Benno Moiseiwitsch plays Chopin's Preludes live in 1961
Вставка
- Опубліковано 3 жов 2021
- If you wish to support The Piano Files, please consider membership on Patreon: / thepianofiles
An unpublished recording of a February 8, 1961 concert performance of Benno Moiseiwitsch playing the Chopin 24 Preludes Op.28 with the rarely-played posthumously published Prelude No.26 introduced into the cycle (he did not include it in his commercial recording).
In early 1961, Moiseiwitsch gave three Wednesday recitals at the Y in New York over the course of three weeks - January 25, February 1, and February 8 - and only portions of these were published in a Pearl set produced by Allan Evans. While not all of the performances find the great Russian pianist at his best, there is indeed some stupendous playing, including this phenomenal traversal of the Chopin Preludes.
Moiseiwitsch had put the Op.28 cycle on disc for HMV on December 29-30, 1948 and this live traversal over a decade later is equally powerful and emotive, his marvellous interpretations appreciable despite the less-than-ideal recording quality (one can hear audience applause bleeding through the opening minute of the tape from another recorded performance, but the rest is better and is definitely worth tolerating).
As always, Moisewitsch plays with a gloriously varied tonal palette, elegant phrasing and voicing, impressive dexterity (other performances from these concerts were not as unified), sumptuous timing, and tremendous sensitivity and strength - grand, noble, refined pianism!
A wonderful addition to Moiseiwitsch's recorded legacy!
The repetition of the very short seventh prelude in A major is an absolutely genius idea, and so wonderfully realised.
It's an interesting idea. The composer Rodion Shchedrin had another way of increasing the meaning of that lovely light piece - he played it with great breadth, as if the piece was aloft in the air like some down that just floated there. You can see him play it on YT. This rec of Moisewitsch brings back good memories of his wonderful playing.
@@ADGO Thank you so much
@@ADGOis it still on youtube? I can’t find it 😢
That note on 23.05 in the 16th prelude….pure genius
I heard his last 3 performances at the Royal Albert Hall Proms, in 1960, 61 and 62, There were two Rach seconds, and an Emperor.
He and Rubinstein were the two finest pianists I heard live - Rubinstein 5 times in London, including his final recital at Wigmore Hall.
Моисеевич на много более глубокий сложный пианист да и более техничный. У Рубинштейна есть одна изюминка это гордое звучание. Но оно проявляется только в полонезах и мазурках. А так по мне Рубинштейн слишком психологически простой пианист
One of the greatest virtuoso in my heart.
I will not forget him even after the times pass.
These days, there are many great pianists.
But I can find a lot of creativity, ideas, and originality from millennium's previous generations of virtuosos.
Pianists of that era played not only the role of performers but also the role of composers. The attitude toward infinite creativity, research,. They often modified, added, or omitted sheet music themselves.These days, people seem to be too afraid of modificationing the score orChange of emotions and regard it as a sin.
There may be differences in opinion, but I miss those days when more free and romantic.
I often miss the days when I was never born.
One day, I used to hear him play Wagner/lisz's Thannhauser ouverture, when the performance was over, he told , "Good night, and bonne soiree," to the studio's camera.
No matter how long it had been, he felt like an uncle who told me friendly things. I love him.
A true poet and master. ♥️
What a poet. The pianist barely pauses a measure's worth between each prelude, endowing the whole cycle with a wonderful Schumannesque quality. The pedal point tonic bass note in the Ab prelude with the treble over it in a gossamer haze of held damper pedal is but one of many superbly imaginative touches. BTW this recital took place only a few days after a major blizzard--that winter was one of NYC's historically heaviest, I remember it. Is the photo of his overlit facial pores with empty coat hangers in the background from that snowbound evening braved by hearty music lovers?
I love the preludes. This is amazing. Such gracefulness in the graces and deepness in the deeps
Moiseiwitsch is my favorite, so this is a treat for me. I was recently listening to a vibrant, bracing performance of the Brahms Paganini Variations played by Aline Van Berentzen, a piece which Moiseiwitsch played often but never recorded, and I was thinking how well the music would have suited his temperament and musicality.
мой тоже самый любимый пианист
Thank you so much for posting this! Who today can play like Benno?
Nobody. 😢
@@funklover24 I know...
You may also listen to A. Cortot (Many versions : 1926, 1942, 1957) and compare.
I know Cortot's recordings very well and have been listening to them for over 3 decades. There's also his more famous 1933 cycle, and excerpts of a 1927-28 cycle. Moiseiwitsch also recorded the set in 1948.
Thank you for this. Somehow I missed it before. Moiseiwitsch is my favorite and it is a joy to hear a new (to me) recording of him.
So glad you found this too! Benno makes everything better! I can't get enough of him!
вообще мой любимый пианист Моисеевич.
Amazing playing by truly great pianist!
Wonderful! Especially No.16 and No.20 are very powerful. Someday I would like to listen to Chopin's B flat minor Sonata played by him. Thank you so much.
My beloved Benno...thank you Marc!
Wonderfoul music 🎹 Thanks for sharing 🎹 Amazing sounds
Extraordinary playing by Moiseiwitsch as usual
At 0:50-0:55 there's a big reduction in background noise. Is it the audience's applause which is dying down?
If you read the text under the UA-cam player window, I wrote that “one can hear audience applause bleeding through the opening minute of the tape from another recorded performance” - it was a technical problem with the original tape… so that finally clears around the time you indicated.
Wonderfully played. Thank you for sharing.
EXRAORDINARY AND SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL!
Thanks for this...Moiseiwitsch is one of my favorites.
Nice. Ty.
WOW!! Thanks for sharing!❤️
Wow! Thank you so much, Mark!
Наверное лучший исполнитель этого произведения хотя и Гилельс здорово исполнял
22:40
Wonderful! Does the rest of the concert exist?
Yes - as per the text beneath the upload, some of those items were already released on that 2-CD set on Pearl that included some larger works by Schumann... not all of them as well-played as this ...
I'm always hoping that somehow there's more live Moiseiwitsch lurking out there...
@@PianistsAndMore I'm still hoping a Rachmaninoff 3rd will show up ...
Was he still playing the 3rd in the 50s and 60s???
@@PianistsAndMore that I'm not sure of but he did in the late 40s, if I recall correctly - and there's that superb 1946 BBC Paganini Rhapsody that is one of the greatest recordings of anyone playing anything ... so we can hope ...
A difficult tempo to accept in the E major prelude. Chopin's indication is largo meaning very slow and with prolixity. Unlike Moiseiwitsch, Fiorentino followed Chopin's instructions and achieved an exceptionally beautiful outcome.
Fiorentinon's rendition of this sublime prelude: ua-cam.com/video/bUYSg4C3nUY/v-deo.html
Fabulous! Thank you! -- but why is "live" in quotes? Is it not really a live performance?