarkable issue: her final two records for Les Discophiles Français, unpublished on vinyl due to the company’s bankruptcy, were released by The French Record Company in a stunning facsimile of her original LP issues. The playing is beyond belief, as Meyer fans have come to expect, and the sound of this production is glorious. This is a super-high-end audiophile-collector release of only 200 copies (with an equally exclusive price) is sure to be prized by the die-hard afficionados who pay premium prices for original pressings of her used 1950s records on eBay and other auction sites. A sample of the playing and sound quality, though it truly is on another level on vinyl:
The Rhine Classics label has set a high standard for their releases of various historical performers, with productions featuring two pianists in particular capturing my attention this past year (originally planned for 2018, these sets in fact came out this past Spring). First off is an utterly mindblowing release of the complete Rachmaninoff solo piano music by Italian master pianist Sergio Fiorentino, an artist I came to know through the great German collector Ernst Lumpe, to whom the piano world owes a huge debt of gratitude for coaxing the master out of retirement and ensuring that his last decade of concerts was recorded. In this set, we find in absolutely stunning sound quality Fiorentino’s masterful traversals of Rachmaninoff’s solo works, the golden sheen of his sound and refinement of his nuancing as captivating as his passionate and intelligent interpretations. Truly a must-have for every Rachmaninoff fan and every Fiorentino fan – which should equate with every lover of great piano playing! (Their release of a 1998 Fiorentino recital in Taiwan is another must.)
The label continues its tribute to the obscure and rather mysterious pianist Pietro Scarpini with a stellar release of 12 CDs of ‘Discovered Tapes’ featuring works ‘from Baroque to Contemporary,’ both solo and with orchestra. Their previous releases of this unique pianist were exemplary as well – the Busoni Concerto is a real favourite – and this set includes a stupendous Prokofiev Second Concerto with the great Mitropoulos in better sound than any previous release, as well as dozens of never-before-released recordings. His solo Prokofiev is equally captivating, as is his Bartok Third Concerto and so much else. His fusion of intellectual and robustness makes for captivating listening.
That legendary New York Prokofiev Second Concerto – from a different source tape (not as good as what is available in this set) – gives a taste of the magical pianism in the Scarpini release:
The APR label continues to deliver exceptional releases of extraordinary pianists, including items that have very rarely been available. Amongst their superb issues in 2019 was one of an artist who I suspect was never featured in LP releases: the Australian pianist William Murdoch, whose early death in 1942 robbed the world of a truly superb musician. As I came across some of his 78s this year and an old Pearl CD, I wrote to APR head honcho Mike Spring to suggest a release, only to receive a prompt email back stating that the set featuring his complete Columbia solo recordings was at the pressing plant (and he kindly enclosed the fantastic booklet notes by the great piano expert Jonathan Summers). Murdoch’s playing is both robust and sensitive, his Beethoven Pathétique and Appassionata Sonatas being incredibly satisfying readings of works that have been simultaneously overplayed and under-interpreted, and the many solos on this two-disc set are played with marvellous attention to detail. A landmark release of great importance!
A release that surprised a number of piano fans was APR’s issue of Jean Doyen’s 78rpm discs, which were never previously reissued in any long-play format. The famed teacher made many discs a good deal later in life but these earlier recordings capture a vitality that is lacking from his later efforts. Among these is his 1937 recording of Gaspard de la nuit – the first on disc (predating Gieseking’s first effort by a matter of months). Stellar pianism – very highly recommended!
Danacord issued the third in their series of double-disc issues devoted to Victor Schiøler, the remarkable Danish pianist who studied with Ignaz Friedman and Artur Schnabel and who taught Victor Borge. This superb artist has largely been forgotten but his music-making is utterly remarkable for its attention to structure and clarity of presentation, his readings of even the most overheard works sounding fresh and vibrant. You can read more about him at this blog post I wrote this year, to which information from his son was added after my first draft was published. I have yet to hear a recording by Schiøler that is anything less than excellent! A pianist well worth exploring – kudos to Danacord for honouring his memory.
