Performer: Ruth Slenczynska
Orchestra: Wiener Symphoniker, Symphony of the Air
Conductor: Carl Melles, Henry Swoboda
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Eloquence
Catalogue: ELQ4841302
Release: 2021
Size: 1.34 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Chopin: Études, Op. 10
01. No. 1 in C Major
02. No. 2 in A Minor
03. No. 3 in E Major
04. No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor
05. No. 5 in G-Flat Major
06. No. 6 in E-Flat Minor
07. No. 7 in C Major
08. No. 8 in F Major
09. No. 9 in F Minor
10. No. 10 in A-Flat Major
11. No. 11 in E-Flat Major
12. No. 12 in C Minor
13. Chopin: Impromptu No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 29
14. Chopin: Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp major, Op. 36
Chopin: Études, Op. 25
15. No. 1 in A-Flat Major “Harp Study”
16. No. 2 in F Minor
17. No. 3 in F Major
18. No. 4 in A Minor
19. No. 5 in E Minor
20. No. 6 in G-Sharp Minor
21. No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor
22. No. 8 in D-Flat Major
23. No. 9 in G-Flat Major
24. No. 10 in B Minor
25. No. 11 in A Minor
26. No. 12 in C Minor
27. Chopin: Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major, Op. 51
28. Chopin: Impromptu No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66 “Fantaisie-Impromptu”
29. Chopin: Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20
30. Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
31. Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39
32. Chopin: Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54
Chopin: Waltz No. 1 in E flat major ‘Grande Valse Brillante’, Op. 18
33. Vivo
Chopin: Waltzes, Op. 34
34. No. 1 Vivace in A-Flat Major
35. No. 2 Lento in A Minor
36. No. 3 Vivace in F Major
37. Chopin: Waltz No. 5 in A-Flat Major, Op. 42 – “Grande valse”
Chopin: Waltzes, Op. 64
38. No. 1 in D-Flat Major
39. No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor
40. No. 3 in A-Flat Major
Chopin: 2 Waltzes, Op. 69
41. No. 1. Waltz in A-Flat Major
42. No. 2 Waltz in B Minor
43. Chopin: Waltz No. 11 in G flat major, Op. 70 No. 1
44. Chopin: Waltz No. 12 in F Minor / A-Flat Major, Op. 70 No. 2
45. Chopin: Waltz No. 13 in D flat major, Op. 70 No. 3
46. Chopin: Waltz No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op.posth.
Chopin: Waltz No. 15 in E Major, Op.posth.
47. Tempo di Valse
Chopin: Waltz No. 14 in E Minor, Op.posth.
48. Vivace
Chopin: Preludes, Op. 28
49. No. 1 in C Major: Agitato
50. No. 2 in A Minor: Lento
51. No. 3 in G Major: Vivace
52. No. 4 in E Minor: Largo
53. No. 5 in D Major: Molto allegro
54. No. 6 in B Minor: Lento assai
55. No. 7 in A Major: Andantino
56. No. 8 in F-Sharp Minor: Molto agitato
57. No. 9 in E Major: Largo
58. No. 10 in C-Sharp Minor: Molto allegro
59. No. 11 in B Major, Vivace
60. No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor; Presto
61. No. 13 in F-Sharp Minor: Lento
62. No. 14 in E-Flat Minor: Allegro
63. No. 15 in D-Flat Major: Sostenuto
64. No. 16 in B-Flat Minor: Presto con fuoco
65. No. 17 in A-flat Major: Allegretto
66. No. 18 in C Minor: Molto allegro
67. No. 19 in E-Flat Major: Vivace
68. No. 20 in C Minor: Largo
69. No. 21 in B-Flat Major: Cantabile
70. No. 22 in G Minor: Molto agitato
71. No. 23 in F Major: Moderato
72. No. 24 in D Minor: Allegro appassionato
73. Chopin: Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major, Op. 53 ‘Héroïque’
74. Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
75. Chopin: Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38
76. Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47
77. Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Chopin: 6 Chants polonais de Frédéric Chopin, S. 480
78. No. 1 The Maiden’s Wish
79. No. 2. Spring
80. No. 3 The Ring
81. No. 4 Drinking Song
82. No. 5 My Joys
83. No. 6 Return Home
84. Liszt: Rhapsodie espagnole, S254
Liszt: Transcendental Studies, S139 Nos. 1-12
85. No. 5 Feux follets. Allegretto
Grandes Études de Paganini, S. 141
86. No. 1 Preludio. Andante – Étude
87. No. 2 Andante
88. No. 3 La Campanella
89.No. 4 Vivo
90. No. 5 Allegretto
91. No. 6 Quasi presto
Bach: Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor, BWV903
92. Fantasy and Fugue
Chopin: 3 Nocturnes, Op. 9
93. No. 1 in B-Flat Minor
94. Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso in E major, Op. 14
Rachmaninov: Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3
95. No. 2 Prelude in C-Sharp Minor
96. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in G Major, Kk.455 (L. 209)
Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, BB 68
97. No. 1 Stick Dance
98. No. 2 Sash Dance
99. No. 3 In One Spot
100. No. 4 Horn Dance
101. No. 5 Roumanian Polka
102. No. 6 Fast Dance
103. Schumann: Liebeslied (Widmung), S. 566
Debussy: Préludes – Book 1
104. No. 8 La fille aux cheveux de lin
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244 Nos. 1-19
105. No. 15 in A minor
