This latest issue in APR's ongoing French Piano School series is perhaps the most important yet.
The set brings together some of the earliest and rarest piano recordings ever made, not just in France, but worldwide, and includes the complete solo recordings of all the pianists featured except Wurmser. Many are reissued for the first time.
The French office of the Gramophone Company was a pioneer in bringing serious artists into the studio and the results are a legacy of the utmost historical importance. So too are the early Fonotipia recordings of the only Herz pupil to record, Roger-Miclos, and the later Columbia electric recordings of Plante, made in his 90th year. With Saint-Saens, Diemer and Plante we can hear pianists who were born in the first half of the 19th century - a unique window into the past.
The latest digital technology has been applied throughout and, amongst other improvements, we are now able to hear Pugno's wonderful recordings, hitherto flawed by a notorious vibrato caused by the unstable recording turntable used in 1903, with their pitch stabilized.
1 Africa: Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra Op. 89-[Abbreviated As Piano Solo]
2 Valse Mignonne Op. 104
3 Valse Nonchalante Op. 110
4 Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22-Andante Sostenuto
5 Rapsodie D'auvergne for Piano and Orchestra Op. 73-[Abbreviated]
6 Suite Algérienne, Op. 60-3. Rêverie Du Soir (À Blidah)
7 Suite Algérienne, Op. 60-4. Marche Militaire Française
8 Première Mazurka Op. 21
9 Valse Mignonne Op. 104
10 Déluge Op. 45-Prélude
11 Élégie Op. 143
12 Havanaise Op. 83
13 Grande Valse de Concert Op. 37
14 Chant Du Nautonier Op. 12
15 Valse No. 5 (Valse Chromatique) Op. 88
16 Song Without Words 'Spinning Song' Op. 67 No. 4
17 Nocturne in D Flat Major Op. 27 No. 2
18 Chant Du Nautonier Op. 12
19 Grande Valse de Concert Op. 37
20 Tableaux de Voyage Op. 33-No. 4: Lac Vert
21 Tableaux de Voyage Op. 33-No. 8: Halte, Au Soir
22 Tableaux de Voyage Op. 33-No. 6: La Poste
23 Tableaux de Voyage Op. 33-No. 9: Départ Matinal
24 Poème Des Montagnes, Op. 15-No. 2 Danses Rythmiques
- Disc 2 -
1 Suite in G Major, HWV 441-Gavotte & Variations
2 Sonata in a Major K24 (L495)
3 Impromptu-Valse
4 Waltz in a Flat Major Op. 34 No. 1
5 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11 S244/11
6 Rondo Brillante in E Flat Major Op. 62
7 Song Without Words 'Hunting Song' Op. 19B No. 3
8 Sérénade À la Lune
9 Nocturne in F Sharp Major Op. 15 No. 2
10 Song Without Words 'Spinning Song' Op. 67 No. 4
11 Valse Folle
12 Pièces Pittoresques-No. 10. Scherzo-Valse
13 Trois Airs de Ballet, No. 1. Valse Lent
14 Impromptu No. 1 in a Flat Major Op. 29
15 Berceuse in D Flat Major Op. 57
16 Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat minor, Op. 35-Marche Funèbre
17 Scherzo in E minor Op. 16 No. 2
18 Suite de Danses Anciennes Et Modernes, Op. 103-No. 4. Mazurka
19 Waltz in D Flat Major 'Minute' Op. 64 No. 1
20 Song Without Words 'Spinning Song' Op. 67 No. 4
21 Rondo Capriccioso Op. 14-[Abridged]
22 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 S244/13-Vivace Only
23 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11 S244/11-Andante Sostenuto to the End
24 Nocturne in F Sharp Major Op. 15 No. 2
25 Waltz in C Sharp minor Op. 64 No. 2
26 Scherzo in E minor Op. 16 No. 2
27 Fantasiestücke, Op. 12-No. 7. Traumes Wirren
28 Tarantelle in a Flat Major Op. 43
- Disc 3 -
1 Suite Pour Le Piano, Op. 90-No. 2. Menuet
2 Suite Pour Le Piano, Op. 90-No. 3. Gavotte
3 Valse Mignonne Op. 104
4 Song Without Words 'Hunting Song' Op. 19B No. 3
5 Song Without Words 'Spring Song' Op. 62 No. 6
6 Song Without Words 'Spinning Song' Op. 67 No. 4
7 Song Without Words 'Serenade' Op. 67 No. 6
8 Scherzo in E minor Op. 16 No. 2
9 Étude in C Sharp minor Op. 10 No. 4
10 Étude in G Flat Major 'Black Keys' Op. 10 No. 5
11 Étude in C Major Op. 10 No. 7
12 Étude in a Flat Major 'Aeolian Harp' Op. 25 No. 1
13 Étude in F minor Op. 25 No. 2
14 Étude in G Flat Major 'Butterfly' Op. 25 No. 9
15 Étude in a Minor 'Winter Wind' Op. 25 No. 11
16 Romance in F Sharp Major Op. 28 No. 2
17 Romance in D minor Op. 32 No. 3
18 Pièces Pour Petits Et Grands Enfants, Op.85-No. 9 À la Fontaine (Am Springbrunnen)
19 Damnation of Faust-Sérénade de Méphistophélès
20 Célèbre Menuet de Boccherini Quintet, Op. 13/5
21 Iphigénie en Aulide-Gavotte
22 Pastorale Variée K Anh. 209B (Probably Spurious)
23 Mazurka in B minor Op. 33 No. 4
24 Waltz in a Flat Major Op. 69 No. 1
25 Waltz in C Sharp minor Op. 64 No. 2
26 Petit Aubade
27 Impromptu
28 Rosamunde, D797/9-Ballet Music
29 Marche Militaire in D Flat Major D733/1
This latest issue in APR's ongoing French Piano School series is perhaps the most important yet.
The set brings together some of the earliest and rarest piano recordings ever made, not just in France, but worldwide, and includes the complete solo recordings of all the pianists featured except Wurmser. Many are reissued for the first time.
The French office of the Gramophone Company was a pioneer in bringing serious artists into the studio and the results are a legacy of the utmost historical importance. So too are the early Fonotipia recordings of the only Herz pupil to record, Roger-Miclos, and the later Columbia electric recordings of Plante, made in his 90th year. With Saint-Saens, Diemer and Plante we can hear pianists who were born in the first half of the 19th century - a unique window into the past.
The latest digital technology has been applied throughout and, amongst other improvements, we are now able to hear Pugno's wonderful recordings, hitherto flawed by a notorious vibrato caused by the unstable recording turntable used in 1903, with their pitch stabilized.