The wonderful label Meloclassic made their first release in a few years, focusing as they do, on both unknown and famous artists, the latter in performances that reveal different elements to their playing than their commercial recordings. The producer’s favourite pianist Walter Gieseking is the star of a 2-disc set of Hollywood Bowl performances that feature glorious playing and much repertoire outside of his commercial discography – we all await with great anticipation the bigger box set devoted to the artist (which is reported to include the only known video performances of the pianist).
Other known artists featured in Meloclassic’s releases this year include Samson François (which includes the only published reading of the artist in the Liszt Sonata) and Györgyi Cziffra. Lesser-known pianists include some new delights: Rosl Schmidt in some stupendous broadcast performances (including some from the 1940 in incredible sound) that show her full-bodied passionate playing, and the hitherto-unknown-to-me Edith Picht-Axenfeld who also plays with forthrightness and sensitivity.
The Eloquence reissue label of DG and Decca produces top-notch releases of great performances – producer Cyrus Meher-Homji continues to do exemplary work 20 years after he co-founded the label. This year’s biggest standout is Moura Lympany’s complete Decca Recordings in a luxurious box set similar to the stupendous must-have Eileen Joyce issue of a few years ago. This terrific release features an elegant box with CDs in sleeves with original album covers and wonderfully mastered CDs. The performances are superb, capturing Lympany at her best, with two sets of Rachmaninoff Preludes (the earlier recording having rarely been available) and two marvellous traversals of the Khatchaturian and Saint-Saens 2nd Piano Concertos. Of particular interest is a previously unissued reading of Chopin’s Third Sonata and a stunning Barber Sonata from a 1950 BBC broadcast. A truly stellar tribute to a much-beloved artist.
Sony Classical is another major label releasing exemplary historical box sets: producer Robert Russ has spearheaded some magnificent releases in recent years and 2019 was no exception. While I have not yet purchased the Horowitz set ‘The Great Comeback’, it seems to be a fascinating release that includes unreleased performances of the pianist prior to his historic return after his 12-year retirement from 1953 to 1965. My copy of the Raymond Lewenthal set has not yet arrived but it is one that many pianophiles have been awaiting with great anticipation for quite some time. Lewenthal was an unconventional pianist of astounding abilities whose individual approach and volcanic interpretations were a real throwback to 19th-century pianism. This new set includes a previously unreleased traversal of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage, 2ème année which is, as expected, superb:
The set that I now gladly have in my collection is a superb 18-disc set of Rudolf Firkusny’s complete Columbia and RCA recordings. Like the Lympany on Decca, CDs are in paper sleeves with facsimiles of the original releases (some of them truly works of art), though some discs have extra items on them to allow for a more balanced compilation. About half of the release features recordings of Czech music championed by the great pianist, alongside earlier recordings of the more standard repertoire. There is no shortage of stunning material here: his 1940s Schubert Impromptus and Chopin Sonata are particularly memorable, as is the Schumann Fantasy linked below, which I had not previously heard. A Beethoven Violin Sonata accompanying violinist Tossy Spivakovsky is also superb.
Finally, I have not yet received my copy from New Zealand of the third and final volume of Richard Farrell recordings on the Atoll label but am delighted that it has been released. The first two volumes released in 2008 caught my attention and I have been waiting for the next volume ever since. This one looks to be fantastic, with three discs of the ill-fated pianist in unofficial concert and broadcast recordings. I will be reporting on the set once it arrives – if your interest is piqued, it is available here.
2020 is sure to be another stellar year for historical releases: I’ve been working on one particular production that I’m sure will delight pianophiles … no further comment for now. In the meantime: please support the labels who bring these recordings to you. If not for their hard work and dedication in this challenging market, our lives would be much less rich than they are with these great performances available.