Aline van Barentzen (piano)
Radio Archives Edition
rec. 1956-1974
Meloclassic MC1080 [9 CDs: 694]
Aline van Barentzen, born on 7th July 1897 in Massachusetts was of Anglo-Danish descent; her paternal grandparents were of English origin and her mother was born in Paris to a Danish father and Scottish mother. Her parents were separated by the time she was five and soon divorced; she elected to take her mother’s maiden name. Her musical education began in the United States but by November 1905 she was studying in Paris thanks to the financial patronage of an American businessman, Charles Henry Bond, and progressed so much in that first year that she performed Beethoven’s first concerto a few days short of her 9th birthday. At the Paris Conservatoire her teachers were a ms Marcou, Marguerite Long and, in the advanced female piano class, Eraïm-Miriam Delaborde who seems to have had and excellent pedigree having studied with Alkan, Liszt, Moscheles and Henselt. Barentzen was certainly gifted and after gaining a first prize and many honours she continued her studies in Berlin with Hans Barth and, from 1911 to 1914 with Ernst von Dohnányi. By the age of thirteen her repertoire of concertante works included Weber’s Konzertstück, Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasie,Beethoven’s third concerto, Mozart’s B flat and C minor concertos K.595 and K.491 and, by March 1912, Saint-Saëns second concerto while she started playing solo works such as the Paganini variations by Brahms which were central to her repertoire. From this point onwards she maintained a demanding concert schedule and seemed to garner accolades from most everywhere; the notable exception, documented in the admirable booklet, was Berlin where she was described as lacking in emotional depth though her immense technical prowess was acknowledged. She had a vast repertoire that extended well into contemporary music; Szymanowski, Prokofiev and Villa-Lobos are represented here alongside Debussy and Ravel but she played concertante works by Villa-Lobos, Bartók, Germaine Tailleferre, Albert Roussel, Florent Schmitt and many now forgotten names. She became blind in her later years and passed away on 30th October 1984 in her adopted homeland’s capital, Paris.
In 2020 APR Recordings released a 2CD set containing her earliest recording and later recordings of Chopin, Liszt and Villa-Lobos (APR Recordings APR6031 review ~ review) which contains some startling playing and makes one wonder why she is not better known. Meloclassic has already produced two releases of her broadcast recordings (MC1021 and MC1072) whilst Japanese historical label have released the Chopin and Liszt items that are on APR6031 on SKRP33024 and a recital of miniatures from a Trianon LP recorded around 1957 on SKRP33026. Now Meloclassic have scored a real success with this very well filled 9 CD collection of studio recordings from 1956 to 1974.
Disc one contains two Beethoven concertos, the C minor and G major from 1963 and 1961 respectively. Both are crisp and energetic performances from all involved though some might find the first movement of the G major a little too crisp and energetic; Barentzen plays the ruminative opening completely straight with not even a hint of rubato and there is an element of this throughout though she does give a little more as the movement progresses. One thing that it does highlight is a 1928 Berlin reviewer’s comment that considering she had been a pupil of Dohnányi’s she has incorporated absolutely nothing from his interpretative style and much as I like Dohnányi’s playing I must agree. Whilst I disagree with his further comment that her entire approach is oriented towards a crude display of power her pin point accuracy and elegant fingerwork is worlds away from Dohnányi’s rhapsodic swagger and occasional splashy playing, even in Mozart. She is more pliant in the third concerto with a beautifully poised largo and her fingerwork is impressive, those chromatic runs a first class example of the French piano school. Cadenza buffs will be interested with her choices here, two big boned romantic cadenzas that I haven’t come across before, Carl Reinecke for the third and her teacher Dohnányi’s for the first movement and finale of the fourth; she evidently relishes both. She is ably partnered by Bigot and Lugano in their respective performances. The sequence continues on the second disc with a live fifth concerto accompanied here by the Monte Carlo orchestra under Louis Frémaux in mostly decent style that is occasionally obscured by the rather close piano which for all its prominence does highlight the delicacy of Barentzen’s playing. She is a little stiff in the adagio un poco moto especially in the central section onwards but she is vigorous and fluid in the outer movements; great playing but I still prefer her in the third. The disc couples this with the first of three Russian concertos that have been found complimented by miniatures from Borodin, Prokofiev and Balakirev. She is quite breathtaking in Rachmaninov’s C minor concerto, playing it as a full bodied virtuoso work if occasionally that means being rather straight in the lyrical passages; I’m thinking the first time through the big theme in the finale though oddly enough she is more tender on its second appearance in D flat. This is a live recording and the grit and fire of the playing come across admirably; Barentzen favours fast tempi and really goes for the più mosso, accelerando and presto in the finale nearly leaving the orchestra behind though for the most part Leopoldo Casella and his Italian players match her passion. Borodin hadn’t Rachmaninov’s command of the piano but his Petite Suite and Scherzo in A flat, which Rachmaninov recorded, are absolute gems and it is lovely to hear this selection from Barentzen who is especially touching in the sérénade – I confess I am amongst those who first heard this as night of my nights from Kismet; what a melodist Borodin was.
