Moriz Rosenthal (piano)
Complete Solo Recordings
rec. 1928-42, Berlin, London, New Jersey and New York
APR 7503 [5 CDs: 362]
A Gramophone critic described this 2012 release as “pianophile heaven”, and it is easy to see why. It is the first time all Moriz Rosenthal’s recordings have been transferred to CD, and they are “absolutely complete”, insofar as that can ever be claimed. Two discoveries, recent in 2012, come from unique copies of issues released only in Argentina and in Japan. There are radio recordings, even a live performance from Rosenthal’s 75th birthday concert in New York. There are fragments. We also get more than one recording of the favourite items in his core repertoire. The duplicates of 18 pieces (out of the 97 items here) were usually recorded for different labels, especially those Chopin miniatures which dominate the discs. If he ever had a coughing fit at the keyboard and had to break off, I would expect that take to have been included here!
More important still, this is a link to the Golden Age of pianism, not least because Rosenthal’s teachers included Karol Mikuli (Chopin’s pupil) and later Franz Liszt. August Göllerich’s memoir of Liszt’s classes often mentions Rosenthal. He noted that on 18th June 1885, during a class break for “punch and cake”, Rosenthal “played his own study on Chopin’s Minute Waltz”, on which Liszt commented: “It is handsomely and cleverly wrought”. Liszt even suggested that since Chopin’s waltz was so short, Rosenthal should write a new ending for it. The Master then proceeded to improvise three different endings of his own, which perhaps put his pupil off the idea.
Chopin’s Waltz Op.64 No.1 is not here in any version, but it is nice to think that Chopin’s and Liszt’s style and interpretations we do get have been wrought in the presence of Liszt and his many eminent pupils. Rosenthal is one of those surrounding Liszt in a famous photo, included in the booklet. In fact, when Rosenthal studied with Liszt in the years 1876-1878 and 1884-1886 in Weimar and Rome, he was on occasion the sole pupil present. Privilege indeed.
But Rosenthal (1862-1946) came late to recording, beginning in May 1928 and ending in March 1942. Asked about the delay, he explained he did not think the earlier sound was good enough. Yet even that 1928 disc, of the pianist’s own Fantasy on Themes of Johann Strauss, sounds very good for its vintage. Ward Marston, in addition to his usual expert remastering of the discs, contributes an informative booklet note on the sources. He cites the Edison recordings on Disc 1 as “the most difficult to listen to”. Indeed, a lot of surface noise still masks the sound. It is worse in some pieces than others, but never quite enough to make one give up when the playing is so charming, as in the Nouvelle Étude No.3 with its characterful rubato. For those especially sensitive to such things, the hissy Edison discs occupy about three-quarters of one disc, and several of the items reappear in better sound, so the effect on the value of this six-hour set is quite minor.
It is the playing of Chopin that is central to the set, and to Rosenthal’s high posthumous reputation. The Berceuse (disc 2 track 3) is a tad less crystalline in the filigree runs than some. Even so, the give and take, the shifting emphasis between the left and right hand, the flow of the piece across its variations, holds the attention in a work where a listener can easily tune out mentally (it is a cradle song, after all). The tricky ‘Black Key’ Étude in G flat (Op.10 No.5), of which there are five versions here, is technically always adroit, especially considering the pianist was already in his mid-sixties when he made his first records.
Chopin also provides the larger items here. The Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor (disc 3, tracks 1-3) is cut in the old-fashioned manner. The first-movement opening orchestral tutti are much abbreviated and the central Larghettolaunched with no orchestral preface at all. A little bit of splashy playing in the finale aside, this is well worth hearing as an example of what concert-goers who heard Rosenthal live would have heard – pearly articulation and charming phrasing of the sort the work demands. The Sonata No.3 is the other big Chopin piece given complete. It was recorded when Rosenthal was 77 years old and still able to give imposing accounts of all its movements, even much, if not quite all, of the finale. His account of the lovely Largo is sublime, in a steady manner suggesting complete absorption into its world of enchantment.
Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 (disc 3, track 4) gets the full showpiece treatment, with Rosenthal’s own cadenza, yet retains its essential power, even dignity. But it is the lyrical playing perhaps that takes us back to an older age and style. This is romantic playing of mostly Romantic repertoire, such as once seemed the only way to play it. That Hungarian Rhapsody is followed on disc 3 by Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 in A flat Major in a beguiling interpretation full of sentiment, but without sentimentality. Perhaps more surprising is that Debussy’s prélude Reflets dans l’eau also receives very idiomatic treatment, as does Triana from Book Two of Albéniz’s Iberia. The chords in Debussy’s piece are ideally weighed, and the rhythms in Triana are given a nice ‘flamenco’ lift through Rosenthal’s subtle rubato.
The transfers are excellent. Even in those hissy Edisons, Ward Marston has surely made the right call in doing only enough noise reduction to be consistent with the “preservation of piano tone and attack”. Those apart, this is all very listenable. That tone and attack carry elements of the artist’s personality after all, and Rosenthal’s artistic personality is triumphantly conveyed here. Jeremy Nicholas, the critic quoted at the beginning, contributes a typically outstanding, insightful booklet note.
