Works on This Recording
1. Sonata for Piano no 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1797-1798; Vienna, Austria
2. Sonata for Piano no 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1817-1818; Vienna, Austria
3. Sonata for Piano no 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a "Les Adieux" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1809-1810; Vienna, Austria
4. Sonata for Piano no 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1804-1805; Vienna, Austria
5. Sonata for Piano no 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 no 2 "Moonlight" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1801; Vienna, Austria
6. Fantasie for Piano in F minor/A flat major, B 137/Op. 49 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1841; Paris, France
7. Recuerdos de la antigua España, Op. 48 by Joaquin Turina
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1929; Spain
8. Preludios for Piano, Op. 80 by Joaquin Turina
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933; Spain
9. Partita for Piano in C major, Op. 57 by Joaquin Turina
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1930; Spain
10. Danzas fantásticas, Op. 22 by Joaquin Turina
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920; Spain
11. Goyescas for Piano, Op. 11: Book 2 - no 7, El pelele by Enrique Granados
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1911; Spain
12. Goyescas for Piano, Op. 11 by Enrique Granados
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1911; Spain
13. Escenas (6) románticas for Piano by Enrique Granados
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: c1903-1904; Spain
14. Impresiones intimas (9) by Federico Mompou
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1914; Paris, France
15. Vers la flamme, Op. 72 by Alexander Scriabin
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914; Russia
16. Preludes (5) for Piano, Op. 74 by Alexander Scriabin
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914; Russia
17. Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 11 by Alexander Scriabin
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1888-1896; Russia
18. Fantasy for Piano in B minor, Op. 28 by Alexander Scriabin
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1900; Russia
19. Toccata for Piano in C major, Op. 7 by Robert Schumann
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1829-1832; Germany
20. Toccatina for Piano, Op. 75 by Charles Valentin Alkan
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: circa 1872; France
21. Toccata in C major, Op. 92 by Carl Czerny
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: Romantic
22. Toccata alla Scarlatti by Raymond Lewenthal
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
23. Kreisleriana, Op. 16 by Robert Schumann
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Germany
24. Kinderszenen, Op. 15 by Robert Schumann
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Germany
25. Carnaval, Op. 9 by Robert Schumann
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1833-1835; Germany
26. Arabeske for Piano in C major, Op. 18 by Robert Schumann
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Germany
27. Pictures at an Exhibition for Piano by Modest Mussorgsky
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1874; Russia
Notes: Arrangement: Benno Moiseiwitsch
28. Sonata for Piano no 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a "Les Adieux" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1809-1810; Vienna, Austria
29. Sonata for Piano no 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 no 2 "Moonlight" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1801; Vienna, Austria
30. Andante for Piano in F major, WoO 57 "Andante Favori" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1803; Vienna, Austria
31. Waldszenen, Op. 82: no 7, Vogel als Prophet by Robert Schumann
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1848-1849; Germany
32. Romances (3) for Piano, Op. 28: no 2 in F sharp major by Robert Schumann
Performer: Benno Moiseiwitsch (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1839; Germany
33. Fantasia contrappuntistica, K 256 by Ferruccio Busoni
Performer: Egon Petri (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1910/1922; Berlin, Germany
34. Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke, S 514 "Mephisto Waltz no 1" by Franz Liszt
Performer: Egon Petri (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1859-1860; Weimar, Germany
Notes: Arrangement: Ferruccio Busoni
35. Fantasia on 2 themes from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," S 697 by Franz Liszt
Performer: Egon Petri (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Germany
Notes: Arrangement: Ferruccio Busoni
36. Ricercare and Toccata on a theme from "Old Maid and the Thief": Toccata by Gian Carlo Menotti
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
37. Suite for Piano "Pour le piano": no 3, Toccata by Claude Debussy
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1896-1901; France
38. Le tombeau de Couperin: no 6, Toccata by Maurice Ravel
Performer: Raymond Lewenthal (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914-1917; France
Notes and Editorial Reviews
The pièce de résistance of Deutsche Grammophon's Liszt 200th anniversary celebration is a 10-CD box that brings together five great piano virtuosos of the past in a staggeringly display of virtuosity and “old-style” pianism – quite unlike anything else on offer in Liszt Year.
The artists – Claudio Arrau, Alicia de Larrocha, Raymond Lewenthal, Benno Moiseiwitch and Egon Petri - can be regarded as Liszt's heirs for their astounding virtuosic command, for having created a repertoire of their own, or for having studied with Liszt's own pupils or grand-pupils. The excellent booklet essay by Jed Distler sets out the very convincing rationale behind the choices.
The box draws exclusively on recordings from the American Decca and Westminster labels, most of which have never been released on CD, and, in the case of Claudio Arrau, are now being released for the very first time.
Painstakingly restored, the recordings, from the 1950s and early 1960s, both mono and stereo, have come up wonderfully well. Arrau plays previously unreleased Beethoven (five favourite sonatas) and Chopin; De Larrocha offers pristine accounts of her core repertoire of Granados, Turina and Mompou; Lewenthal has scintillating Scriabin, an incandescent programme of Toccatas and Encores; Moiseiwitch, in his last recorded sessions (New York, 1961), ranges from Beethoven and Schumann to Mussorgsky; and Petri unfolds an unforgettable programme of Liszt and Busoni. Each artist has two CDs to display his or her powers.
The capbox cover is based on one of the original Westminster LP covers, and the 32-page color booklet replicates several of the original LP covers.
