Radu Lupu – Complete Decca Solo Recordings (FLAC)

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Peter Schubert, Robert Schumann
Performer: Radu Lupu
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Lawrence Foster
Number of Discs: 10
Format: FLAC (tracks+cue)
Label: Decca
Catalogue: 4782340
Release: 2010
Size: 2.05 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

CD 01
Beethoven: Rondos, Op. 51
01. 1. Moderato e grazioso in C Major
02. 2. Andante cantabile e grazioso in G Major

03. Beethoven: Variations on an Original Theme in C minor, WoO 80

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
04. 1. Allegro con brio
05. 2. Largo
06. 3. Rondo: Allegro

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1
07. 1. Andante
08. 2. Rondo. Allegro

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49 No. 2
09. 1. Allegro ma non troppo
10. 2. Tempo di Menuetto

CD 02
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ‘Moonlight’
01. I. Adagio sostenuto
02. II. Allegretto
03. III. Presto agitato

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ‘Pathetique’
04. I. Grave – Allegro di molto e con brio
05. II. Adagio cantabile
06. III. Rondo (Allegro)

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ‘Waldstein’
07. I. Allegro con brio
08. II. Introduzione (Adagio molto)
09. III. Rondo (Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo)

CD 03
Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5
01. 1. Allegro maestoso
02. 2. Andante espressivo
03. 3. Scherzo (Allegro energico)
04. 4. Intermezzo (Andante molto)
05. 5. Finale (Allegro moderato ma rubato)

06. Brahms: Theme & Variations (Arrangement of 2nd Movement of the String Sextet Op. 18)

CD 04
01. Brahms: Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79 No. 1
02. Brahms: Rhapsody in G minor, Op. 79 No. 2

Brahms: Intermezzi, Op. 117
03. No. 1 in E-Flat Major
04. No. 2 in B-Flat Minor
05. No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor

Brahms: Klavierstücke, Op. 118
06. No. 1, Intermezzo in A Minor
07. No. 2, Intermezzo in A Major
08. No. 3, Ballade in G Minor
09. No. 4, Intermezzo in F Minor
10. No. 5, Romance in F Major
11. No. 6, Intermezzo in E-Flat Minor

Brahms: Klavierstücke, Op. 119
12. No. 1, Intermezzo in B Minor
13. No. 2, Intermezzo in E Minor
14. No. 3, Intermezzo in C Major
15. No. 4, Rhapsody in E-Flat Major

CD 05
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor, D845
01. 1. Moderato
02. 2. Andante, poco mosso
03 .3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace) – Trio (Un poco più lento)
04. 4. Rondo (Allegro vivace)

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 in G major, D894
05. 1. Molto moderato e cantabile
06. 2. Andante
07. 3. Menuetto (Allegro moderato)
08. 4. Allegretto

CD 06
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 5 in A flat major, D557
01. 1. Allegro moderato
02. 2. Andante
03. 3. Allegro

Schubert: Two Scherzi, D593
04. No. 1 In B Flat Major – Allegretto e Trio
05. No. 2 In D Flat Major – Allegretto moderato e Trio

Schubert: Moments Musicaux, D780, Op. 94
06. No. 1 in C Major (Moderato)
07. No. 2 in A Flat Major (Andantino)
08. No. 3 in F Minor (Allegro moderato)
09. No. 4 in C Sharp Minor (Moderato)
10. No. 5 in F Minor (Allegro vivace)
11. No. 6 in A Flat Major (Allegretto)

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 19 in C minor, D958
12. 1. Allegro
13. 2. Adagio
14. 3. Menuetto (Allegro)
15. 4. Allegro

CD 07
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D959
01. 1. Allegro
02. 2. Andantino
03. 3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
04. 4. Rondo (Allegretto)

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 14 in A minor, D784
05. 1. Allegro giusto
06. 2. Andante
07. 3. Allegro vivace

