VA - Piano Library: Deutsche Grammophon Edition (2024) [22CD Box Set]

Astounding debuts and legendary piano treasures on disc: newly remastered albums of 21 pianists from the analogue era, including many first-ever digital transfers.

Before he became a Decca icon, Vladimir Ashkenazy appeared on DG in performances recorded live at the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Their reissue here is complemented by a Rachmaninoff sequence with Ashkenazy’s teacher, Lev Oborin. At the same competition five years later, Arthur Rubinstein was so outraged at the low placing given by his fellow jurors to the Belgian pianist Michel Block that he created a special prize for him on the spot, and DG responded likewise by issuing precious recordings of his live Chopin performances from 1960.

Through the late 1960s and 70s, the ‘Concours’ and ‘Debut’ sub-labels on DG launched an array of pianists at the start of promising careers. They came from a rich variety of backgrounds and schools. Blockbuster Russians included Boris Bloch and Youri Egorov. New-World stars in the making included Steven De Groote and Zola Mae Shaulis. Among the young artists from the central European traditions were Veronica Jochum von Moltke (Eugen Jochum’s daughter) and Claude Helffer.

A few of these musicians, such as Ashkenazy, went on to enjoy long careers. Some disappeared from the limelight, lending to their legacy on record both rarity value and a melancholy sense of potential left untapped. David Lively, Alexander Lonquich and Ewa Pobłocka are still performing today, but their DG Debut albums have never been reissued on CD. Dino Ciani, Youri Egorov and Steven De Groote died tragically young while their careers were still in the ascendant. Other pianists retreated from the spotlight and became teachers, such as Roberto Szidon and Boris Bloch.

Alongside the fire-breathing virtuosity of Mikhail Faermann and Steven De Groote, the box reissues Beethoven sonata recordings made by Elly Ney at the end of her long career, and a mono-era account of the Diabelli Variations by the Swiss pianist Paul Baumgartner. These artists represent a link with the Clara Schumann school of pianism, while Erik Then-Bergh’s 1951 account of Reger’s Telemann Variations embodies an intellectual German style.

Pianophiles of every stripe will find something here to astonish and intrigue them. The recordings are issued in the Original Covers format, and the booklet includes an introduction to each of the pianists by the piano-specialist Jonathan Summers

Tracks:

CD 1
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2; Ballade No. 2
Études; Mazurkas; Scherzo No. 4
VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra / Zdzisław Górzyński
RACHMANINOFF 6 Études-Tableaux, Op. 33*
LEV OBORIN
*FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 2
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10 No. 2
RACHMANINOFF Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14; Lilacs, Op. 21 No. 5; Études-Tableaux Op. 33 Nos. 1 & 2, Op. 39 No. 5
BUSONI Turandots Frauengemach
LISZT Figaro Fantasy, S.697
BORIS BLOCH
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 3
CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 2; Polonaise, Op. 53; Prelude, Op. 28 No. 17; 3 Mazurkas; Valse, Op. 34 No. 1
MICHEL BLOCK

CD 4
DEBUSSY Préludes – Livre I (1971 recording – previously unpublished)*
Children’s Corner
DINO CIANI
*FIRST-EVER RELEASE

CD 5
WEBER Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3
DINO CIANI

CD 6
PROKOFIEV Sonata No. 6
BRAHMS Paganini Variations
MIKHAIL FAERMANN
SCHUMANN Carnaval*
YOURI EGOROV
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DG

CD 7
BEETHOVEN Eroica Variations
SCHUMANN Études symphoniques
STEVEN DE GROOTE
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 8
BOULEZ Piano Sonata No. 2*
BERG Piano Sonata, Op. 1*
MILHAUD Le Carnaval d’Aix
CLAUDE HELFFER
Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo / Louis Frémaux
*FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 9
SCHUMANN Piano Sonata No. 2*; Novelette, Op. 21 No. 8*; 3 Fantasiestücke, Op. 111*; Nachtstücke, Op. 23 (Previously unpublished recording)°
VERONICA JOCHUM VON MOLTKE
*FIRST RELEASE ON CD
°FIRST-EVER RELEASE

CD 10
LISZT Piano Sonata in B minor
CHOPIN Polonaise-Fantaisie; Étude, Op. 10 No. 10
DIANA KACSO
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 11
CHOPIN Ballade Nos. 1–4; Impromptus Nos. 1–4; Berceuse
JULIAN VON KAROLYI
FIRST INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ON CD

CD 12
CHOPIN Sonata No. 3; Boléro; Mazurka, Op. 17 No. 4; Valse No. 14; Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante
JULIAN VON KAROLYI

CD 13
RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin
STRAVINSKY Tango; Piano-Rag-Music; Trois mouvements de Pétrouchka
DAVID LIVELY
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 14
SCHOENBERG 3 Klavierstücke, Op. 11
SCHUBERT Sonata No. 16
ALEXANDER LONQUICH
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 15
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Nos. 8 ‘Pathétique’ & 31
ELLY NEY

CD 16
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Nos. 14 ‘Moonlight’ & 23 ‘Appassionata’
ELLY NEY

CD 17
J.S. BACH Aria variata alla maniera italiana
CHOPIN Scherzo No. 1
DEBUSSY Images I & II
EWA POBŁOCKA
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 18
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 28
SCHUMANN Toccata
RAVEL Gaspard de la nuit
JORGE LUIS PRATS
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 19
J.S. BACH Goldberg Variations
PROKOFIEV Piano Sonata No. 7
ZOLA MAE SHAULIS
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 20
J.S. BACH Toccatas, BWV 911–915
ZOLA MAE SHAULIS
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 21
IVES Piano Sonata No. 2 ‘Concord, Mass., 1840–1860’; Three-page Sonata
ROBERTO SZIDON

CD 22
REGER Telemann Variations
ERIK THEN-BERGH
BEETHOVEN Diabelli Variations
PAUL BAUMGARTNER