Interesting Lesser Known Classical Musicians

Started by atardecer, July 14, 2023, 05:39:37 AM

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atardecer

A thread for posting about great classical musicians that may not be as well known today, or one's you feel may deserve to be better known. Some of my ideas in this thread are taken from Mark Ainley's The Piano Files, a page one can follow on Youtube and Facebook. I'm starting with Harold Samuel, and a nice recording he made of Bach's Partita No. 2 in C minor BWV 826:


"Samuel was a pioneering Bach pianist, playing all-Bach cycles at a time when very few dared to do so - the only other pianists of his time who did so were Blanche Selva, Walter Gieseking, and Edwin Fischer. In 1921, he presented his first 'Bach Week', during which he played six concerts on consecutive days comprised entirely of compositions by Bach, repeating not a single piece (a concept he would repeat in other cities and about every two years in London until his premature death at 58 in 1937).

All this coincided with the period when Wanda Landowska brought attention focus back to the harpsichord. An amusing anecdote: apparently both musicians were once engaged in a discussion about Bach and after Landowska had gone on a long diatribe about why his works should be played exclusively on original instruments, Samuel was finally able to interject, 'But Madame Landowska -  don't LIKE the harpsichord.' (It was not to Samuels, however, to whom she made her famous comment, 'You continue to play Bach your way and I'll play him his way' - that was to Pablo Casals, and it was a much friendlier, more humourous joke with a colleague than the words alone might make it appear.) 

Samuel was not particularly enamoured by the recording process and so left behind only the equivalent of about 2 CDs' worth of performances (that includes an NBC broadcast of the 5th Brandenburg Concerto), but all of these reveal his superb artistry. This account of the 2nd Partita captures in wonderful sound (at least in part thanks to Mr Jardine's transfer) his deft articulation, rich singing tone, judicious use of the pedal for colour, and clarity of texture, allowing the varied moods of the different movements to shine through while the counterpoint is beautifully layered throughout."
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

atardecer

Etelka Freund - Brahms Piano Sonata No. 3


This formidable pianist was a close friend of both Brahms and Bartok. She regularly played for Brahms, and one day while visiting the Bartok household she happened to notice and take a close look at his recently completed 14 Bagatelles. She reportedly returned later that day and played them to him from memory.
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

Holden

Let me add Kemal Gekic to that list. A brilliant pianist and at times a controversial one.
Cheers

Holden

Brian

One who comes to my mind as a "missed opportunity" is Jaume Aragall, the great Catalan tenor who rose in the generation of Domingo and Pavarotti, but suffered from severe stage fright and anxiety, limiting his performing career. He spent most of his life teaching in private instead. His voice was divine and his acting skills highly praised. Pavarotti remarked for a documentary that "he was the best of us," and Richard Bonynge sought him out for recordings with Joan Sutherland.

On this page there are a lot of clips, including a duet with Pavarotti (!).

Iota

Quote from: Holden on July 14, 2023, 05:19:54 PMLet me add Kemal Gekic to that list. A brilliant pianist and at times a controversial one.


Thanks for mentioning Kemal Gekić. Just had a listen to the Bach Eb prelude & fugue and Liszt Transcendental Étude No. 9 from the above, and found the prelude very ear-catching, and the Liszt gorgeous. He imbues both with a kind of dreamlike quality that works beautifully.  Looking forward to hearing more.

Will take a listen to the other two mentioned later, both look very interesting. Nice thread idea.

atardecer

Apparently the first ever recorded complete version of Bach's WTC was going to be a collaborative effort with contributions from Harriet Cohen, Harold Samuel and this pianist - Evlyn Howard-Jones. The project folded when HMV merged with Columbia.


