Various Artists - Piano Library: Westminster Edition / Various (CD)

Details: A Limited edition original Jackets treasury of analogue-era pianism by legendary and lesser-known names from the catalogues of American Decca and Westminster. Spanning 1950 to 1963 - Clara Haskil in Scarlatti to Guiomar Novaes in Chopin and Debussy - the recordings in this set document the end of some distinguished careers (notably Benno Moiseiwitsch and Egon Petri) and the early flourishing of others, such as Jörg Demus and Nina Milkina. Classic examples of German, Russian, French, Hungarian, Romanian and American pianism illustrate the characteristics of their national schools, but most of all underline the personal artistry of musicians such as Haskil and Moiseiwitsch who always turned a phrase or a chord and made it their own. The four solo LPs for Westminster recorded in 1956 by Raymond Lewenthal marked his return to the studio after an assault which had left him unable to play for several years. He would go on to become an early champion on record of the late-Romantic, ultra-virtuoso style, but these Westminster LPs capture him in repertoire from Beethoven sonatas and Scriabin preludes to popular encores. Excerpts from some of these LPs have appeared on CD before, but not the full albums as originally sequenced. This is also true of the treasurable August 1961 sessions in New York made by Benno Moiseiwitsch, playing inimitably inflected accounts of Beethoven, Schumann and Mussorgsky. There is a first-time CD release for Petri's 'Moonlight' Sonata, alongside it's original LP couplings of the 'Pathétique' and 'Appassionata', plus the 'Hammerklavier' and Busoni's Fantasia contrappuntistica from the same sessions in June 1956. Petri's aristocratic and intellectual style could hardly be more contrasted with the spontaneous rubato of the Brazilian pianist Guiomar Novaes, in Chopin's Barcarolle. A trio of previously unissued Chopin Mazurkas makes a precious addition to the legacy of the French pianist Youra Guller. Jörg Demus is now esteemed for his Bach and Beethoven, but his mastery of Franck and Fauré has been forgotten. Each of these LPs tells it's own story, of a forgotten pianist or a little-known recording, and the piano-specialist Mark Ainley supplies valuable context with new booklet appreciations of each artist.