Eugene List

[DieNacht]

The American pianist Eugene List (1918 - 1985) initiated his career in the 1930s. His father Louis Lisnitzer emigrated from Odessa - that Ukrainian city with great musical traditions - but worked as a language teacher in Philadelphia and California, marrying an American pharmacist there, Rose. Eugene made his debut back in 1929, playing Beethoven`s 3rd conducted by Rodzinski. Later, in 1934, he premiered Shostakovich´s 1st Concerto in the USA under Stokowski, and studied under Stokowski´s wife, Olga Samaroff. He received great reviews and was selected as a house pianist at the Potsdam Conference in 1945.

I find his Shosty Concerti  1 & 2, recorded by cbs/sony in Moscow with Kondrashin conducting in 1975, really good. Yes, there are other versions, like Shosty himself, Argerich, Dmitri Shostakovich Junior, Bernstein etc. But it was the first version I heard of that music, and the 2nd Concerto especially I still find really magnificent. List is not a pianist of the showy or eccentric kind, but loyal and really engaged in his playing style.

Likewise his Chavez Piano Concerto, conducted by the composer and recorded by Westminster, is great.

His MacDowell Concerti exist in 2 different versions, with Chavez (Westminster) and Landau (Turnabout). They are fine, but the works are perhaps somewhat less to my taste ...

However Eugene List seems to have made comparatively few LPS & I haven´t heard anything else ... Any comments / recommendations ?

[Slezak]

Hi. Eugene List made a superb recording for Mercury of the Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue(perhaps my favorite), some for Remington, and the Liszt Malediction, which ReDiscovery has digitally remastered and issued. ReDiscovery also has some Mendelssohn, with his wife, I believe. All are outstanding.  SS

[Dax]

Back in the 1970s, I was very taken with his performance of solo works by Gottschalk. Some appear to be youtube. Here's Souvenir de Porto Rico for example:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMVHWIVWWSU&feature=related

[PaulSC]

Back in the 1970s, I was very taken with his performance of solo works by Gottschalk. Some appear to be youtube. Here's Souvenir de Porto Rico for example:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMVHWIVWWSU&feature=related

Oh yes, I grew up with these recordings and consider them definitive Gottschalk. (Not that there's a lot of competition in this repertoire...)