Classical Music for Aficionados
Here is a fascinating article about Pollini preparing and recording in Germany with the help of Angelo Fabbrini. https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/album/pollini-complete-edition/working-with-pollini.html |
Hi JC That was a very interesting article on Pollini ,he is very fastidious, a complete opposite to Claudio Arrau who would arrive at the studio take off his jacket and sit down and play what he had to record and then go . some of the recording staff were frightened to ask him to play something for a mike check because they knew that he couldn't just play he had to REALLY play and that would mean the whole piece not just a few bars. I think in later years he relented a bit because his technique had softened a bit with age. |
reminds me of a story . . . In 1955 Yehudi Menuhin got Ali Akbar Khan to leave India and play in the "West". They went to recording studio, director said "OK start" and AAK played his sarod for an hour, accompanied by Chatur Lal on tabla. Then the director said "OK that's a good sound check, now play it again." They did not realize AAK never "played it again". The recording, unedited, was released on Angel. https://www.discogs.com/Ustad-Ali-Akbar-Khan-Pandit-Chatur-Lal-Music-Of-India/release/2977633 |
Now reading Arrau on Music and Performance by Jospeh Horowitz (1982) originally published: Conversations with Arrau This is not the complete book, but it is free, and marvelous. https://books.google.com/books?id=LRJQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA281&lpg=PA281&dq=arrau+and+kempff&source=bl&ots=9UWQ2C1C2W&sig=ACfU3U3p5fvF7eBmj-F-3EDVNSecaWWeyQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjTxMjdlvzhAhXCIjQIHaKNBmQ4ChDoATAEegQICRAB#v=onepage&q&f=true |
JC I have Conversations with Arrau and find it a fascinating insight from one of the greatest pianists in history and I was astonished at the photos of his hands , it actually showed him spanning an octave between thumb and forefinger. I read once about Colin Davis and his refiections of Arrau and he said that he was fascinated about his playing and he said you would see these massive paws kneading the keys but also playing some of the most beautiful sounds he ever heard from a Steinway. Although I never heard him play a piano concerto live I did hear him play Beethoven's last sonatas and I have never heard another pianist play with such a sound. A great loss indeed ! |