Bach: Six Little Preludes, BWV933-938
106. No. 5 Prelude in E Major, BWV 937
Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Book 6, Op. 67
107. No. 4 Presto “Spinning Song”
Schubert: Moments Musicaux, D780, Op. 94
108. No. 3 Allegro moderato
Prokofiev: Four Pieces Op. 4
109. No. 4 Suggestion diabolique
110. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 12 in C sharp minor
Rachmaninov: Preludes Op. 23 Nos. 1-10
111. No. 6 Andante
Mussorgsky: Sorochintsy Fair – transcr. Sergei Rachmaninov
112. Hopak
Schumann: Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74 – Transcr. for Concert Performance by Carl Tausig
113. Der Kontrabandiste
Debussy: Suite Bergamasque
114. No. 3 Clair de lune
Villa-Lobos: Prole do Bebe, Series 1
115. No. 2 Moreninha – A Boneca de Massa
116. Chopin: Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major, Op. 53 ‘Héroïque’
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S124
117. I. Allegro maestoso
118. II. Quasi adagio
119. III. Allegretto vivace – Allegro animato
120. IV. Allegro marziale animato
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
121. I. Andante sostenuto
122. II. Allegro scherzando
123. III. Presto
A debut on CD for the American Decca legacy of Ruth Slenczynska, a prodigious Romantic-age keyboard lioness. The biography for her Wigmore Hall recital in March 1957 claimed that the 32-year-old Ruth Slenczynska had given 1600 concerts. Scarcely believably, perhaps, but no less so than other elements of her extraordinary life story – making her public debut at the age of four, under the instruction of a tyrannical and abusive father, playing a Mozart concerto at the Salle Pleyel in Paris just three years later, attracting the admiration and tutelage of Cortot and Rachmaninov, apparently burnt out before adulthood.
A first marriage and highlights such as playing for (and duets with) Harry Truman followed. Touring with Arthur Fiedler and Boston Pops in the mid-50s taught Slenczynska how to work an audience and to draw strength from their attention, but she readily understood the imperatives of the microphone. The year before her Wigmore Hall date she began recording for the American Brunswick division of Decca at the label’s New York studios, and once their sales were boosted by the publication of her painfully honest autobiography in 1957, her albums won acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. She has continued to perform and to teach well into her 90s, but this box is the first comprehensive tribute to her artistry.
Born in California to Polish parents, Slenczynska was a Chopin pianist by nature and nurture, with a temperament and background that tended towards the extremes of the Romantic style, abounding in rubato and timbral nuance. The facility and security of her technique were shown to best advantage by the Études (1956), then the Scherzos (1957), followed by a selection of waltzes (1959), the Ballades and Polish songs arranged by Liszt (1960) and the Préludes (1962). A Liszt album from 1958 tests her bullet-proof technique with the exigent demands of the Rhapsodie espagnole, Feux follets and the most gravity-defying versions of the Grandes Études de Paganini. A mixed recital from 1957 marks the silver jubilee of her debut at New York City Hall. The Brunswick discogrpahy is rounded off with a disc of encores (1959) and a pair of concertos, Saint-Saëns’ Second (1959) and Liszt’s First (1963).
By the time of these recordings, Slenczynska had thrown off the prodigy tag and her musicianship had matured accordingly from machine-tooled virtuosity to lyrical fantasy. The pianism presented here is extraordinary, and shows no trace of a performer who had learned her craft through the harshest discipline and punishment. The first release of these albums on CD is celebrated in style by Eloquence with an ‘original covers’ box and a booklet full of hitherto unpublished photographs and memorabilia as well as a new survey of Slenczynska’s life and studio career by Stephen Siek.
‘Ruth Slenczynska has technique to burn, has it under complete control, and uses it with masculine vigour and shrewd musicianship.’ High Fidelity, May 1957 (Chopin, Etudes)
‘Still in her early 30s, Slenczynska gives a breathtaking display of prestidigitation, accurate, effortless, with pleasant tone and musical sympathy thrown in for good measure.’ The Times, July 1958 (Chopin, Etudes)
‘Her interpretation of the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue is thoughtful and clearly articulated, as is her handling of the Scarlatti sonata… The encore album comes off with equal success.’ High Fidelity, April 1959 (25th Anniversary Album, Encores)
‘Her pianism sounds notably more cohesive and forthright than in the past… Miss Slenczynska sweeps through [the A flat Polonaise] with exciting bravura and propulsion.’ High Fidelity, April 1959 (Chopin, Préludes etc.)