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 1 in E major, D157
08. 1. Allegro ma non troppo
09. 2. Andante
10. 3. Menuetto: Allegro vivace – Trio

CD 08
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 13 in A major, D664
01. 1. Allegro moderato
02. 2. Andante
03. 3. Allegro

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D960
04. 1. Molto moderato
05. 2. Andante sostenuto
06. 3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace con delicatezza)
07. 4. Allegro ma non troppo

CD 09
Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D899 (Op. 90)
01. No. 1 in C Minor: Allegro molto moderato
02. No. 2 in E Flat Major: Allegro
03. No. 3 in G Flat Major: Andante
04. No. 4 in A Flat Major: Allegretto

Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D935
05. No. 1 in F Minor: Allegro moderato
06. No. 2 in A Flat Major: Allegretto
07. No. 3 in B Flat Major: Theme (Andante) with Variations
08. No. 4 in F Minor: Allegro scherzando

CD 10
Schumann: Humoreske, Op. 20
01. 1. Einfach – 2. Sehr rasch und leicht
02. 3. Hastig
03. 4. Einfach und zart – 5. Intermezzo
04. 6. Innig
05. 7. Sehr lebhaft
06. 8. Finale

Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15
07. 1. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen
08. 2. Kuriöse Geschichte
09. 3. Hasche-Mann
10. 4. Bittendes Kind
11. 5. Glückes genug
12. 6. Wichtige Begebenheit
13. 7. Träumerei
14. 8. Am Kamin
15. 9. Ritter vom Steckenpferd
16. 10. Fast zu ernst
17. 11. Fürchtenmachen
18. 12. Kind im Einschlummern
19. 13. Der Dichter spricht

Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16
20. 1. Äusserst bewegt
21. 2. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch – Intermezzo I (Sehr lebhaft) – Tempo I – Intermezzo II (Etwas bewegter) – Tempo I
22. 3. Sehr aufgeregt
23. 4. Sehr langsam
24. 5. Sehr lebhaft
25. 6. Sehr langsam
26. 7. Sehr rasch
27. 8. Schnell und spielend

Iconic pianist Radu Lupu has been an exclusive DECCA artist for 40 years. This all-new collection brings together for the first time all of his published solo recordings for DECCA as an integral set. It features those composers with which Lupu’s name has been so closely linked throughout his career and for which he has achieved worldwide acclaim: Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann.

A special bonus is the inclusion of Radu Lupu’s first concerto recording – Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto – made in 1970 with the London Symphony under the direction of Lawrence Foster. It was this concerto that Lupu had played to massive acclaim when he won the 1969 Leeds Piano Competition.

2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Lupu’s association with Decca and in November he celebrates his 65th birthday.

Although he has publicly expressed his dislike of the recording process and has not agreed to make any recordings in recent years, Radu Lupu continues to give recitals and perform concertos in important venues throughout the world and many of his recordings have achieved reference status.

It takes only 10 discs to contain the complete solo Decca recordings of Radu Lupu, one of the great pianists of the late 20th century. It’s also amazing that these few recordings stretch over a quarter of a century, from 1971 to 1995, making Lupu one of the most infrequently recorded of the great pianists; even Argerich and Michelangeli have outdistanced him. Yet even that is not the most amazing thing about this collection; it is the performances themselves, some of which are among the greatest ever made. Has any pianist ever topped Lupu’s heroic account of Brahms’ F minor Sonata, or his poetic readings of the composer’s late piano works? Has any ever equaled, much less surpassed, his deeply inward performances of Schubert’s Moments musicaux or his two sets of Impromptus? Has any account of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata ever glowed brighter, or any reading of the “Waldstein” Sonata ever been more ecstatically serene? And has any pianist ever caught the uncanny mixture of the playful, the romantic, and the diabolical in Schumann’s Kreisleriana? Anyone interested in great piano playing should avail themselves of these superlative performances at their earliest possible opportunity.