Disc three opens with a fine account of perennial favourite, the A minor concerto of Grieg. I like the playing of the Beromünster orchestra under Jorge Mester, thirty years old and just a year before his twelve year tenure with the Louisville orchestra. Barentzen is as warm and youthful as ever, bringing a lovely fluting tone to her first entry in the adagio and generally impressing in her quieter playing. The same orchestra, this time under Swiss composer and conductor Erich Schmid, joined her in another favourite Tchaikowsky’s first concerto, recorded in 1961. I like the faster speed of the opening and the crispness of her fingerwork and agility in the early cadenza and it is pretty spectacular performance overall, making a trio of impressive performances unearthed by Meloclassic that have come my way, alongside Marian Filar MC1063 and Alexander Brailowsky MC1078. Barentzen doesn’t push on as much as Brailowsky in the prestissimo of the middle movement and indeed slows down a little to emphasise the dance when the orchestra join her. Technically she matches Brailowsky but I love the utterly supple phrasing and relaxed playing in the finale, playing that suggests she has plenty in reserve while still packing a punch. Balakirev’s virtuoso show-piece Islamey follows, recorded in 1969 and Barentzen still has it even if her octaves aren’t as fluent as they once were and there are the odd wrong notes – she was 72 at the time – but the fingerwork is as dazzling as ever and it is still commanding. So too is Ravel’s Alborada de Gracioso, which features repeated notes that are perhaps not quite the equal of the machine gun notes we are accustomed to hearing nowadays but her morning clown has oodles of character and the sound is luxuriant.
The final two concertos are the sole concerto from her adopted homeland, Saint-Saëns’ second in G minor and the somewhat less familiar but utterly beautiful concerto by Scriabin, completing her Russian trilogy. The Saint-Saëns is a monumental performance, big boned and dramatic; anyone who thinks of Saint-Saëns as light-hearted should listen to this. The old description, that the concerto starts with Bach and ends with Offenbach is still true but there is no throwaway gaiety in the playing at any point here; Barentzen moulds the opening and its echo at the end of the first movement wonderfully, singing out the melodic notes within the passagework and, alongside Casella and his players, emphasises the weight of the melancholy that shrouds the movement. Even in the dazzle of the scherzo and the rush of the presto finale, not pushed as much as some do this drama is still felt though Barentzen’s passagework still dazzles. This is a distinctive performance and it is followed by another. Four years later she again joins the Radio della Svizzera Italiana orchestra and Leopoldo Casella, their fourth collaboration in this collection, for a studio recording of Scriabin’s F sharp minor concerto. This isn’t a big boned winner like the Tchaikovsky or the Rachmaninov but it is a wonderful romantic concerto, certainly from a “big tune” point of view – there’s one in each of the outer movements – but perhaps its difficulties are too intimate to make a big impact on the concert stage. For all its genial, romantic nature the pianist is faced with quite involved and at times dense piano writing, writing that foreshadows his early sonatas or the treacherous fantasy op.28 that followed three years later. Hints of Chopin lie in its decorative writing though I have never thought that Chopin overshadowed it to any great degree and its harmony and emotional passion is all Scriabin; getting to know it again on this disc had me thinking that Glazunov must have known it as there are many turns of phrase and figuration that can be heard in his F minor concerto of 1910 and his second movement is also a theme and variations. Barentzen is a master of the filigree writing and she makes light of its difficulties. Casella is once again an able collaborator though I did find the strings don’t have too much depth or richness, especially at the opening of the second movement but that is a minor quibble with such an enjoyable performance. A brief return to Saint-Saëns, Barentzen displaying all the French schools skills in his Étude en forme de valse before a real find, Szymanowski’s Masques, that trilogy of figures from myth and legend: Shéhérazade, Tantris the clown, Tristan in disguise as he woos Isolde, a scene taken from a parody of the two lovers by Ernst Hardt and the infamous Don Juan. All are characters inspired by love, whether the gradual acceptance guided by a skilful story-teller, the tragi-comic buffoonery of Tristan or the attractive but loveless song of the the egotistical Don Juan. The depths and complexity of Shéhérazade’s tales are certainly captured in the Szymanowski’s languid portrait, part impressionist, part late Scriabin and the capering of Tantris is desperate rather an amusing in this highly virtuosic scene that ends in funereal mood. Any hint of serenade in the final piece is always driven away after a few bars, its song threaded through the wild turbulence of the Don’s never-ending quest for the chase and the thrill of the hunt. Barentzen’s recording comes from the same session as the Saint-Saëns étude and the Borodin items from disc 2 and what a wonderful session that was; the colour and sense of the phantasmagoric, larger than life characters is palpable in her fearless playing.
