Claudio Arrau

[Sydney Grew]

What a pity it was that Arrau got into such trouble in that public lavatory in Sydney! We remember the publicity very well as it happened at a time when we ourself were a youth coming to terms with homo-sexualism. On the night of Arrau's first appearance on the stage of Sydney Town Hall following his arrest, the sympathetic audience gave him a standing ovation even before he had time to seat himself at the pianoforte, which was encouraging to ourself as well as to Senor Arrau.

Richard Adeney that fine flautist relates in his recent autobiography "Flute" an amusing anecdote: "The LPO played several concerts with Claudio Arrau, the famous pianist. He was a quiet and self-controlled man, but, perhaps because of Pritchard's relaxing presence, during a rehearsal Arrau became entranced with one of the first violins, a blond young man. Because he was gazing so adoringly to his left away from the keyboard, he seemed to be hitting any old note, quite unlike his usual style of playing."

"The violinist, a conventional married man, was acutely embarrassed. 'What shall I do?' he asked me after the rehearsal. 'What's going to happen?' 'Well,' I said, 'don't do anything. He can't rape you on the platform in the middle of the concert. Don't be such a worry-guts.' There was no rape, but there was more gazing - and an awful lot of wrong notes."

[Coopmv]

What a pity it was that Arrau got into such trouble in that public lavatory in Sydney! We remember the publicity very well as it happened at a time when we ourself were a youth coming to terms with homo-sexualism. On the night of Arrau's first appearance on the stage of Sydney Town Hall following his arrest, the sympathetic audience gave him a standing ovation even before he had time to seat himself at the pianoforte, which was encouraging to ourself as well as to Senor Arrau.

Richard Adeney that fine flautist relates in his recent autobiography "Flute" an amusing anecdote: "The LPO played several concerts with Claudio Arrau, the famous pianist. He was a quiet and self-controlled man, but, perhaps because of Pritchard's relaxing presence, during a rehearsal Arrau became entranced with one of the first violins, a blond young man. Because he was gazing so adoringly to his left away from the keyboard, he seemed to be hitting any old note, quite unlike his usual style of playing."

"The violinist, a conventional married man, was acutely embarrassed. 'What shall I do?' he asked me after the rehearsal. 'What's going to happen?' 'Well,' I said, 'don't do anything. He can't rape you on the platform in the middle of the concert. Don't be such a worry-guts.' There was no rape, but there was more gazing - and an awful lot of wrong notes."

So Claudio Arrau and Sviatoslav Richter had something else in common besides both being world-renown pianists ...   

[david-jw]

His 1960s Diabellis are also excellent. What Arrau manages to do (and I haven't heard any other pianist do this) is make them seem like a complete/linked set as opposed to 34 disparate little works. And like the 50s recording the final variations are just jaw droppingly good playing.

Hi Holden,

thanks for this. I remember you mentioning this in a previous post (his ability to make it cohere into one whole work).

I'm intrigued that you mention his 1960's Diabelli- so far I have only been able to find 1952 and 1985(?) versions. Is the 1960's version packaged with the 1960's PS cycle big box:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Complete-Piano-Sonatas-Concertos/dp/B00000C2F7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1282981358&sr=1-1

Mandryka- thank you for pointing out the Naxos route. unfortuantly I can only find it by download only- so I have gone for the arrau heritage set (and am hoping that his 1980's PS cycle might be more enjoyable than some of the reviews

Very keen to hear this now, particualrly as you have both refered to the late variations being so well handled. For me, its this transition/transfiguration into the world of the last variations that give the work its power.

thanks

David

[Holden]

Hi Holden,

thanks for this. I remember you mentioning this in a previous post (his ability to make it cohere into one whole work).

I'm intrigued that you mention his 1960's Diabelli- so far I have only been able to find 1952 and 1985(?) versions. Is the 1960's version packaged with the 1960's PS cycle big box:

David - I stand corrected. This recording is from 1985 which astonishes me considering how good it is.

[david-jw]

Holden,

thanks for clarifying- its proved so confusing, as there are a number of OOP versions/second hand sellers with out album covers or recording details on Amazon, that its easy for me to get bewildered when trying to aquire arrau versions. The box sets are couter intuitive it would seem- 1980 ps cycle has the 53 diabelli and the 1960's ps cycle has the 1980's version!

I've found a reasonably priced single disc of the stereo diabelli, so I can't wait to hear both his versions and compare.

