Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Frédéric François Chopin, Claude Achille Debussy, Ferencz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Robert Schumann
Performer: Claudio Arrau
Number of Discs: 5
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: SWR Classic
Release: 2018
Size: 1.14 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
01. Mozart: Rondo in D major, K485
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ‘Appassionata’
02. I. Allegro assai
03. II. Andante con moto
04. III. Allegro ma non troppo
Schumann: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
05. I. Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen
06. II. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch
07. III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten
CD 02
Debussy: Pour le piano
01. I. Prélude
02. II. Sarabande
03. III. Toccata
04. Ravel: Jeux d’eau
Ravel: Miroirs, 5 pieces for piano
05. No. 4, Alborada del gracioso
Liszt: Chants Polonais after Chopin (6), S480
06. No. 5, Meine Freuden
Chopin: Études (12), Op. 10
07. No. 4 “Torrent”
08. Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso in E major, Op. 14
09. Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47
10. Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
11. Chopin: Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54
CD 03
Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
01. I. Allegro maestoso
02. II. Scherzo. Molto vivace
03. III. Largo – Cantabile
04. IV. Finale. Presto ma non tanto
Chopin: Preludes (24), Op. 28
05. No. 1 in C Major
06. No. 2 in A Minor
07. No. 3 in G Major
08. No. 4 in E Minor
09. No. 5 in D Major
10. No. 6 in B Minor
11. No. 7 in A Major
12. No. 8 in F-Sharp Minor
13. No. 9 in E Major
14. No. 10 in C-Sharp Minor
15. No. 11 in B Major
16. No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor
17. No. 13 in F-Sharp Major
18. No. 14 in E-Flat Minor
19. No. 15 in D-Flat Major “Raindrop”
20. No. 16 in B-Flat Minor
21. No. 17 in A-Flat Major
22. No. 18 in F Minor
23. No. 19 in E-Flat Major
24. No. 20 in C Minor
25. No. 21 in B-Flat Major
26. No. 22 in G Minor
27. No. 23 in F Major
28. No. 24 in D Minor
CD 04
Beethoven: Rondos (2), Op. 51
01. No. 2 in G Major
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
02. I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung
03. II. Lebhaft. Marschmäẞig
04. III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll
05. IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit
CD 05
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24
01. Aria
02. Var. 1
03. Var. 2
04. Var. 3
05. Var. 4
06. Var. 5
07. Var. 6
08. Var. 7
09 .Var. 8
10. Var. 9
11. Var. 10
12. Var. 11
13. Var. 12
14. Var. 13
15. Var. 14
16. Var. 15
17. Var. 16
18. Var. 17
19. Var. 18
20. Var. 19
21. Var. 20
22. Var. 21
23. Var. 22
24. Var. 23
25. Var. 24
26. Var. 25
27. Fugue
Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9
28. No. 1, Préambule
29. No. 2, Pierrot
30. No. 3, Arlequin
31. No. 4, Valse noble
32. No. 5, Eusebius
33. No. 6, Florestan
34. No. 7, Coquette
35. No. 8, Réplique
36. No. 9, Papillons
37. No. 10, ASCH – SCHA (Lettres dansantes)
38. No. 11, Chiarina
39. No. 12, Chopin
40. No. 13, Estrella
41. No. 14, Reconnaissance
42. No. 15, Pantalon et Colombine
43. No. 16, Valse allemande
44. No. 17, Intermezzo. Paganini
45. No. 18, Aveu
46. No. 19, Promenade
47. No. 20, Pause
48. No. 21, Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins
This is a first release of the recitals from 1954, 1960 in Ludwigsburg and a re-release of the recital from 1963 in Schwetzingen. Claudio Arrau was one of the most prominent pianists of the 20th century with a career that lasted for 80 years. Claudio Arrau, renowned throughout the world as one of the supreme keyboard masters of the century, ended his career by achieving the one artistic goal he had pursued for a lifetime: the total fusion of virtuosity and meaning. Where other famous pianists play the piano for excitement, power or display, Arrau played to probe, to divine, to interpret. Says Arrau, “An interpreter must give his blood to the work interpreted.” The famed late doyen of London music critics, Sir Neville Cardus of the Guardian, explained Arrau vividly: “Arrau is the complete pianist. He can revel in the keyboard for its own pianistic sake, representing to us the instrument’s range and power, but he can also go beyond piano playing as we are led by his art to the secret chambers of the creative imagination.”
These are three concerts recorded by SWR (Stuttgart radio), in public, at Schwetzingen and Ludwigsburg on 27 March 1954, 12 March 1960 and 26 May 1963 respectively. The SWR master tapes have been painstakingly remastered, as you might well imagine. At it seems that this is the first time that these concerts have been put on the market! But all that work, unfortunately, can’t improve the tuning on the piano in the first 1954 concert, even if that problem is negligible when set against the quality of Claudio Arrau’s playing and interpretation. For this first concert, the stand-out works are Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata, Schumann’s Carnaval, and in the second we find Pour le piano by Debussy – in a delicious, dreamy tone that never gets misted over – followed by Jeux d’eau and a superbly spirited and quirky Alborada del grazioso by Ravel. The 1960 concert, played on a better instrument, was dedicated to Chopin: two Ballades, the fantasmagorical Sonata in B minor, and then the 24 Preludes. Finally, the 1963 concert – the longest yet, running for 90 minutes – was recorded in a hall with very different, slightly reverberating, acoustics, on a piano that really meets the artist’s needs. The highlights are… really, the whole programme! We are treated to Sonata Op. 101 by Beethoven, Brahms’s Handel Variations and the no-less-imposing Carnaval by Schumann – which makes up the second part of the concert, and for which the microphones were placed rather further away… These are three documents which are fundamental to an understanding of the art of this monumental pianist, who at the time of recording was at the height of his power.