The mood changes for Mozart and Beethoven sonatas recorded in sessions between 1959 and 1962. Her touch in the Mozart is beautiful, especially in the adagio of the D major to which she brings such wonderful poise and line. The simple, unmannered playing in both sonatas, unhurried but with buoyant confidence makes me hope that there is a Mozart concerto or two lurking in some archive somewhere. The Beethoven sonatas are similarly convincing, vivacious in the outer movements, notably the sparkling finales and what wonderful balance in the finale of op.26. There is a little stiffness in the chords of the theme of the op.26 variations but this soon relaxes and the variations and the adagio molto arewonderfully expressive; another chance to savour Barentzen’s velvet touch. The disc ends with both books of Brahms’ Paganini variations, a work she recorded a quarter of a century earlier, in a magisterial account that is sounds no less accomplished here than it did when she was in her forties. Whilst we are talking Brahms it is worth mentioning two performances on the final disc, the E flat intermezzo and the B minor rhapsody. After the success of her classical slow movements the intermezzo sounds positively straight-laced though it is a minor improvement on her 1947 version. The rhapsody is better though she only lets her lyrical side show through a little bit in the central section. Brahms’ close friend Schumann is next with a disc to himself opening with a grand Symphonic études that was recorded alongside the Chopin items on disc 7. It is every bit as thrilling and sure-footed as the Brahms but with plenty of charm in the lyrical passages, including a gorgeous ninth variation. All the other Schumann were recorded over two sessions in 1956, the earliest playing in this collection. It is easy to hear that Barenzten had an affinity with the composer and her playing, beyond a rather ordinary des Abends, brings vitality and good humour to all the playing. Technically she is unfazed by Schumann’s demands, clearly demonstrated by the études but also the glowing finale of Faschingsschwank or a gripping Traumenswirren. In the much less familiar Nachtstücke her silken tone is used to good effect in the opening march’s more melodic passages or in the second where Schumann’s more enigmatic writing seems to fire her imagination. The liveliness of Faschingsschwank’s opening allegro is easily matched, even surpassed in the energy of the third while she engages superbly with Schumann’s marking, einfach, simple, in the arpeggiated final piece. Her Chopin selection includes a noble F minor Fantasy as well as a wonderfully fluent third impromptu and the nocturne in C sharp minor, full of drama in it stormy heart. Much of the rest of the disc is taken up with French music starting with two morsels by Chabrier, mélancholie, tender and gently wrought and the exuberant Scherzo-Valse showing off Barentzen’s easy virtuosity; I love the elegance of her staccato playing in the B flat section. On to Ravel and an earlier Alborada de gracioso that has the same character as her 1967 and just the edge technically whilst her Oiseaux tristes oozes atmosphere, with delicately shaded repeated notes. A vigorous and lusty Toccata from Le Tombeau de Couperin leads to the suite that needs the same kind of nonchalant virtuosity in spades, Gaspard de la nuit, which she played alongside the Mozart D major Sonata in September 1960. It certainly has style and if I feel that she brings Ondine off best that is not to say she is lacking in Le Gibet or Scarbo,just that her attention to detail is more successful and there is the silky smoothness of her runs. Le Gibet hasn’t the colour or sense of desolation that Jean Doyen, another pianist from APR’s French Piano School series brings to the piece (APR6030 review ~ review) and in Scarbo, for all the chiaroscuro she finds she can rush climaxes, failing to make as much as she could of them. It is still a blistering performance. Valses nobles et sentimentales comes from a decade later and one notices that the technique is not everything it was and some errors creep in, notably in the first climax of the seventh waltz, while the first waltz is a little plodding but there is no diminution in the quality of her tone and what we actually find is a miracle of pianissimo playing along with with some delicious contrasts, notably in the baroque stylings of the third.