"The obscure British pianist Evlyn Howard-Jones (1877-1951) in eight Preludes and Fugues recorded in 1929-1930 as part of what was intended to be the first complete recording of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. The Columbia label had recorded Harriet Cohen playing the first nine Preludes and Fugues on October 11-12, 1928, and then Howard-Jones recorded the next eight on  February 19, 1930. It is believed that Harold Samuel was intended to record the remainder of Book 1, but the project folded when HMV merged with Columbia. It was only through prepaid subscriptions that HMV would be able to fund the premiere studio account of the Well-Tempered Clavier with Edwin Fischer in recordings made from 1933 to 1936."
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

atardecer

Speaking of the WTC I've been enjoying listening to these interpretations by Alexander Borovsky, you can listen to a number of his preludes and fugues on this bandcamp account:

https://alexanderborovsky.bandcamp.com/album/the-well-tempered-clavier-j-s-bach-volume-1-bwv-846-857?fbclid=IwAR25FnKP1jJdgC5DXYO4NwIIu_D3UuzGw8qwnNswdpo9nqCHMpaACigrwrU
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

Bachtoven

Quote from: Holden on July 14, 2023, 05:19:54 PMLet me add Kemal Gekic to that list. A brilliant pianist and at times a controversial one.
I like his playing very much. What makes him "controversial"?

atardecer

I've been continuing some explorations through Bach's WTC and have come across Évelyne Crochet. She has studied with (among others) Yvonne Lefébure, Nadia Boulanger, and Edwin Fischer.

Her WTC sounds very good, articulate counterpoint, with phrasing nicely suited to each individual work, transparent textures.

WTC - Book I

WTC - Book II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6xpqqVZU4

"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

vers la flamme

Quote from: hopefullytrusting on July 25, 2023, 10:19:52 PMChristoph Eschenbach, I imagine, is likely only really known for being a conductor, but he is (or was) a world-class pianist. In fact, I view his Schubert as unsurpassable.

959: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oYsjgTov4-k&pp=ygUhRXNjaGVuYmFjaCBzY2h1YmVydCBwaWFubyBzb25hdGFz

960: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8t6JkXJ0GnA&pp=ygUhRXNjaGVuYmFjaCBzY2h1YmVydCBwaWFubyBzb25hdGFz

Stunningly good Mozartian too, at least in the sonatas which he recorded for DG as a young man.

DavidW

Quote from: vers la flamme on July 26, 2023, 04:59:48 AMStunningly good Mozartian too, at least in the sonatas which he recorded for DG as a young man.

And Brahms.  Thinking of his recordings with the Amadeus Quartet.

atardecer

William Harms


"William Harms was born in Eureka, Kansas and was accepted on scholarship by Hofmann at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1929, having previously studied with Liszt pupil Moriz Rosenthal and Abram Chasins (the latter brought him to Hofmann's attention). After his graduation from Curtis in 1934, Harms joined the faculty before taking a teaching position at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY in 1937, staying there until his retirement in 1978. Harms did not often perform publicly, though he played under the legendary conductors Fritz Reiner and Leopold Stokowski, and his recitals received positive reviews.

This studio recording reveals some superb pianism: a ravishing singing line, sumptuous nuancing with magnificent pedalling and tonal colours, and fantastic dynamic shadings, all serving his wonderful characterizations of each of the works. Here's hoping that more recordings of this fantastic pianist will surface.
"

I find these Debussy preludes excellent. There is also an interesting recording of him on youtube playing the Bach-Busoni Chaconne.
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

atardecer

Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12

Bernhard Stavenhagen piano "as played by Liszt" (piano roll)


Interesting how much this performer (a student of Liszt's) deviates from the score. There is evidence that altering the score and improvisation were common in classical music performance in Liszt's day. The following thoughts were posted along with this clip by someone called Lars from the Instagram page sounds_of_old:

"As you might've noticed, I have a keen interest in the students of Franz Liszt and in particular his last students. It's mainly because I personally like their performance style in regards to both their actual performance aesthetic; their use of melodic rubato, structural rubato, inégalité and arpeggios, but also more how their performance aesthetic is a direct result of the way their interpret the written score on a more fundamental level. Again on a personal level, their performance style and aesthetic are the basis for my own performance style.