Was the stereo one the version you refer to hearing on a holiday in NZ?

thanks for your help

David

[Holden]

Holden,

thanks for clarifying- its proved so confusing, as there are a number of OOP versions/second hand sellers with out album covers or recording details on Amazon, that its easy for me to get bewildered when trying to aquire arrau versions. The box sets are couter intuitive it would seem- 1980 ps cycle has the 53 diabelli and the 1960's ps cycle has the 1980's version!

I've found a reasonably priced single disc of the stereo diabelli, so I can't wait to hear both his versions and compare.

Was the stereo one the version you refer to hearing on a holiday in NZ?

thanks for your help

David

Yes, I now own this as it's so good.

BTW, other Diabelli's I'd recommend are

Kovacevich - the first one over his latest incarnation though that's quite good as well

Richter on the Philips label

....and the great Schnabel.

[david-jw]

T/Y Holden

David

[david-jw]

To add to this Arrau thread, with the arrival of the Heritage Arrau beethoven box set, I've now been able to hear his 1960's Hammerklavier as its included .

My goodness, this is a great version of the Op 106 imo!

I have always struggled a little with this sonata if I'm honest- I could appreciate its greatness without really loving it in the way I do the last three, despite familarity with a number of different recordings, none of which I found wholly satisfactory.

But this account is really illuminating. He seems to take a slightly different approach from many- he takes the outer movements with restraint and wonderful tone painting to render beauty amoung the rocky outcrops.

Whilst the great adagio is deeply felt, and despite being broad in tempo, he manages to avoid the hint of sentimentality that can occasionally creep into many versions of this that I have heard.

I can't stop listening to it- a revelation! Beautifully conceived.

[mjwal]

It's funny - I had that Hammerklavier on LP a long time ago and gave it away, as it seemed to me to "chopinise" Beethoven (I disliked Chopin at the time, perhaps I would appreciate it more now). But my standards in that great work have always been Schnabel, Solomon and Serkin; more recently I have appreciated Yudina, Richter (Praga) and Gilels (Melodiya). As it is an inexhaustible work, fresh light can always be cast on it. (I had to modify this as I started thinking of the Diabelli instead - as I have pointed out elsewhere, gagadom is encroaching, fast.)

[david-jw]

It's funny - I had that Hammerklavier on LP a long time ago and gave it away, as it seemed to me to "chopinise" Beethoven (I disliked Chopin at the time, perhaps I would appreciate it more now). But my standards in that great work have always been Schnabel, Solomon and Serkin; more recently I have appreciated Yudina, Richter (Praga) and Gilels (Melodiya). As it is an inexhaustible work, fresh light can always be cast on it. (I had to modify this as I started thinking of the Diabelli instead - as I have pointed out elsewhere, gagadom is encroaching, fast.)

Interesting. I have spent the day listening to Hammerklaviers to try to figure out further why it is that the Arrau appeals so greatly. I also regard Solomon very highly in the 106  (incidentally I would also say, for me, unsurpassed in his 1951 Op111).

I know what you mean about "Chopinising", but whilst the outer movements are certainly not brusque like Pollini, I'm hearing the Arrau not as overly lyrical or rhapsodic- its a dark beauty Arrau finds there and disciplined.

His adagio is also more structured than Solomon. Whereas Solomon unfolds seamlessly, with Arrau you hear the different parts of the Adagio, but there is always a sense of how each bar relates to the structure of the sonata as a whole. Its a magnificent conceptualisation and I am reminded of what Holden wrote about how Arrau successfully conveyed each individual variation of the Diabelli as part of a coherant whole.

I felt that very much also with Arrau's Hammerklavier in a way I hadnt heard before with other recordings.

Of the pianists you mention though I havent heard any of  Richter's 106's

[Mandryka]

I have two recordings of him playing Beethoven's  Op 2.1, one made in 1964 and the other made in 1988. In both cases there's no major changes in his understanding of the music that I noticed. The later recording is I think the better performance, with one reservation. The 1988 is more intense, and the quality of the piano tone that the engineers captured is ravishing. In the first two movements he is every bit as fleet  in the late recording as in the earlier. Maybe the later recording breathes slightly more deeply (!!!) -- pauses slightly better managed  -- that's  what explains the slightly different timings.

The reservation is in the minuet, which is slightly more lively in the earlier recording. When you don't do comparative listenings you hardly notice -- it's not a problem.

The final movement is thrilling in the 1988.