Debussy also gets a good outing and I have to say that much of the playing here impressed me as much as anything in the set. If I had just one Reflets dans l’eau to save for posterity I would be happy to choose this gloriously evocative version, shimmering cascades of notes pedalled to perfection. Poissons d’or from the same session is equally wonderful and the delights continue with a selection of eleven préludes from 1966 that range from a fille aux cheveux de lin, simple and youthful to a sparkling feux d’artifice with highlights such as a danse de Puck that is as impish as you like. Four are repeated on disc 9 and feux d’artifice sounds as sparkling when she was a month short of her 78th birthday. Further treasures like a big-boned Pour le piano with a moving sarabande, a vividly colourful estampes and as an encore the three deliciously played Mouvements perpétuels of Poulenc make this a disc to savour. The final disc is a mix of composers and introduces Mompou, Prokofiev and Fauré for the first time. There are two versions of the March and Prelude from Prokofiev’s op.12 pieces, evidently favourites of hers and magnificently played as is her selection of Fauré, some of the finest I have heard. The finesse of her fingerwork, subtle phrasing and sense of space all come together to great effect, all found too in the miniatures by Mompou, the teasing and innocent scenes of childhood that close with the playful jeunes filles au jardin, that favourite encore of many a pianist. Finally she plays some of the works that Heitor Villa-Lobos dedicated to her and which she recorded in 1956. Alma Brasileira is the most recent recording here, dating from June 1975, and I will stick to the earlier version on APR which has more freedom and expression; she was in her late seventies and the chordal passages in the um pouco mais movido are aimless compared to her earlier version. The selection from both books of A prole do bebê are another matter entirely, finely crafted in the slower numbers, heroic in the tumult of clay mouse from book 2 and the very familiar Punch from book 1 and she is alive to the intricacies found in both books.
I have had an enormous amount of pleasure exploring these discs and it really is an incredible homage to a pianist who is undeservedly little known, expanding our knowledge of her playing in ways that I never expected. The sound is excellent throughout and the booklet includes full documentation, an excellent and detailed biography by Dr. Jürgen Linsenmeyer and photos of the pianist and examples of recital posters including one from 1926 that includes many of the works heard here forty years later. I cannot praise this beautifully presented set enough and give it my heartiest recommendation.
Rob Challinor
Availability: Meloclassic
CD 1
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor Op.37
Orchestre national de la RTF
Eugène Bigot
rec 25 February 1963 Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, RTF – Radio Studio Recording
Piano Concerto No.4 in G Major, Op.58
Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana
Leopoldo Casella ∙ conductor
rec 1 September 1961, Lugano, Campo Marzi, RSI – Radio Studio Recording
CD 2
Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat Major, Op.73
Orchestre national de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Louis Frémaux
rec 16 August 1958, Monte-Carlo, Opéra, Radio Monaco, Live Recording
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18
Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana
Leopoldo Casella
rec 1 September 1961, Lugano, Kursaal Teatro Apollo, RSI, Live Recording
Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
Petite Suite No.1 Mazurka
Petite Suite No.5 Sérénade
Scherzo in A-flat Major
rec 14 December 1960, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
CD 3
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16
Radio-Orchester Beromünster
Jorge Meste
rec 3 January 1966, Zürich, Studio 1, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikowsky (1840-1893)
Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat minor, Op.23
Radio-Orchester Beromünster
Erich Schmid
rec. 18 September 1961, Zürich, Studio 1, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Mily Balakirev (1837-1910)
Islamey – Fantaisie orientale
rec. 28 March 1969, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Alborada del gracioso from Miroirs M.43 No.4
rec. 23 March 1967, Lugano-Besso, Studio Auditorio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
CD 4
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor Op.22
Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana
Leopoldo Casella
rec. 27 August 1960, Lugano, Campo Marzio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor Op.20
Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana
Leopoldo Casella ∙ conductor
rec. 22 December 1964, Lugano Besso, Studio Auditorio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
Camille Saint-Saëns