Compared to modern classical musicians, who are mainly interested in how to interpret the written notes and the extra musical annotations, e.g. crescendos, phrase marks and articulations, the historical recordings with the students of Liszt clearly show, that they added additional layers of interpretations into their realisation of a given piece.

The most obvious extra layer is the addition and alteration of the score in relation to the actual notes being played; added melodic ornaments, added notes in chords and even added cadenzas and whole sections. But on top of this are the more subtle layers consisting of altering the rhythmical relationship between the written notes by either prolonging certain notes, exaggerating dotted figures, the widespread use of arpeggios or applying - at times - very significant accelerandos or ritardandos not stated in the written score.

These extra interpretational layers manifest themselves not only in the actual performance but are also an indication on how they viewed themselves in the performer-composer-relationship. In our modern performance practice we view the written score as an almost quasi-sacred monolith, and as classical musicians we are thus merely custodians of this out-of-this-world work of art, where it's our only duty to deliver the score as precisely as possible.

The old musicians on the other hand saw their relationship to the composer as a much more equal relationship, and thus they could alter the score, and even recompose it, to make it fit to their individual musicianship.

This dynamic relationship with a composition is to me very inspiring, because it invites the performer into a creative dialogue with the composer and thereby establishing a more balanced relationship, where the performer and the composer are equal partners in the creation of a piece of music.

Fortunately Bernhard Stavenhagen, one of the last students of Liszt, recorded a series of piano rolls before his premature demise in 1914. Among these are a couple of recordings annotated "As Played by Liszt", and just as with the same type of recordings with Alfred Reisenauer posted here a while back, they are a fascinating source for understanding this dynamic and creative performer-composer-relationship, because these recordings contain not only alterations to the written score, but are - at times - an almost recomposition of the piece.

I'm of course not claiming that the recording contains verbatim what Liszt played for the young Stavenhagen 20 years prior, but what it elegantly and precisely shows is this creative and dynamic dialogue between the performer and the composer.

Every single student of Liszt held him in the highest regard and were not only proud of their legacy, but made it an integral part of their musical identity. So, when Stavenhagen (or Reisenauer) annotated their performance with "As Played by Liszt", it was their way of paying the ultimate tribute to him, and the most profound aspect with this is, that this meant reshaping the original score by Liszt into an almost new piece of music. Hence, in order to pay respect to Liszt and his musical masterpiece, the performing musician had to get seriously involved in recreating and reshaping the piece and counterintuitively not (only) playing the original written score.

A tip: I recommend reading along in the score when listening to the recording, only then one realises how radically Stavenhagen alters the score.
"
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

atardecer

Quote from: atardecer on September 14, 2023, 05:36:51 AMLiszt - Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12

Bernhard Stavenhagen piano "as played by Liszt" (piano roll)

While I find the above recording and the following view I posted interesting, it is not precisely aligned with my view of ideal classical music performance. I'm not against improvisation, but for me music can become too improvisational. It can become limited by it. The form can become predictable in the sense that it becomes always an ongoing series of solos. There is a paradox in music Stravinsky noticed that too much freedom can lead to limitations. Further, I think a great composition is a work of genius. Not all composers are equally inspired, thus it follows that not every musician that interprets a work will be able to match the composer's craftsmanship in 're-composing'. When I listen to classical music I am primarily interested in the ideas of the composer, I am less interested in the music of the performer, unless it is their composition.

All this said, this is my view but I am a pluralist and I like a variety of approaches. I think each performer should go in the direction they are inspired to go in when interpreting music.
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

atardecer

Róża Etkin plays Chopin, Ravel and Scriabin


"Etkin was a Polish pianist who was the youngest competitor at the first International Chopin Competition, at which she placed third.

