Simon Barere

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Just wondering which if any of the currently available reissues are worth having. I know very little about this pianist except that he was supposed to have had a phenomenal technique. The complete HMV recordings look interesting, as do some of the Carnegie Hall concerts. Which ones do  you recommend? I know these are old monos, but how is the sound quality?

[Holden]

Any of these

[Carolus]

Anyone and all you can find

[Mandryka]

Anyone and all you can find

I don't like this pianist. He plays too fast, and I think rather nervously.

There are 6,266 consecutive notes in Schumann's Toccata which he gets through in 4'20. I'll leave it to you to work out how many notes per second.

He died on stage playing the Grieg Concerto. Have any other famous pianist died in the act?

There is just one recording which I like. The Etude for the left hand by Blumenfeld, the live recording he made in 1947.  It used to be available on APR.

That etude is one of the greatest left hand Etudes -- beautiful, rivalled only by Scriabin's.

The other stuff -- Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann. I prefer other pianists so I'll leave it to others to make recommendations.

[George]

I bought 6 of his CDs last year, but have only heard the studio recordings on APR. I recall enjoying it but not being moved to rush to give the other 5 a listen. I will pull one or two out this week, give a listen and report back.