Wilhelm Kempff (piano)
Live Concert Edition
rec. 1955-1969, various locations
Mono & Stereo
Meloclassic MC1076 [9 CDs: 630]

German pianist Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991) has always featured high on my list of favorites. He’s widely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s greatest pianists. An exponent of the Germanic tradition, he had a repertoire that centred on such composers as Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, with frequent forays into the music of Mozart, Schumann and Liszt. His commercial legacy is impressive, with two Beethoven Sonata cycles and a Schubert sonata cycle to his name. His elevated music-making influenced a whole generation of those who came after him. Having lived with his studio recordings for many years, this release from Meloclassic of live inscriptions is very welcome. At the start of my journey, trawling through this collection, I had the hope that I would discover those same qualities that have always drawn me to his playing –  a formidable musical intellect, rhythmic inventiveness, lyrical intensity and shaping and, above all, freshness and spontaneity; music  recreated on the wing.

Kempff recorded two complete commercial cycles of the Beethoven Piano concerto for DG. The   first was in mono in 1953 with Paul van Kempen and the Berlin Philharmonic. Almost ten years later he took them into the studio again with the same orchestra for a stereo rerun, this time under the baton of Ferdinand Leitner. Of the two I much prefer the earlier traversal. Van Kempen’s conducting is more engaged, inspirational and vital. It’s good we have a complete live cycle here. This time Kempff is partnered by Heinz Rögner at the helm of the Statskapelle Berlin. These airings were set down in March 1965, and the same qualities I found in van Kempen’s conducting reside with Heinz Rögner. He’s rhythmically incisive and sculpts the melodic lines expressively and eloquently. Kempff is at the top of his game in this repertoire.

His slow movements, especially, are filled with great warmth and delicacy, with everything flowing naturally. The finales are punchy and rhythmically tight, and one senses a real joy in the music making. There are a couple of finger slips in the fast runs of the First Concerto, but so what. The sound quality is excellent in all five, as is the balance between soloist and orchestra.

There are four Mozart Piano Concertos on offer: Nos. 15, 20, 24 and 27. The performances were recorded between 1955 and 1966, and each was made with a different conductor. Kempff’s poetic insights and  beguiling colour palette are strikingly evident. I would single out No. 24 in C minor for special mention. The performance is notable for its contrasting introspection with unalloyed passion. Kempff plumbs the depths of this wonderful work with great musicality and intellectual vision. Karl Münchinger and the Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart provide quality support, resulting in a convincing musical experience. Added to that, the sound quality is exceptionally agreeable. Mozart’s own cadenzas for K491 have not survived, and I particularly warm to Kempff’s own, which are charmingly constructed. The pianist employs his own cadenzas in all but No. 15 where the composer’s own is used.

Kempff’s 1962 performance of the Schumann Concerto with the Radio-Orchester Beromünster and Erich Schmid marries tonal power with red-blooded romantic virtuosity. Overall, it’s a passionate reading. It’s a pity in the closing bars of the finale Kempff sounds rather ragged. Four years later in September 1966 the pianist joined forces with the Staatskapelle Berlin under Heinz Rögner for a magisterial reading of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1. Kempff has all the requisite pianistic armoury to address the technical demands of this work. The slow movement is particularly effective in its poetic stretches which are lovingly contoured.

On 7 October 1963 the pianist played a solo recital in Potsdam. It opens with Bach’s French Suite No 5 in G Major. The fast movements are taken very briskly and, apart from a ruminative Sarabande, Kempff’s is a no-nonsense approach. He takes a similar view with regard to Mozart’s A minor Piano Sonata, though the dark recesses of the work are explored convincingly. Kempff addresses Schumann’s Symphonic Études with confidence and formidable technical prowess. In the ninth study he makes a striking contrast between the passionate thrust of the Florestan section and the dreamy longings of Eusebius. In Schubert’s earlier set of Four Impromptus there’s some lovely lyrical playing, especially in No. 3 in G flat. I did, however, find the third Impromptu a touch over-driven. This music is the perfect vehicle for the pianist to showcase his extensive colour palette. Two Brahms pieces, played with dramatic force, end the recital.

The collection includes several chamber music collaborations. There’s a very fine Mozart Piano Quartet No 1 in G minor with the Amadeus Quartet, taped 10 August 1962 in a rather boxy acoustic. The outer movements capture both the stormy and refined elements of the music, whilst the central Andante is played with honest and heartfelt expression. Between 1958 and 1966 Kempff participated on several occasions at the Prades Festival, founded by Pablo Casals. Kempff greatly admired the cellist, and their performance of Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 5 from 1958 demonstrates an elevated musicianship and singularity of vision. I wasn’t as enamoured with the Kempff/Sándor Végh collaboration, also from sessions in Prades in 1958,  in Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No 10 in G Major, Op 96. Végh’s tone is wiry, thin and monochrome. From the same concert there’s a Brahms Piano Trio No 1 in B Major, Op 8, in which Kempff joins forces with Végh and Casals. The reading is imbued with an abundance of lyricism and frequent changes of mood. Everything feels so relaxed, with the players obviously enjoying themselves.

