Brendel at 90!

[CallMePaul]

Most of you will be aware that Alfred Brendel will celebrate his 90th birthday in January. I am sure that Universal will do him proud by way of bumper box reissues. However, his earlier releases on the Turnabout label appear to have disappeared. I have no idea who owns the rights to Turnabout recordings now but can I make a plea for their reissue. The Turnabout recordings include Brendel's first recordings of Beethoven concerti, including a marvellous Emperor with Zubin Mehta (I believe this was Mehta's first recording), Beethoven sonatas, Schubert Impromptus,duets with the late Walter Klien, and repertory that Brendel did not re-record, including Chopin polonaises and (if my memory serves me right) Balakirev's Islamey. I hope there are plans to reissue these and that any contractual issues can be overcome. They would make a splendid birthday present for one of the outstanding pianists of our time.

[gurnemanz]

Cheap deal here

[Roslynmuse]

I agree with you that these Vox/Turnabout recordings are quite special. Back in the 70s I bought the Beethoven Piano Sonatas on LP (12 of them) and despite the occasionally rough sound quality many of the performances are excellent - an outstanding Hammerklavier, for example. They were available on CD a while back, and some VoxBoxes are still available - the last six sonatas can be purchased for about £12 from you-know-where.

The recording of Islamey was on another Turnabout disc that included Pictures from an Exhibition and Three Movements from Petrushka. There were also some Liszt discs - Paganini Etudes, Hungarian Rhapsody 11, Harmonies Poetiques, Piano Sonata and Dante Sonata. It would be good to make these available again.

[richardfinegold]

I still have a good chunk of his earl output, as I bought all those digitalized Vox Boxes, but it would be nice if they all stayed in print
It should be noted that AB. Learned a great deal of this repertoire for the purpose of recording it. He was the Juno Jando of his time, the House Pianist that Vox-Turnabout was using to record hunks of the repertoire. I agree that the Mehta Emperor is a lot of fun, and the scrappy B1 worth a spin, but the other PCs better served by his later recordings. The Choral Fantasy, does sound as if A.B. Is extemporizing as he goes

[Bryn]

I still have a good chunk of his earl output, as I bought all those digitalized Vox Boxes, but it would be nice if they all stayed in print
It should be noted that AB. Learned a great deal of this repertoire for the purpose of recording it. He was the Juno Jando of his time, the House Pianist that Vox-Turnabout was using to record hunks of the repertoire. I agree that the Mehta Emperor is a lot of fun, and the scrappy B1 worth a spin, but the other PCs better served by his later recordings. The Choral Fantasy, does sound as if A.B. Is extemporizing as he goes

Are you sure you are not confusing him with the Duke of Ellington?

[makropulos]

Most of you will be aware that Alfred Brendel will celebrate his 90th birthday in January. I am sure that Universal will do him proud by way of bumper box reissues. However, his earlier releases on the Turnabout label appear to have disappeared. I have no idea who owns the rights to Turnabout recordings now but can I make a plea for their reissue. The Turnabout recordings include Brendel's first recordings of Beethoven concerti, including a marvellous Emperor with Zubin Mehta (I believe this was Mehta's first recording), Beethoven sonatas, Schubert Impromptus,duets with the late Walter Klien, and repertory that Brendel did not re-record, including Chopin polonaises and (if my memory serves me right) Balakirev's Islamey. I hope there are plans to reissue these and that any contractual issues can be overcome. They would make a splendid birthday present for one of the outstanding pianists of our time.

I agree –there are some wonderful things in there. The Brilliant Classics incarnation of the early recordings on 35 CDs is still (just about) available and though there are a couple of (small) omissions, it's well worth acquiring:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Vox-Turnabout-Vanguard-Recordings/dp/B001CCHQSY/ref=sr_1_3

[silvestrione]

Yes, amongst my favourites from these early recordings are Mozart Piano Concerti nos 17 and 22, the Beethoven 'Emperor' as mentioned above, and Liszt 'Benediction de Dieu Dans la Solitude' (equally as good as the later, better-recorded Phillips).