Benno Moiseiwitsch

[Barbirollians]

I was thinking today as I listened to the charming fill ups on his good but not sensational Grieg/Schumann coupling on Testament how much more I have tended to enjoy the few solo piano recordings of his I know from Schumann Romance to that rightly legendary Mendelssohn/Rachmaninov Midsummer' Night's Dream rather than his concertos.

Perhaps it is because of the sound quality of orchestras - Moiseiwitsch died in 1963 but apart from the odd concert recording all his main concerto recordings are in mono - though I do not have any of his pre war recordings.

Are you an admirer ? And what other recordings might forumites recommend ?

[gradus]

I was thinking today as I listened to the charming fill ups on his good but not sensational Grieg/Schumann coupling on Testament how much more I have tended to enjoy the few solo piano recordings of his I know from Schumann Romance to that rightly legendary Mendelssohn/Rachmaninov Midsummer' Night's Dream rather than his concertos.

Perhaps it is because of the sound quality of orchestras - Moiseiwitsch died in 1963 but apart from the odd concert recording all his main concerto recordings are in mono - though I do not have any of his pre war recordings.

Are you an admirer ? And what other recordings might forumites recommend ?

I seem to recall that he was a great admirer of Schumann but oddly I can't recall any of his solo piano recordings of Schumann's music, do you know of any?

[Maclintick]

I was thinking today as I listened to the charming fill ups on his good but not sensational Grieg/Schumann coupling on Testament how much more I have tended to enjoy the few solo piano recordings of his I know from Schumann Romance to that rightly legendary Mendelssohn/Rachmaninov Midsummer' Night's Dream rather than his concertos.

Perhaps it is because of the sound quality of orchestras - Moiseiwitsch died in 1963 but apart from the odd concert recording all his main concerto recordings are in mono - though I do not have any of his pre war recordings.

Are you an admirer ? And what other recordings might forumites recommend ?

He was remembered very fondly by my parents for his tireless, morale-boosting concerts during WW2 -- free to service personnel. My mother had a store of his 78s, but these have not survived, unfortunately. Sorry, I haven't answered your question....

[Barbirollians]

I seem to recall that he was a great admirer of Schumann but oddly I can't recall any of his solo piano recordings of Schumann's music, do you know of any?

There are on Testament and Naxos I think - definitely an account of Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana and the fantaisie and Fantaisiestucke.

[smittims]

I'm a long-time Moiseiwitsch admirer, perhaps from the day my father put his head round my door and held out a copy of C3101, Chopin's first Ballade. It was my introduction to the very special world of the solo piano record, th concept of one perfromer playing to one listener. I loved his Delius concerto with Constant Lambert when it was reissued on World Record Club. I have since collected some of the Naxos series. I especially like his late 1920s recordings at the Small Queen's Hall which had a fine acoustic.

His devotion to Britain has been mentioned; another admirable feature of his activities was his practice of playing new music. including newly-published pieces by little known composers, in his recitals, and not just crowd-pleasers which would enhance his reputation. Maybe this is why , as late as the 1950s, he was still a 'plum-label' (CLP prefix)artist, denied the higher fees of HMV's ALP Red label, despite his lifelong loyalty to them.

[Mandryka]

I think he said that Schumann was his favourite composer, or something along those lines. I've found that his Schumann can be quite divisive, as indeed can be most of his piano playing. It is extremely smooth, polished -- we used to call him a silk underpants pianist. For some people that's a strength, for others a weakness. I like it actually, and this recording of Schumann and Brahms is, or rather was, often played chez moi

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moiseiwitsch-Plays-Schumann-Brahms-Johannes/dp/B000003XI6

One other thing I remember really enjoying was his Chopin Barcarolle. He recorded it twice, and it's the first, 1939, which has a bit of magic I think. I've not checked this transfer, so click at your peril

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sEf08rtl8o&ab_channel=gullivior

At a personal level I once heard a (rather implausible, but who knows?) bit of gossip that he wanted to marry Myra Hess.

[smittims]

That made me chuckle; but I think Benno was a bit of a joker. Do you know the one about Sir Henry Wood telling the orchestra not to smoke at rehearsals? 'Only TEXI drivers smoke at work!'

On comes Moiseiwitsch , the ubiquitous cigarette dangling from his lips. to a shout of 'Taxi!' from the brass section.

[rauschwerk]

Seeing this thread made me get out my Moiseiwitsch CDs including 5 from the Naxos collection, some of which I have never got around to playing. I'm correcting that now, starting with his Chopin.

At first I was a bit taken aback by the freedom of approach. I found myself thinking, 'Surely that bar is marked forte' and similar things. But soon I succumbed to the virtuosity and sheer musicality of he playing. I started with the Preludes, them moved on to the first Ballade, then some shorter pieces, then the Barcarolle (earlier recording) and first Scherzo. These are all on volumes 12 & 13 of the Naxos collection, which I recommend highly. I don't catch any hint of silk underpants in his account of the first Scherzo!

The version of the Myra Hess story I heard was that, having retired, she found herself at a loose end - she played patience a lot. Now Moiseiwitsch was married twice but presumably he was free when he offered Ms Hess a purely companionable marriage because he didn't like to see her lonely. Don't ask me the source of this story!

[smittims]

Both Benno and Solomon were keen card players: there's a lovely Eric Auerbach photo of the two of them doing just that.

Freedom of approach used to be the norm in Chopin interpretation, as I gather from listening to older generation pianists. It seems it was the LP era ('The complete' this and that) which brought uniformity in. I much prefer Moiseiwitsch, Cortot, Malcycynski and Rachmaninov, however eccentric, to today's competition-winning clones. And have you heard Ignaz Friedman? Now there's freedom of approach!

[gradus]

Both Benno and Solomon were keen card players: there's a lovely Eric Auerbach photo of the two of them doing just that.

Freedom of approach used to be the norm in Chopin interpretation, as I gather from listening to older generation pianists. It seems it was the LP era ('The complete' this and that) which brought uniformity in. I much prefer Moiseiwitsch, Cortot, Malcycynski and Rachmaninov, however eccentric, to today's competition-winning clones. And have you heard Ignaz Friedman? Now there's freedom of approach!

'Clones', pretty much Nigel Kennedy's criticism of the violinists from some famous conservatoires.

[Mandryka]

Some very recent very free Chopin performances

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XXnJiXPlrc&ab_channel=ADGO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VRHKJDGhe0&t=683s&ab_channel=KenanAleskerov

[Barbirollians]

Just started on the 3CD Testament set of his live recordings . An absolutely terrific account of the Waldstein to start - a piece I often find is played too loudly . Live from a BBC recital from 1958 - apparently few of his numerous BBC recordings survive - judging by this a great loss .

[ardcarp]

Talk of Moiseiwitsch and Solomon reminded me (poignantly?) of my childhood when our collection of 78s, played at first on a wind-up gramophone, included many recordings by those two giants of the piano. I wonder if any of those early recordings are now available on CD ?

[Barbirollians]

I think Naxos has released most of them on CD.

[Barbirollians]

Testament released lots of Solomon too .