All the recordings have scrubbed up well in the restoration and remastering process and emerge vibrant and bathed in wonderful clarity and definition. Some audience presence is  registered and applause is retained. The producer of this fine set, Lynn Ludwig, has written a detailed biographical account of Kempff’s life, and the booklet also contains some very interesting black and white photographs. One especially grabbed my attention, that of Kempff performing a Bach double Concerto with Alfred Cortot.

Those who cherish the artistry of Wilhelm Kempff will be immensely grateful to Meloclassic for unearthing these valuable audio documents. They are indeed worthy of preservation, and provide a desirable supplement to the pianist’s commercial legacy.

Stephen Greenbank

Availability: Meloclassic

Contents
CD 1
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No 1 in C Major, Op 15
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No 2 in B-flat Major, Op 19
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Staatskapelle Berlin
Heinz Rögner ∙ conductor
Recorded · 26 March 1965 · East Berlin · Staatsoper Unter den Linden · Rundfunk der DDR (Stereo)

CD 2
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor, Op 37
BEETHOVEN: Bagatelle No 1 E-flat Major, Op 33 (Encore)
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Staatskapelle Berlin
Heinz Rögner ∙ conductor
Recorded · 26 March 1965 · East Berlin · Staatsoper Unter den Linden · Rundfunk der DDR (Stereo)

BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No 4 in G Major, Op 58
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Staatskapelle Berlin
Heinz Rögner ∙ conductor
Recorded · 28 March 1965 · East Berlin · Staatsoper Unter den Linden · Rundfunk der DDR (Stereo)

CD 3
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No 5 in E-flat Major, Op 73
SCHUBERT: Impromptu No 4 in A-flat Major, D.899, Op 90 (Encore)
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Staatskapelle Berlin
Heinz Rögner ∙ conductor
Recorded · 28 March 1965 · East Berlin · Staatsoper Unter den Linden · Rundfunk der DDR (Stereo)

SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 54
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Radio-Orchester Beromünster
Erich Schmid ∙ conductor
Recorded · 24 January 1962 · Biel · Städtebundtheater · Schweizer Radio DRS (Mono)

CD 4
MOZART: Piano Concerto No 27 in B-flat Major, KV 595
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor, Op 15
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Staatskapelle Berlin
Heinz Rögner ∙ conductor
Recorded · 25 September 1966 · East Berlin · Staatsoper Unter den Linden · Rundfunk der DDR (Stereo)

CD 5
BRAHMS: Intermezzo in E-flat Major, Op.117/1 (Encore)
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Recorded · 25 September 1966 · East Berlin · Staatsoper Unter den Linden · Rundfunk der DDR (Stereo)

MOZART: Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor, KV 466
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
SO des Süddeutschen Rundfunks
Hans Müller-Kray ∙ conductor
Recorded · 21 July 1955 · Konstanz · Konzil-Saal · Süddeutscher Rundfunk (Mono)

MOZART: Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor, KV 491
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart
Karl Münchinger ∙ conductor
Recorded · 21 November 1969 · Stuttgart · Liederhalle · Süddeutscher Rundfunk (Stereo)

CD 6
BACH: French Suite No 5 in G Major, BWV 816
MOZART: Piano Sonata No 8 in A minor, KV 310/300
SCHUMANN: Études Symphoniques, Op 13
SCHUBERT: Four Impromptus, D 899, Op 90
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Recorded · 07 October 1963 · Potsdam · Nicolai-Saal · Rundfunk der DDR (Mono)

CD 7
BRAHMS: Rhapsody in G minor, Op 79, No 2
BRAHMS: Capriccio in B minor, Op 76, No 2
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Recorded · 07 October 1963 · Potsdam · Nicolai-Saal · Rundfunk der DDR (Mono)

MOZART: Piano Concerto No 15 in B-flat Major, KV 450
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Concertgebouw Orkest
Eugen Jochum ∙ conductor
Recorded · 17 March 1963 · Amsterdam · Concertgebouw · Algemene Vereniging Radio (Mono)

MOZART: Piano Quartet No 1 in G minor, KV 478
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Amadeus Quartet
Recorded · 10 August 1962 · Menton · Place de l’Église Saint-Michel · Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (Mono)

CD 8
BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No 5 in D Major, Op 102, No 2
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Pablo Casals ∙ cello

BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor, Op 111
BEETHOVEN: Six Bagatelles, Op 126
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Recorded · 16 July 1958 · Prades · Église Saint Pierre · Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (Mono)

CD 9
BACH/KEMPFF: Choral Prelude ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’, BWV 659
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano

BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No 10 in G Major, Op 96
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Sándor Végh ∙ violin

BRAHMS: Piano Trio No 1 in B Major, Op 8
Wilhelm Kempff ∙ piano
Sándor Végh ∙ violin
Pablo Casals ∙ cello
Recorded · 17 July 1958 ∙ Prades · Église Saint Pierre · Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (Mono)