Composer: Mily Balakirev, Samuel Barber, Frédéric François Chopin, Ernö Dohnányi, Edvard Hagerup Grieg, Aram Khachaturian, Ferencz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn, Francis Poulenc, Sergey Rachmaninov, Alan Rawsthorne, Charles Camille Saint-Saëns, Robert Schumann
Performer: Dame Moura Lympany
Orchestra: National Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Adrian Boult, Royalton Kisch, Anatole Fistoulari, Boyd Neel, Sidney Beer, Warwick Braithwaite, Jean Martinon, Anthony Collins
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Catalogue: ELQ4829404
Release: 2019
Size: 1.38 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Rachmaninov: Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3
01. No. 2 Prelude in C-Sharp Minor
Rachmaninov: Preludes Op. 23 Nos. 1-10
02. No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor: Largo
03. No. 2 in B-Flat Major: Maestoso
04. No. 3 in D Minor: Tempo di minuetto
05. No. 4 in D Major: Andante cantabile
06. No. 5 in G Minor: Alla marcia
07. No. 6 in E-Flat Major: Andante
08. No. 7 in C Minor: Allegro
09. No. 8 in A-Flat Major: Allegro vivace
10. No. 9 in E-Flat Minor: Presto
11. No. 10 in G-Flat Major: Largo
Rachmaninov: Preludes Op. 32 Nos. 1-13
12. No. 1 in C Major: Allegro vivace
13. No. 2 in B-Flat Minor: Allegretto
14. No. 3 in E Major: Allegro vivace
15. No. 4 in E Minor: Allegro con brio
16. No. 5 in G Major: Moderato
17. No. 6 in F Minor: Allegro appassionato
18. No. 7 in F Major: Moderato
19. No. 8 in A Minor: Vivo
20. No. 9 in A Major: Allegro moderato
21. No. 10 in B Minor: Lento
22. No. 11 in B Major: Allegretto
23. No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor: Allegro
24. No. 13 in D-Flat Major: Grave – Allegro – Grave
Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
25. I. Allegro maestoso
26. II. Scherzo. Molto vivace
27. III. Largo
28. IV. Finale. Presto non tanto
29. Mendelssohn: Capriccio Brillant in B minor Op. 22
30. Mendelssohn: Rondo brillant in E flat major, Op. 29
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S124
31. I. Allegro maestoso
32. II. Quasi adagio
33. III. Allegretto vivace – Allegro animato
34. IV. Allegro marziale animato – Presto
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
35. I. Allegro affettuoso
36. II. Intermezzo. Andantino grazioso
37. III. Allegro vivace
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
38. I. Allegro molto moderato
39. II. Adagio
40. III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato
Dohnányi: Concert Etudes, Op. 28
41. No. 6 Capriccio in F Minor
Poulenc: 3 Novelettes
42. I. Modéré sans lenteur
43. Balakirev: Islamey – Oriental Fantasy
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
44. I. Andante sostenuto
45. II. Allegro scherzando
46. III. Presto
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto in D flat major
47. I. Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso
48. II. Andante con anima
49. III. Allegro brillante
Rawsthorne: Piano Concerto No. 1
50. I. Capriccio. Allegro molto
51. II. Chaconne. Andante con moto
52. III. Tarantella. Vivace
Rachmaninov: Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3
53. No. 2 Prelude in C-Sharp Minor
Rachmaninov: Preludes Op. 23 Nos. 1-10
54. No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor: Largo
55. No. 2 in B-Flat Major: Maestoso
56. No. 3 in D Minor: Tempo di minuetto
57. No. 4 in D Major: Andante cantabile
58. No. 5 in G Minor: Alla marcia
59. No. 6 in E-Flat Major: Andante
60. No. 7 in C Minor: Allegro
61. No. 8 in A-Flat Major: Allegro vivace
62. No. 9 in E-Flat Minor: Presto
63. No. 10 in G-Flat Major: Largo
Rachmaninov: Preludes Op. 32 Nos. 1-13
64. No. 1 in C Major: Allegro vivace
65. No. 2 in B-Flat Minor: Allegretto
66. No. 3 in E Major: Allegro vivace
67. No. 4 in E Minor: Allegro con brio
68. No. 5 in G Major: Moderato
69. No. 6 in F Minor: Allegro appassionato
70. No. 7 in F Major: Moderato
71. No. 8 in A Minor: Vivo
72. No. 9 in A Major: Allegro moderato
73. No. 10 in B Minor: Lento
74. No. 11 in B Major: Allegretto
75. No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor: Allegro
76. No. 13 in D-Flat Major: Grave – Allegro – Grave
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
77. I. Andante sostenuto
78. II. Allegro scherzando
79. III. Presto
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30
80. I. Allegro ma non tanto
81. II. Intermezzo. Adagio
82. III. Finale. Alla breve
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto in D flat major
83. I. Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso
84. II. Andante con anima
85. III. Allegro brillante
Barber: Piano Sonata, Op. 26
86. I. Allegro energico
87. II. Allegro vivace e leggero
88. III. Adagio mesto
89. IV. Fuga. Allegro con spirito
The complete Decca recordings of a much-loved English pianist, including previously unissued material, newly remastered and issued with a comprehensive introduction to her early life and recording career. When Moura Lympany first visited Decca’s West Hampstead studios in 1941 to record a pair of Preludes by
Rachmaninov, even the composer himself had committed no more than seven of them to disc, and Eileen Joyce (with Lympany, a fellow pupil of the legendary piano pedagogue Tobias Matthay) had recorded only six. But the ecstatic critical reception to her first recordings – noting the strength of her tone and the subtle play of rubato – enabled her to complete the set within 18 months.
The complete set has been previously reissued by Eloquence, but in this box set of her complete Decca recordings it has been coupled with her remake of the cycle for LP, produced by John Culshaw using Decca’s new ‘ffrr’ technology. In the interim period she had been wooed away from Decca by Walter Legge at HMV, but she returned both to re-record staples of her repertoire and to add works such as Balakirev’s fiendishly difficult Islamey and the Third Concerto of Rachmaninov: both commanding and original accounts. Here also comparisons can be made between her later and her lesser-known early recordings of the Second Concerto by Saint-Saens and the big Romantically styled concerto by Khachaturian which had become a signature work after giving the UK premiere in 1940 .
Also in 1947, Lympany recorded Chopin’s B minor Sonata for Decca, but the results were not released. Now available for the first time, her performance displays an extraordinary insight into one of the great Romantic masterworks, and the subtle sensuality she imparts to the Largo may well be one of the most moving accounts on record. Eloquence has also unearthed a pair of superb live broadcasts: the quirky and lighthearted First Piano Concerto by Alan Rawsthorne (recorded in 1945, with the BBCSO conducted by Sir Adrian Boult), and a landmark work of 20th-century pianism, the Sonata by Samuel Barber, from December 1950. No collector of pianists and great piano recordings will want to be without this comprehensive tribute to Lympany’s art.
The extensive booklet is superbly annotated with a reminiscence by Bryce Morrison and a fascinating note by Stephen Siek, as well as several rare and some previously unseen photographs from the Moura Lympany Archive.