[George]

I have two recordings of him playing Beethoven's  Op 2.1, one made in 1964 and the other made in 1988. In both cases there's no major changes in his understanding of the music that I noticed. The later recording is I think the better performance....

Me too. He really turns in a lovely performance of Op. 2/1 in the digital set and the sound is lovely.

With Op. 2/2 and 2/3, though, I could hear his technique and youthful energy fading. With both of these, I feel the 1964 is the clear winner.

[DieNacht]

Am mostly agreeing with posts 6+7 in this thread, preferring the very early Arrau. Couldn´t hear anything of interest in his Beethoven Concerti with Haitink, for instance - found them totally anonymous. On the other hand, I have been giving him a break for some time, and will be open for his possible qualities now and then in the future. There might be some subtleness in his playing which I have ignored due to superficiality ... Also, his later recordings were sonically good, but I haven´t explored that many of them.

Should I mention some recordings which I treasure, it would be:

-  Weber: Konzertstück/Defauw, Chicago SO, mono 1946. His stereo recording with Galliera was my favourite, until hearing this one - unashamedly ultra-romantic, fast and dramatic, very unlike his later style. The same mood applies to his Weber Sonata 1 (1949), but it can be difficult to see that many qualities in the music itself ...

-  Liszt: 1st Concerto/Ormandy, columbia mono. Probably my preferred, together with Richter/Kondrashin.

-  Chopin: Nocturnes / philips. This is a highly original, ethereal recording, but should be supplemented with others as a contrast.

-  the you-tube Schoenberg pieces opus 11 also seem to be good (1959; also a relief in opposition to the conservative repertoire he chose in his later years). I am not extremely informed as regards this repertoire though, but he seems to add a lot of sensitivity to the music, so that it almost sounds Scriabinesque.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0mGbyfcG-c&playnext=1&list=PL3CA10A0E4408C3A8

- Chopin: Tarantella (1930). Just an example of his outgoingly virtuoso early style. Arrau uses 2:39; Ugorski 3:16 ...

[George]

Should I mention some recordings which I treasure, it would be:

-  Weber: Konzertstück/Defauw, Chicago SO, mono 1946. His stereo recording with Galliera was my favourite, until hearing this one - unashamedly ultra-romantic, fast and dramatic, very unlike his later style. The same mood applies to his Weber Sonata 1 (1949), but it can be difficult to see that many qualities in the music itself ...

I totally agree. Just got those recently.

Chopin: Nocturnes / philips. This is a highly original, etheral recording, but should be supplemented with others as a contrast.

My first and over a dozen sets later, still my favorite. 

[DieNacht]

Interesting discography, thanks.

[George]

Interesting discography, thanks.

It seems to have vanished. Here it is again:

http://arrauhouse.org/content/disc_completediscography.htm

[zauberharfe]

http://arrauhouse.org/content/disc_completediscography.htm
err, the question at the end of the first page seemed to me - for some reason  - the newest contribution to this thread. So I deleted mine last one, but after you said you found it interesting I replace it 

EDIT: YESS!

EDIT2: it is really good, I am actually thinking about compiling one for some pianist whom I like and doesn't have an updated one. Maybe Richter, but that would be close to impossible. 

[DieNacht]

Found it without any problems - and luckily, it is still there 

[Mandryka]

Me too. He really turns in a lovely performance of Op. 2/1 in the digital set and the sound is lovely.

With Op. 2/2 and 2/3, though, I could hear his technique and youthful energy fading. With both of these, I feel the 1964 is the clear winner.

Agreed. I'll just report that I enjoyed the 1964 Op 2/3 much more this time round than I had done previously. I've always loved the 1964 Op 2/2.

There's a 1938 recording of 2/3 on Music and Arts which is radically different in conception from the 1964. It's impressive,  particularly for the ebb and flow between fast and slow passages in the first movement. The reading is more mercurial. You lose some of the nobility maybe of the 1964 -- but only maybe. I think the 1938 is one of the great Beethoven sonata recordings.

There's also a 2/3 on DVD from a 1977 Bonn concert which I haven't heard.

[Mandryka]

"For me, interpretation is the process of interpenetration between the world of the composer and the world of the interpreter. The interpreter gives his blood to the work, so to speak, without which he wouldn't exist. I think that an ideal interpretation is one which consists in an equal sharing between the creation of the composer and the creation of the performer -- that requires that the latter study the manuscripts, first editions, biographies etc. Claudio  Arrau, 11 July 1961"