Piano Library - Deutsche Grammophon Edition (22 CD Box Set)

Astounding debuts and legendary piano treasures on disc: newly remastered albums of 21 pianists from the analogue era, including many first-ever digital transfers.

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Before he became a Decca icon, Vladimir Ashkenazy appeared on DG in performances recorded live at the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Their reissue here is complemented by a Rachmaninoff sequence with Ashkenazy’s teacher, Lev Oborin. At the same competition five years later, Arthur Rubinstein was so outraged at the low placing given by his fellow jurors to the Belgian pianist Michel Block that he created a special prize for him on the spot, and DG responded likewise by issuing precious recordings of his live Chopin performances from 1960.

Through the late 1960s and 70s, the ‘Concours’ and ‘Debut’ sub-labels on DG launched an array of pianists at the start of promising careers. They came from a rich variety of backgrounds and schools. Blockbuster Russians included Boris Bloch and Youri Egorov. New-World stars in the making included Steven De Groote and Zola Mae Shaulis. Among the young artists from the central European traditions were Veronica Jochum von Moltke (Eugen Jochum’s daughter) and Claude Helffer.

A few of these musicians, such as Ashkenazy, went on to enjoy long careers. Some disappeared from the limelight, lending to their legacy on record both rarity value and a melancholy sense of potential left untapped. David Lively, Alexander Lonquich and Ewa Pobłocka are still performing today, but their DG Debut albums have never been reissued on CD. Dino Ciani, Youri Egorov and Steven De Groote died tragically young while their careers were still in the ascendant. Other pianists retreated from the spotlight and became teachers, such as Roberto Szidon and Boris Bloch.

Alongside the fire-breathing virtuosity of Mikhail Faermann and Steven De Groote, the box reissues Beethoven sonata recordings made by Elly Ney at the end of her long career, and a mono-era account of the Diabelli Variations by the Swiss pianist Paul Baumgartner. These artists represent a link with the Clara Schumann school of pianism, while Erik Then-Bergh’s 1951 account of Reger’s Telemann Variations embodies an intellectual German style.

Pianophiles of every stripe will find something here to astonish and intrigue them. The recordings are issued in the Original Covers format, and the booklet includes an introduction to each of the pianists by the piano-specialist Jonathan Summers.

In this set you’ll find:

- A collection of rare albums made by pianists for Deutsche Grammophon between 1951 and 1980.
20 hours of fascinating pianism

- Several recordings included here first appeared on Deutsche Grammophon’s ‘Concours’ and ‘Debut’ series

- CD premieres of recordings by Lev Oborin (Rachmaninoff), Youri Egorov (Schumann), Zola Mae Shaulis (a crystalline interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, five of his Toccatas and Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata) and Steven De Groote (variations by Beethoven and Schumann).

- First on CD: one of the earliest recordings of Boulez’s Second Piano Sonata by French pianist Claude Helffer and a stunning Ravel Gaspard from Jorge Luis Prats

- Mixed recitals by competition winners Boris Bloch, Diana Kacso, Alexander Lonquich and Ewa Pobłocka

-Previously unpublished accounts of Debussy Préludes (Livre I) by Dino Ciani (recorded 1971) and Schumann’s Nachtstücke (Veronica Jochum von Moltke, recorded 1963).

- Authoritative notes by piano expert Jonathan Summers

- Original Jackets, archival photographs and new remasterings

TRACK LIST

CD 1

CHOPIN
Piano Concerto No. 2; Ballade No. 2
Études; Mazurkas; Scherzo No. 4
VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY, piano
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra / Zdzisław Górzyński
RACHMANINOFF 6 Études-Tableaux, Op. 33*
LEV OBORIN, piano
*FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 2

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10 No. 2
RACHMANINOFF Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14; Lilacs, Op. 21 No. 5; Études-Tableaux Op. 33 Nos. 1 & 2, Op. 39 No. 5
BUSONI Turandots Frauengemach
LISZT Figaro Fantasy, S.697
BORIS BLOCH, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 3

CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 2; Polonaise, Op. 53; Prelude, Op. 28 No. 17; 3 Mazurkas; Valse, Op. 34 No. 1
MICHEL BLOCK, piano

CD 4

DEBUSSY Préludes – Livre I (1971 recording – previously unpublished)*
Children’s Corner
DINO CIANI, piano
*FIRST-EVER RELEASE

CD 5

WEBER Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3
DINO CIANI, piano

CD 6

PROKOFIEV
Sonata No. 6
BRAHMS Paganini Variations
MIKHAIL FAERMANN, piano
SCHUMANN Carnaval*
YOURI EGOROV, piano
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DG

CD 7

BEETHOVEN Eroica Variations
SCHUMANN Études symphoniques
STEVEN DE GROOTE, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 8

BOULEZ Piano Sonata No. 2*
BERG Piano Sonata, Op. 1*
MILHAUD Le Carnaval d’Aix
CLAUDE HELFFER, piano
Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo / Louis Frémaux
*FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 9

SCHUMANN Piano Sonata No. 2*; Novelette, Op. 21 No. 8*; 3 Fantasiestücke, Op. 111*; Nachtstücke, Op. 23 (Previously unpublished recording)°
VERONICA JOCHUM VON MOLTKE, piano
*FIRST RELEASE ON CD
°FIRST-EVER RELEASE

CD 10

LISZT Piano Sonata in B minor
CHOPIN Polonaise-Fantaisie; Étude, Op. 10 No. 10
DIANA KACSO, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 11

CHOPIN
Ballade Nos. 1–4; Impromptus Nos. 1–4; Berceuse
JULIAN VON KAROLYI, piano
FIRST INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ON CD

CD 12

CHOPIN
Sonata No. 3; Boléro; Mazurka, Op. 17 No. 4; Valse No. 14; Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante
JULIAN VON KAROLYI, piano

CD 13

RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin
STRAVINSKY Tango; Piano-Rag-Music; Trois mouvements de Pétrouchka
DAVID LIVELY, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 14

SCHOENBERG 3 Klavierstücke, Op. 11
SCHUBERT Sonata No. 16
ALEXANDER LONQUICH, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 15

BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonatas Nos. 8 ‘Pathétique’ & 31
ELLY NEY, piano

CD 16

BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonatas Nos. 14 ‘Moonlight’ & 23 ‘Appassionata’
ELLY NEY, piano

CD 17

J.S. BACH Aria variata alla maniera italiana
CHOPIN Scherzo No. 1
DEBUSSY Images I & II
EWA POBŁOCKA, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 18

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 28
SCHUMANN
Toccata
RAVEL Gaspard de la nuit
JORGE LUIS PRATS, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 19

J.S. BACH Goldberg Variations
PROKOFIEV
Piano Sonata No. 7
ZOLA MAE SHAULIS, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 20

J.S. BACH Toccatas, BWV 911–915
ZOLA MAE SHAULIS, piano
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 21

IVES Piano Sonata No. 2 ‘Concord, Mass., 1840–1860’; Three-page Sonata
ROBERTO SZIDON, piano

CD 22

REGER Telemann Variations
ERIK THEN-BERGH, piano
BEETHOVEN Diabelli Variations
PAUL BAUMGARTNER, piano