![]() ![]() 1 whose poise and classicism set a marker for the qualities which have proved his hallmark. A pupil of Mieczysaw Horszowski, Perahia won with a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. Hearsay has it that when Murray Perahia enlisted for the Leeds Piano Competition, fellow American competitors, suspecting the game was up, made for the exit. My idea of happiness is 250 days a year in a studio Glenn GouldĮssential recording: JS Bach: Goldberg Variations Sony Classical 827969038727 The 1955 ‘first thoughts’ remain special however: ‘The record debut of Glenn Gould, a keyboard genius’ as the American Record Guide headed its review. Schoenberg, Beethoven, Brahms and Gibbons (‘my favourite’) all received the Gouldian imprint, but Bach remained at the centre of his universe, with a second Goldbergs recording preceding his untimely death in 1982. And Bach would dominate his eclectic music-making even after the one night stand of the concert platform had given way to a lifelong relationship with the studio.Ĭhopin, Liszt and Schumann were famously ‘off’ Gould’s radar – as was Mozart, despite a provocative recorded set of the piano sonatas. Related to Grieg on his mother’s side, the 23-year-old Glenn Gould recorded Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a rebel with a cause, kicking against the prevailing Bachian norm with a mixture of forensic analysis, exhilarating playfulness and dazzling clarity. Five of the best pieces for Piano Left Handīernstein called him ‘the greatest thing to happen to music in years’, yet improbably the defining moment in that ‘happening’ occurred in an abandoned New York Presbyterian Church in June 1955.Walter GiesekingĮssential recording: Mozart: Quintet in E flat for piano and wind, K452 Testament SBT 1091 One has only to be able to read notes correctly, but that is beyond most performers. Gieseking was also a great team player – his near definitive recording of Mozart’s Piano Quintet K542 with the Philharmonia’s fabulous foursome is testament to this. He also championed new music which, sadly, never got to disc. Gieseking had a wide repertoire which included Rachmaninov’s Second and Third concertos and, surprisingly, Tchaikovsky’s First. 6) were baritones of the piano, Gieseking was definitely a tenor compare, for example, his svelte Mozartian Beethoven Emperor Concerto with Fischer’s aggressive, muscular version, both superb but utterly different. Whereas Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer (No. ‘Sophisticated’ is often considered a rude word these days but, in its literal sense, it perhaps best describes him – his appearance and his playing. Elegance, nuance and understatement depict his style. The opening movement of the Moonlight Sonata is almost trance-like, as if Gieseking were reluctant to touch the keys lest the spell be broken. ![]() He is best remembered as an interpreter of the French School, Debussy in particular liking his gossamer touch, though his Mozart (the complete solo piano works) and incomplete Beethoven sonata recordings are also prized for their clarity and classical dignity. Although cleared of being a Nazi collaborator, he wasn’t able to play in the US until 1955. Gieseking was a gentle giant among pianists, but his supposed politics tarnished his reputation. Josef HofmannĮssential recording: Golden Jubilee Concert (1937) – Rubinstein: Concerto No. World-oblivious and alone with his instrument, (the pianist) can commune with his innermost and best self. His playing also possessed spontaneity, which led him to highlight ‘inner voices’ and add surprises of dynamics and timing that later listeners can find disconcerting. The quality of his melodic tone was full and round, and commanding or beguiling by turns its prominence in the overall texture lent his sonority nobility. Revered as one of the supreme pianists of his day, Hofmann’s effortless technique permitted a kaleidoscope of tonal colourings and expressive guises ranging from aching tenderness to heaven-storming pandemonium. Eventually he settled in the US, becoming director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Josef Hofmann (1876-1957), PolishĪn astonishing child prodigy from Poland, Hofmann ‘retired’ at 12 for further study with Moritz Moszkowski and Anton Rubinstein, then resumed his career at 18. Claudio ArrauĮssential recording: Liszt: Studies in the Transcendental Execution Pentatone PTC 5186171īuy from Amazon 19. Great piano playing requires you to have incredible emotional tension without getting physically tense.
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