This Week in Classical Music: March 29, 2021.April 1st is a big day for pianists: first of all, it’s the birthday of Sergei Rachmaninov, one of the greatest pianists in history and of course a brilliant composer, who wrote many pieces for his favorite instrument. Rachmaninov’s music, especially his piano concertos no. 2 and 3, is widely played and popular with music listeners. It’s also the birthday of Ferruccio Busoni, also a pianist and composer.As a composer he’s not as famous as Rachmaninov, although his piano transcriptions of the organ works by Bach are part of the standard piano repertoire, but as a pianist he rivaled anybody at the end of the 19th – early 20th century.Busoni was born in 1866, Rachmaninov – in 1873, and these six years, plus the fact that Busoni lived only 58 years make a big difference in their recording legacies: we have a significant number of recordings by Rachmaninov, some of them – recordings of his own works; they are well-known and well-loved.Not so with Busoni: all that is left are several recordings made during one day in February of 1922 at Columbia Studios in London.Their quality is low, the background noise significant, but they are still interesting as historical artefacts.Here is Busoni playing his own transcription of Bach’s organ prelude Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein (Rejoice, Beloved Christians) BWV 734.Busoni also made several piano rolls, but those do not authentically represent the pianist’s art.One of the few champions of Busoni’s original compositions is the wonderful pianist Alfred Brendel.Here he is playing, live, Busoni’s Toccata (Preludio - Fantasia – Ciaccona).
Dinu Lipatti, a great Romanian pianist, was also born on April 1st, in 1917.We wrote about him two years ago, here.In that entry there’s also more information about Rachmaninov the pianist.There is also a bit about Vladimir Krainev, a wonderful Soviet pianist, who was born on April 1st of 1944.Here are Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, recorded by Krainev live in 1974.Busoni had many pupils, Egon Petri and Percy Granger among them.Krainev was also a prominent teacher.In 1994, during an economically difficult period in Russia, he organized a foundation to help young musicians.The foundation has grown and now has affiliates in several countries.He also organized the Krainev Young Pianists Competition which has helped to promote careers of dozens of young pianists.
Franz Joseph Haydn was also born this week, on March 31st of 1732.We love him and have written about him many times.And Alessandro Stradella, whose biography is almost as unusual that of Carlo Gesualdo was born on April 3rd of 1639.
Rach-Busoni, 2021
This Week in Classical Music: March 29, 2021. April 1st is a big day for pianists: first of all, it’s the birthday of Sergei Rachmaninov, one of the greatest pianists in history and of course a brilliant composer, who wrote many pieces for his favorite instrument. Rachmaninov’s music,
especially his piano concertos no. 2 and 3, is widely played and popular with music listeners. It’s also the birthday of Ferruccio Busoni, also a pianist and composer. As a composer he’s not as famous as Rachmaninov, although his piano transcriptions of the organ works by Bach are part of the standard piano repertoire, but as a pianist he rivaled anybody at the end of the 19th – early 20th century. Busoni was born in 1866, Rachmaninov – in 1873, and these six years, plus the fact that Busoni lived only 58 years make a big difference in their recording legacies: we have a significant number of recordings by Rachmaninov, some of them – recordings of his own works; they are well-known and well-loved. Not so with Busoni: all that is left are several recordings made during one day in February of 1922 at Columbia Studios in London. Their quality is low, the background noise significant, but they are still interesting as historical artefacts. Here is Busoni playing his own transcription of Bach’s organ prelude Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein (Rejoice, Beloved Christians) BWV 734. Busoni also made several piano rolls, but those do not authentically represent the pianist’s art. One of the few champions of Busoni’s original compositions is the wonderful pianist Alfred Brendel. Here he is playing, live, Busoni’s Toccata (Preludio - Fantasia – Ciaccona).
Dinu Lipatti, a great Romanian pianist, was also born on April 1st, in 1917. We wrote about him two years ago, here. In that entry there’s also more information about Rachmaninov the pianist. There is also a bit about Vladimir Krainev, a wonderful Soviet pianist, who was born on April 1st of 1944. Here are Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, recorded by Krainev live in 1974. Busoni had many pupils, Egon Petri and Percy Granger among them. Krainev was also a prominent teacher. In 1994, during an economically difficult period in Russia, he organized a foundation to help young musicians. The foundation has grown and now has affiliates in several countries. He also organized the Krainev Young Pianists Competition which has helped to promote careers of dozens of young pianists.
Franz Joseph Haydn was also born this week, on March 31st of 1732. We love him and have written about him many times. And Alessandro Stradella, whose biography is almost as unusual that of Carlo Gesualdo was born on April 3rd of 1639.