Étude en forme de valse Op.52 No.6
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Masques Op.34
rec. 14 December 1960, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
CD 5
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1750-1796)
Piano Sonata No.18 in D Major K.576
rec 21 September 1961 Basel Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Piano Sonata No 11 in A Major, KV 331/300i
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.5 in C minor Op.10 No.1
rec 13 April 1962 Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Piano Sonata No.12 in A-flat Major Op.26
rec 26 March 1959 Lugano, Campo Marzio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Variations on a Theme by Paganini Op.35 Book 1 & 2
rec 14 December 1960, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
CD 6
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Études Symphoniques Op.13
rec 16 December 1964, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Faschingsschwank aus Wien Op.26
rec 14 July 1956, Munich, Funkhaus Studio 1, BR, Radio Studio Recording
Fantasiestücke Op.12
Nachtstücke Op.23
rec 13 July 1956, Munich, Seidlhaus-Saal, BR, Radio Studio Recording
CD 7
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Fantaisie in F minor Op.49
rec 5 April 1960, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Impromptu No.3 in G-flat Major Op.51
Nocturne in C-sharp minor Op.27 No.1
rec 16 December 1964, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
Mélancolie No.2 from Dix pièces pittoresques
Scherzo-Valse No.10 from Dix pièces pittoresques
rec March 1967, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Oiseaux tristes from Miroirs M.43 No.2
Alborada del gracioso from Miroirs M.43 No.4
rec 6 July 1959, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Toccata from Le Tombeau de Couperin M.68 No.6
rec 5 April 1960, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Gaspard de la nuit M.55
rec 21 September 1961, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Valses nobles et sentimentales M.61
rec 8 March 1971, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording (Stereo)
CD 8
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Reflets dans l’eau from Images Book 1, L.110
Poissons d’or from Images Book 2, L.111
rec 6 July 1959, Basel, Studio M3 DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Voiles Prélude No.2 Bk.1
Les collines d’Anacapri Prélude No.5 Bk.1
La fille aux cheveux de lin Prélude No.8 Bk.1
La danse de Puck Prélude No.11 Bk.1
Minstrels Prélude No.12 Bk.1
La puerta del Vino Prélude No.3 Bk.2
Bruyères Prélude No.5 Bk.2
Général Lavine – eccentric Prélude No.6 Bk.2
La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune Prélude No.7, Bk.2
Ondine Prélude No.8 Bk.2
Feux d’artifice Prélude No.2 Bk.2
rec 13 September 1966, Lugano-Besso, Studio Auditorio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
Deux arabesques L.66
Estampes L.100
rec 8 March 1971, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
Pour le piano L.95
rec 22 February 1972, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording (Stereo)
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Mouvements perpétuels FP.14a
rec 23 March 1967, Lugano-Besso, Studio Auditorio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
CD 9
Claude Debussy
Voiles Prélude No.2 Bk.1
Les collines d’Anacapri Prélude No.5 Bk.1
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
March No.1 from Ten Pieces for Piano Op.12
Prélude No.7 from Ten Pieces for Piano Op.12
rec 26 March 1959, Lugano, Campo Marzio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Impromptu No.1 in E-flat Major Op.25
Impromptu No.2 in F minor Op.31
Impromptu No.3 in A-flat Major Op.34
Barcarolle No.6 in E-flat Major Op.70
Federico Mompou (1893-1987)
Scènes d’enfants IFM.5
rec 22 February 1972, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording (Stereo)
Johannes Brahms
Intermezzo in E-flat Major Op.117 No.1
Rhapsody in B minor Op.79 No.1
rec 25 May 1974, Paris, Studio 107, ORTF, Radio Studio Recording (Stereo)
Claude Debussy
La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune Prélude No.7 Bk.2
Feux d’artifice Prélude No.2 Bk.2
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Alma Brasileira Chôros No.5 W.207
rec 7 June 1975, Paris, Studio 107, ORTF, Radio Studio Recording (Stereo)
A Pobrezinha (Rag Doll) from A prole do bebê Suite 1 No.6
O Polichinelo (Punch) from A prole do bebê Suite1 No.7
A gatinha de papelão (Cardboard Cat) from A prole do bebê Suite 2 No.2
O camundongo de massa (Clay Mouse) from A prole do bebê Suite 2 No.3
O cavalinho de pau (Wooden Horse) from A prole do bebê Suite 2 No.5
O passarinho de pano (Cloth Bird) from A prole do bebê Suite 2 No.7
rec 23 March 1967, Lugano-Besso, Studio Auditorio, RSI, Radio Studio Recording
Sergei Prokofiev
March No.1 from Ten Pieces for Piano Op.12
Prélude No.7 from Ten Pieces for Piano Op.12
rec 21 December 1965, Basel, Studio M3, DRS, Radio Studio Recording
All items mono unless marked
