Benno Moiseiwitsch

[ardcarp]

Thx.

[Barbirollians]

I didn’t have any of those Naxos CDs so started with the Rachmaninov 1 with Sargent from 1948 and BM’s 1930s recordings of the second and Rhapsody .

The sound is remarkably good and the performances are just fabulous Sargent and the Philharmonia as incandescent as the soloist in 1948 . I don’t think I have ever heard a better performance. The second concerto for me took a while to get going . I know the opening movement is marked moderato but it is all rather lugubrious to start with but Moiseiwitsch soon starts ( metaphorically ) singing his heart out at the piano and the rest of the performance is very fine . The Beecham era LPO accompanies conducted by Goehr.

The Rhapsody with the LPO/Cameron is another absolute cracker of a performance but so is the live one with Boult on the Testament disc - I bet it must have been something of an event to hear BM play this live.

[smittims]

Music to my ears, Barbirollians (to coin a phrse). I'm glad you enjoy these old recordings as I do. They were of course state-of the art in their day and hard work went into their making. The Abbey Road team in particular had built up a lot of experience by the end of the 78 era.

[Mandryka]

I'll just use this thread to alert the people who are interested in old piano recordings that APR have just released the complete Robert Lortat -- new transfers I think -- some people would say that he rivals Cortot in Chopin.

[smittims]

Wow! That's news to me. Thanks, I will look him up.

I read that Walter Gieseking said 'I will not play Chopin while Cortot is alive', and of course, tragically, Cortot outlived him.

[silvestrione]

I'll just use this thread to alert the people who are interested in old piano recordings that APR have just released the complete Robert Lortat -- new transfers I think -- some people would say that he rivals Cortot in Chopin.

Thanks for the tip. I listened to the Preludes yesterday and very much enjoyed them.

[Mandryka]

I first came across Lortat when he was mentioned positively in Charles Timbrell’s book on French Pianism. The quality of the transfers available at that time were so poor that listening was not very enjoyable for me. About two years ago, someone shared an amateur transfer of his waltzes and, for the first time, I could hear why he was so well appreciated. The new APR seems outstanding, I’m listening now to his etudes - a one sided performance, but astonishing music making nonetheless. (I think (but I could be wrong, I can’t find the book, much to my annoyance, to check) that the Etudes were singled out by Timbrell for special praise.)

[silvestrione]

I first came across Lortat when he was mentioned positively in Charles Timbrell’s book on French Pianism. The quality of the transfers available at that time were so poor that listening was not very enjoyable for me. About two years ago, someone shared an amateur transfer of his waltzes and, for the first time, I could hear why he was so well appreciated. The new APR seems outstanding, I’m listening now to his etudes - a one sided performance, but astonishing music making nonetheless. (I think (but I could be wrong, I can’t find the book, much to my annoyance, to check) that the Etudes were singled out by Timbrell for special praise.)

Lortat on APR is also reviewed (very favourably) by Rob Cowan in this month's Gramophone.

[Mandryka]

Lortat on APR is also reviewed (very favourably) by Rob Cowan in this month's Gramophone.

I’ll try and have a look at what he says later. I want to say that I’ve kind of revised my opinion of the etudes. He plays them for the comedy - almost slapstick. It’s like Tristesse becomes Hilarité.

It’s iconoclastic stuff, for a modern audience. Maybe if Lortat had been given a contract with EMI rather than Cortot, we’d all see the music in a different way.

[Barbirollians]

A bit of thread drift here . Back to Moiseiwitsch - have listed to his recordings of Tchaikovsky 1 and 2 on Naxos. The review in the Gramophone was sniffy at its tepidity but it sounds as if Alec Robertson had had his ears pinned back by the Horowitz/Toscanini and was not in listening mode.

I thought it was very fine and extremely musical. The Siloti mangling of the Tchaikovsky 2 I have never heard better played - very different to but up there with Cherkassky to my ears.

[Barbirollians]

And now a Chopin album - excellent Ballades but the highlight on this Naxos CD is the late 1940s set of the preludes

[Mandryka]

Well I listened to the preludes on the APR transfer (which may be the same as the one on Naxos, I’m not sure.)

He was obviously a pianist which was really concerned about creating a gorgeous sound - it’s a fabulous thing to relish the subtle way he brings our inner voices, the way he voices chords. The sensuality of a piano.

I’d say he was able to do more than that - there’s a variety of touch and there’s a sense of rhythm and pulse. It’s beautiful, but it’s not just beautiful.

[Barbirollians]

Agree entirely . This Naxos Chopin Moiseiwitsch record from the late 1940s is quite magical. I cannot recall enjoying any set of the Preludes more.