Roy Westbrook
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Contents
Rosenthal, Moriz: Fantasie um Johann Strauss II (1)
Chopin: Waltz in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2
Chopin: Mazurka in G Major, Op. 67 No. 1 (1)
Chopin: Waltz No. 14 in E Minor, Op. Posth, B. 56 (1)
Chopin: Prélude in B Minor, Op. 28 No. 6 (1)
Chopin: Prélude in B Major, Op. 28 No. 11 (1)
Chopin: Prélude in A Major, Op. 28 No. 7 (1)
Chopin: Prélude in F Major, Op. 28 No. 23 (1)
Chopin: Prélude in B Minor, Op. 28 No. 6 (2)
Chopin: Prélude in B Major, Op. 28 No. 11 (2)
Chopin: Prélude in A Major, Op. 28 No. 7 (2)
Chopin: Prélude in F Major, Op. 28 No. 23 (2)
Chopin: Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 63 No. 3 (1)
Chopin: Mazurka in A-Flat Major, Op. 24 No. 3 (1)
Chopin: Mazurka in G Major, Op. 67 No. 1 (2)
Chopin: Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 63 No. 3 (2)
Chopin: Mazurka in A-Flat Major, Op. 24 No. 3 (2)
Chopin: Mazurka in G Major, Op. 67 No. 1 (3)
Chopin: Waltz in A-Flat Major, Op. 42 (1)
Chopin: Waltz in A-Flat Major, Op. 42 (2)
Liszt: 6 Chants polonaise (After F. Chopin) [Arr.Rosenthal] No.1 The Maiden’s Wish [2]
Chopin: 3 Nouvelles études, Op. Posth., No. 3 in D-Flat Major
Chopin: Étude in C Major, Op. 10 No. 1 “Waterfall” (1)
Chopin: Prélude in B Minor, Op. 28 No. 6 (3)
Chopin: Prélude in A Major, Op. 28 No. 7 (3)
Chopin: Étude in G-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 5 “Black Keys” (1)
Chopin: Prélude in B Minor, Op. 28 No. 6 (4)
Chopin: Prélude in A Major, Op. 28 No. 7 (4)
Chopin: Étude in G-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 5 “Black Keys” (2)
Chopin: Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2 (1)
Chopin: Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2 (2)
Liszt: Chants Polonais after Chopin No. 5, Meine Freuden [1]
Chopin: Mazurka No. 17 in B flat minor, Op. 24 No. 4
Chopin: Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57 (1)
Chopin: Waltz in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (1)
Chopin: Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 in C minor
Chopin: Prélude in C Major, Op. 28 No. 1
Chopin: Prélude in G Major, Op. 28 No. 3 (1)
Chopin: Prélude in E-Flat Major, Op. 28 No. 19
Chopin: Waltz in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (2)
Chopin: Waltz No. 14 in E Minor, Op. Posth, B. 56 (2)
Rosenthal, Moriz: Papillons (1)
Chopin: Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 63 No. 3 (3)
Chopin: Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 63 No. 3 (4)
Chopin: Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 63 No. 3 (5)
Chopin: Étude in G-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 5 “Black Keys” (4)
Chopin: Étude in C Major, Op. 10 No. 1 “Waterfall” (2)
Chopin: Mazurka in G Major, Op. 67 No. 1 (4)
Debussy: Images pour piano – Book 1 No. 1, Reflets dans l’eau (2)
Albéniz: Iberia, book 2; III. Triana
Liadov: A Musical Snuffbox, Op. 32
Liadov: Preludes in B-Flat Major, Op. 46 No. 1
Rosenthal, Moriz: Carnaval de Vienne sur des thèmes de Johann Strauss (1)
Rosenthal, Moriz: Fantasie um Johann Strauss II (2)
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor (Cadenza by Rosenthal)
Liszt: Liebesträume, No. 3 in A-Flat Major
Chopin: Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57 (2)
Rosenthal, Moritz: Carnaval de Vienne sur des thèmes de Johann Strauss (2)
Liszt: Chants Polonais after Chopin (6), S480 No. 1, Mädchens Wunsch [1]
Chopin: Waltz in A-Flat Major, Op. 42 (3)
Chopin: Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2 (3)
Chopin: Étude Op. 25 No. 7 in C sharp minor
Chopin: 3 Nouvelles études, Op. Posth., No. 2 in A-Flat Major
Chopin: Mazurka in A-Flat Major, Op. 50 No. 2 (1)
Chopin: Études in G-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 5 “Black Keys”
Chopin: Waltz in A-Flat Major, Op. 42 (4)
Chopin: Prélude in B Minor, Op. 28 No. 6 (5)
Chopin: Prélude in G Major, Op. 28 No. 3 (2)
Chopin: Prélude in A Major, Op. 28 No. 7 (5)
Chopin: Mazurka in A-Flat Major, Op. 50 No. 2 (2)
Chopin: Mazurka in G Major, Op. 67 No. 1 (5)
Chopin: Mazurka No. 25 in B minor, Op. 33 No. 4
Chopin: Waltz in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (3)
Chopin: Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2 (4)
Chopin: Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2
Liszt: Chants Polonais after Chopin No. 1, Mädchens Wunsch [2]
Chopin: Mazurka in A-Flat Major, Op. 50 No. 2 (3)
Chopin: Mazurka No. 23 in D major, Op. 33 No. 2
Chopin: Mazurka No. 39 in B major, Op. 63 No. 1
Chopin: Mazurka in G Major, Op. 67 No. 1 (6)
Chopin: Mazurka No. 16 in A flat major, Op. 24 No. 3
Chopin: Prélude in F-Sharp Major, Op. 28 No. 13
Schubert: Moments Musicaux (6), D780, Op. 94 No. 3 in F Minor. Allegro moderato
Liszt: Soirées de Vienne No. 6, Allegro con strepito (After F. Schubert)
Rosenthal, Moriz: Carnaval de Vienne sur des thèmes de Johann Strauss (3)
Handel: Air and variations; “Harmonious Blacksmith”
Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
Liszt: Chants Polonais after Chopin, No. 5, Meine Freuden
Chopin: Tarantella in A flat major, Op. 43
Excerpt, Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, III. Largo (Incomplete)
Excerpt, Chopin: Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor, II. Romanza. Larghetto (2)
Rosenthal, Moriz: Carnaval de Vienne sur des thèmes de Johann Strauss
