I think this little piece was long a favourite of Abbey Simon's. I heard him perform them live on American TV ages ago-it must have been some time in the 1960s. Then I heard him play them in a long and demanding recital in Carnegie Hall in Nov. 1981 to celebrate his 60th birthday. I can tell you exactly what he played! He opened with the Franck Prelude, Chorale and Fugue (which was superb), then played the Variations and next the Arabeske by Schumann. He closed the first half of the recital with the Beethoven Sonata in A-flat, Op. 110. The second half of the recital consisted entirely of all four Chopin Ballades! It was a wonderful recital which I shall never forget. The audience was riveted; I think you could have heard a pin drop at almost any point! The encores consisted of some Rachmaninoff, but with my very young years I was still unaware of much of the repertoire to tell you what pieces they were, but I think one was an early piece called "Elegy". There were detectable mannerisms he had borrowed from his great teacher Hofmann-for example, the way he broke (playing one hand before the other) the concluding tonic chord in the Chopin A-flat-I think this little mannerism originally came from Anton Rubinstein! He also used Hofmann's custom-made piano bench-it was slanted slightly so that the player appeared to be diving into the keyboard. I guess it had something to do with providing more weight from the upper body to achieve greater sonority (Hofmann had been a very small man), Outside Carnegie Hall the posters had gone up announcing the "Legendary British Pianist" Moura Lympany, who was giving a recital at CH the following night, but I failed to get tickets as I was at that time unfamiliar with her playing-now it's one of my regrets I missed it! I think I remember that her programme featured Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin". I know Abbey Simon suffered a severe injury to his hands some years ago-he was crossing a street in Amsterdam, and was hit by a car and his hands were driven over and crushed!! You would think that would have been the end of his playing, but he had a very good surgeon in Switzerland who fully restored his playing ability! He is a true artist who has dedicated his life to music and the piano. I imagine it must be wonderful to have had him as a teacher!
![[CCCO] J.S. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 | Ana Glig, piano](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/p1YZg-ZDHf0/mqdefault.jpg)
![[CCCO] J.S. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 | Ana Glig, piano](/img/tr.png)
I think this little piece was long a favourite of Abbey Simon's. I heard him perform them live on American TV ages ago-it must have been some time in the 1960s. Then I heard him play them in a long and demanding recital in Carnegie Hall in Nov. 1981 to celebrate his 60th birthday. I can tell you exactly what he played! He opened with the Franck Prelude, Chorale and Fugue (which was superb), then played the Variations and next the Arabeske by Schumann. He closed the first half of the recital with the Beethoven Sonata in A-flat, Op. 110. The second half of the recital consisted entirely of all four Chopin Ballades! It was a wonderful recital which I shall never forget. The audience was riveted; I think you could have heard a pin drop at almost any point! The encores consisted of some Rachmaninoff, but with my very young years I was still unaware of much of the repertoire to tell you what pieces they were, but I think one was an early piece called "Elegy". There were detectable mannerisms he had borrowed from his great teacher Hofmann-for example, the way he broke (playing one hand before the other) the concluding tonic chord in the Chopin A-flat-I think this little mannerism originally came from Anton Rubinstein! He also used Hofmann's custom-made piano bench-it was slanted slightly so that the player appeared to be diving into the keyboard. I guess it had something to do with providing more weight from the upper body to achieve greater sonority (Hofmann had been a very small man), Outside Carnegie Hall the posters had gone up announcing the "Legendary British Pianist" Moura Lympany, who was giving a recital at CH the following night, but I failed to get tickets as I was at that time unfamiliar with her playing-now it's one of my regrets I missed it! I think I remember that her programme featured Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin". I know Abbey Simon suffered a severe injury to his hands some years ago-he was crossing a street in Amsterdam, and was hit by a car and his hands were driven over and crushed!! You would think that would have been the end of his playing, but he had a very good surgeon in Switzerland who fully restored his playing ability! He is a true artist who has dedicated his life to music and the piano. I imagine it must be wonderful to have had him as a teacher!
"Delicious" and "sparkling" are indeed the words. A most fluid and elegant account!
Absolutely beautiful and played with such charm! Great phrasing and pedal use. First rate in every way. As good as it gets.
Très belle interprétation pianistique des variations Abegg de Schumann très émouvante
Abbey Simon has the best Carnaval I have ever heard
lovely❤
Absolutely amazing performance...Thank you for posting this...!
Simon was born 1920 and died 2019 just a few weeks before his 100. birthday.
absolutely fantastic!
""The spirits of dear friends, thicker they come, collecting, dispensing, singing " along with Abbey Simon and Schumann !!
Меня очаровала,пленила и
музыка и её исполнение!
Благодарю!
Остаётся только узнать об исполнителе…
Спасибо Вам большое ! И всего доброго!
14.03.2024.
QUESTION: Who plays the piano better than Abbey Simon?
ANSWER: NO ONE!