In her native Warsaw she had studied with legendary Chopin specialist Aleksander Michałowski as well as with Zbigniew Drzewiecki, and after the Chopin Competition she would coach in Berlin with Moritz Mayer-Mahr (Jascha Spivakovsky's teacher).

Etkin would marry Ryszard Moszkowski, nephew of the composer, and hyphenate her name to Róża Etkin-Moszkowska. Sadly, she and her husband both died near the end of the war when, as forces were retreating from Warsaw, a soldier threw a live grenade into a shelter where they and others had been hiding. She was 36 or 37 years old.

These rare discs capture some very bold playing, melodic lines forged with a strength that is no longer the norm in our era, with a strong rhythmic pulse, clarity of articulation, wonderful dynamic shadings, and full-bodied singing tone."


Sound quality aside that is some of the most powerful Scriabin I've heard.
"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

atardecer

#15
Severin Eisenberger performing Kodaly, Brahms, Schumann and others

Solo Broadcasts 1937-1939

"Born July 25, 1879, Severin (Seweryn) Eisenberger studied in his native Poland with Flora Grzywińska (who had also taught Ignaz Friedman) before honing his craft with two pupils of Czerny, the legendary Theodor Leschetizky and the less remembered Heinrich Ehrlich. Both had been among Czerny's favoured pupils, and given that Czerny had studied with no less than Beethoven himself, Eisenberger was surely able to receive some remarkable insight from these teachers. He additionally heard Beethoven performances by some of the most esteemed interpreters of his time – Liszt pupils Hans von Bülow and Eugen D'Albert, as well as Anton Rubinstein (for whom he also played) – and he also heard Brahms himself. Of the latter he wrote,

"The impression of Brahms never left me. I was at an impressionable age anyhow and Brahms was the idol of the hour among the younger musicians. I did not pretend to understand him, at least, not all of him, but I was a deep student of his compositions. The more I worked at them, the more I understood. He was my hero, and to hear and see him was an encouragement that sent me to greater enthusiasm. Many years later, when I was at the home of Miller-Aichholz in Vienna, I heard him play again. I shook his hand tremblingly, because he seemed to me a musical god. I played both the B-flat and D minor piano concertos in more cities of Europe than I can remember."

The solo recordings in this clip give us an opportunity to appreciate Eisenberg's truly remarkable tone, which has a particularly 'centred' quality – I don't know how else to describe this quality of vibrancy, clarity, and purity; at all dynamic levels, his sonority has an inner strength and focus, yet without any hardness or 'edge.' Throughout these fantastic readings, that directness of tone rings through, along with his beautifully forged melodic phrasing, transparent textures, subtle dynamic shading, and wonderful timing. All of these performances are superb, with the Brahms being particularly mesmerizing (not a surprise, given the pianist's having heard him and admired him so greatly)."

Info from www.thepianofiles.com

"Science can only flourish in an atmosphere of free speech." - Einstein

"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen." - Nietzsche

Roasted Swan

Not really "lesser known" but certainly a violinist who perhaps did not have the career his talent deserved.  Aaron Rosand's recordings tended to be on smaller labels with lesser orchestras but I have to say he remains one of my favourite players.  Perhaps not as consistent as some but phenomenal technique and when he was on fire a tremendous and compelling musician.

Here is a memoir he wrote nearly a decade ago about his fractured relationship with Isaac Stern.  A sad reflection on the all too human side of genius

https://slippedisc.com/2014/07/high-explosive-aaron-rosand-accuses-isaac-stern-of-sabotaging-his-career/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3YaAZEczqHSXHCI7W9Hs3U9znrcOQSwzMD_IXb3LKaP2Vnsw4UKtBm0DA_aem_ASqFsGF_Lv7xrKbMP-84dlMxF3l8z32pDTYai8wohqOqSJb4_53xQK7t1IwqCtUvqA21cTuAl_Yd7ZMMhEjdoCqh