The Complete Recordings
Fanny Davies (piano)
Adela Verne (piano)
rec.1917-1930 various venues
APR APR5648 [79]
Clara Schumann had many pupils though only five made recordings; of those Ilona Eibenschütz and the eccentric Nathalie Janotha only made a handful between them, Adelina de Lara was nearly eighty when she made her private recordings and Carl Freidberg shunned the recording process until his eightieth year. We can however hear Fanny Davies who recorded three major works by Robert Schumann when she was in her late sixties and, on the strength of these recordings, still in possession of an admirable technique. She was born in 1861 and lived with her aunt in Birmingham where she had her first lessons; she must have progressed rapidly as she performed at Birmingham Town Hall when she was just seven. It was not long after that she was studying with Sir Charles Hallé and thence on to Leipzig where she studied under Carl Reinecke. Her time with Reinecke was to be brief and in 1883 she began to study with Clara Schumann, a period which Davies considered to be the most important in her musical education; the booklet quotes Davies as confessing that until she studied with Clara she hardly had any technique at all. There followed a highly successful career that brought collaborations with prominent orchestras such as the Gewandhaus and Vienna Philharmonic plus chamber partnerships with Joseph Joachim, Pablo Casals and Adelina Patti. She died in 1934 aged 73.
We are lucky to have three major works by Robert Schumann here. Davies had made some piano rolls in 1907, including Schumann’s Kinderszenen but she recorded no more until June 1928 when she played the A minor Concerto with Ernest Ansermet. This is a vigorous performance and certainly less indulgently romantic than I expected. There is some dislocation of hands and she rolls chords quite a lot, noticeable from the start in the first espressivo theme but this is not as much as some other pianists of the day did. Otherwise she is generally happy to keep things moving along with subtle rubato and no excessive use of ritardandi – witness the two bars into the first animato.There is considerable bounce in her little oboe duet later in this section and there is a wonderful flow in the andante espressivo, keeping the melody and accompaniment simple with no sense of having to milk the emotion. The cadenza is well judged and the stringendo e crescendo has a great sense of journey and growth from the opening espressivo to the return of the first theme un poco andante. The Intermezzo is taken at a chirpy tempo and once again she doesn’t take the con molto espressivo as an excuse to dawdle but keeps the dialogue relaxed and conversational. If I say the finale is unhurried it is just that it is not pushed forward like some modern readings. Dance is first and foremost in Davies’ playing though there is remarkable clarity even in the most muscular playing. Orchestral playing is excellent and, especially in the finale, has a chamber music feel. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is credited on the original labels though that name didn’t exist until 1946; prior to that it was members of the Royal Philharmonic Society.
Davies returned to the recording studio in October 1928 although nothing from that session was released. Neither was anything from the June 1929 to January 1930 sessions, a real shame as in addition to Davidsbündlertänze she recorded the Fantasiestücke op.12, the F sharp minor Romance and the Scherzo-Canon op.56 no.5. Her published version of Kinderszenen dates from February 1929. Her unmannered style continues from the very opening bars and the buoyancy heard in the concerto is very evident here in a Curious tale and a sprightly blind man’s buff. The phrasing in Träumerei is lovely, just a moment’s hesitation on the first chord before the rising notes. The balance in child falling asleep is all on the left hand, even, rather unusually, in the E major section, the right hand just a feather touch above the warm baritone of the melody. Her tone throughout is lovely and realised very well in these transfers. Her final session, on December 10th, 1930, was a remake of the unpublished Davidsbündlertänze, six sides that were only released in America. She captures the quixotic moods easily right from the start. Again she doesn’t linger in the introspective pieces but remains wonderfully intimate in may of the slower numbers and indeed heart-wrenching in number two. She is gripping in the more extrovert numbers; intensity in number four and lilting rhythms in the driving sixth, hushed humour in the eighth and gruff humour in twelfth. All in all this is a very satisfying account and very good to hear even with four numbers cut (three, seven, fifteen and sixteen).
APR have included a lovely bonus in the form of the complete recorded output of Adela Verne (1877-1952). She was born in Southampton to German parents and studied with her sister Mathilde, Clara Schumann, Clara’s daughter Marie Schumann and Paderewski – or a combination of these. Sources are contradictory on this point but whatever the reality these records show she was a fine technician with a grand sense of style. Her discs were made in 1917 and open with a marvellous Polonaise in A flat, stylish and fearless. There is one curious trait, a little hesitation between the six arpeggiated chords and the left hand, galloping cavalry octaves…and…we’re…Off!. Confirming the quality of her octaves in either hand is brief but spectacular La Jongleuse by Moszkowski which is played twice for some unknown reason, not that effortless playing like this requires an excuse. She easily equals Hofmann, Levitski and Rachmaninov in this devilish little trickster of a piece. In a triple whammy of music that seems more Paderewski than Clara Schumann Verne plays three of Ignacio Cervantes’ Cuban Dances. No llores más! is the fifth of his six Cuban Dances (recorded complete by Una Bourne six years later APR6037 review review) while Gran Señora and Porqué éh? form his two Cuban Dances. Verne is delightful in this music with tasteful and elegant rhythms, perfect for these sinuous dances. The booklet tells us that she played the Cervantes and Moszkowski as programmed encores after the Schumann Concerto in the Albert Hall in march 1918 and she must have charmed and amazed the audience; she has certainly done so for me.
Rob Challinor
Other review: Jonathan Woolf (November 2025)
Buying this recording via the link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
Contents – Fanny Davies
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Concerto in A Minor Op.54
Ernest Ansermet (conductor)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
rec. 15-16 June 1928
Kinderszenen Op.15 rec. 2 Feb, 1929
Davidsbündlertänze Op.6 (ommiting nos.3, 7, 15 and 16)
rec. 10 Dec, 1930
Contents – Adela Verne
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Polonaise in A Flat Major Op.53
Ignacio Cervantes (1847-1905)
Three Cuban Dances
Moriz Moszkowski (1854-1925)
La Jongleuse Op.52 No.4 (the work is performed twice) rec. 1917
