The CORTOT solo piano recordings on NAXOS

Post by **Lance** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:00 am

A multi-facted musician, conductor, and chamber music player, ALFRED CORTOT was renowned above all as a pianist. He was often criticized for handfuls or wrong notes, in live performances, but especially on recordings. The finger-slips, which are aplenty, are forgiven for some of the finest playing one will ever hear of the music of Chopin, along with Liszt, as performed by Cortot on Pleyel and Steinway pianos. His preference was always the Pleyel, however, the same make piano preferred by Chopin. Mark Obert-Thorn's restorative work is exemplary.

78-rpm recordings - Volume 1
Naxos 8.111023, 68:03, ADD
•24 Preludes, Op. 28, r.1926/London
•Prelude in c#, Op. 45, r.1949/London
•Prelude in D-flat, Op. 28/15, r.1950/London
•Berceuse in D-flat, Op. 57, r.1949/London
•Impromptu #1 in A-flat, Op. 29, r.1933/London
•Impromptu #2 in F#, Op. 36, r.1933/London
•Impromptu #3 in G-flat, Op. 51, r.1933/London
•Tarantelle in A-flat, Op. 43, r.1931/London

78-rpm recordings, Volume 2
Naxos 8.111035, 68:38, ADD
•Waltzes 1-14, r.1934/London
•Waltz #7 in c#, Op. 64/3, r.1929/London
•Waltz #9 in A-flat, Op. 69/1, r.1931/London
•Waltz #9 in A-flat, Op. 69/1, r.1949/London
•Waltz #11 in G-flat, Op. 70/1-Posth., r.1949/London
•Waltz #6 in D-Flat, Op. 64/1 ("Minute"), r.1949/London
•Fantasie in f, Op. 49, r.1933/London

78-rpm recordings, Volume 3
Naxos 8.111052, 67:45, ADD
•Etudes, Op. 10 (complete), r.1933/London
•Etudes, Op. 25 (complete), r.1934/London
•3 Nouvelle Etudes for the Method of Moscheles, r.1949/London
•Barcareolle in F#, Op. 6, r.1933/London

78-rpm recordings, Volume 4
Naxos 8.111065, 69:28, ADD
•Sonata #2 in b-flat, Op. 35, r.1928/London
•Sonata #3 in b, Op. 58, r.1933/London
•3 Chants Polonais, Op. 74 (transcribed Liszt): Spring, The Ring, and My Joys, r.1939/London
•Grand Polonaise, Op. 22, r.1923/Canden NJ
•Polonaise #6 in A-flat, Op. 53, r.1933/London
•Polonaise #7 in A-flat, Op. 64 ("Polonaise-Fantaisie"), r.1947/London

78-rpm recordings - Encores
Naxos 8.111261, 79:02, ADD
Schubert/Cortot: Litany, r.1925/Camden NJ; Chopin: Impromptu in F#, Op. 36, r.1925/Camden NJ; Chopin: Etude in A-flat, Op. 25/1, r.1925/Camden NJ; Chopin: Waltz #7 in c#, Op. 64/2, r.1925/Camden NJ; Chopin: Ballade #1 in g, Op. 23 (part 2, fragment), r.1925/Camden NJ; Brahms/Cortot: Wiegenlied, Op. 49/4, r.1925/Camden NJ; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #11, r.1925/Camden NJ; Weber: Invitation to the Dance, r.1926/Camden NJ; Handel: The Harmonious Blacksmith Air and Variations, r.1926/Camden NJ; Albeniz: Sous le palmier, Op. 232/3, r.1926/Camden NJ; Chopin: Ballade #1 in g, Op. 23, r.1926/.Camden NJ; Chopin: Berceuse, Op. 57, r.1926/Camden NJ; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2, r.1926/Camden NJ; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #11, r.1926/Camden NJ; Liszt: Concert Paraphrase on Verdi's "Rigoletto," r.1926/Camden, NJ

Chopin and Schumann
Naxos 8.111327, 6256: ADD
•Chopin: Sonata #2 in b-flat, Op. 35, r.1953/London
•Schumann: Kinderscenen, Op. 15, r.1953/London
•Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82/7 ("Vogel als Prophet"), r.1948/London
•Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9, r.1953/London

1931-1948 Recordings
Naxos 8.112012, 76:04, ADD
•von Weber: Piano Sonata #2 in A-flat, Op. 39, r.1939/London
•Schubert: Ländler, D790/Op.171, r.1937/London
•Liszt: Piano Sonata in b, S178, r.1939/London
•Liszt: Legendes: ("St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots"), r.1937/London
•Liszt: Etude de Concert No. 2 - La leggierezza, r.1931/London
•Schubert/Cortot: Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen, D343, r.1937/London
•Brahms/Cortot: Wiegenlied, Op. 49/4, r.1948/London

Outstanding transfers, an exceptional and wonderful collection of some of the finest Chopin ever recorded, an investment you will always cherish!

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:09 am

He is the other one I don't like...Horowitz and Cortot...heaven forbid...

Post by **Lance** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:10 am

I'll never understand why you don't like these pianists. They are among the best the world has known and they continue to live on, long after their passing, just like Arthur Fiedler!

Chalkperson wrote:He is the other one I don't like...Horowitz and Cortot...heaven forbid...

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:25 am

Lance wrote:I'll never understand why you don't like these pianists.

Me neither, have you any idea how many times I have tried to like these two, how many cd's I bought, countless wasted hours...

Donaldopato · Post by **Donaldopato** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:53 am

Far from an expert on Cortot's recordings and career, but one thing I have always admired from what I have heard is his impeccable timing and ability to shape a phrase. Perhaps looked upon as a bit "old fashioned" today, but I would rather hear a well shaped, heart felt performance than the machine like precision of a lot of today's "technocrat" pianists.

I will have to check these recordings out. Unfortunately, like most Naxos Historical, not available in the US, I am sure.

John F · Post by **John F** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:04 am

Looks like a very good sampling of Cortot's many Chopin recordings. A complete reissue reissue of Cortot's Chopin would take many more CDs than these, and a reissue of all of his zillions of recordings would probably fill a shelf. But for those who don't know Cortot's qualities, this is a fine way to start.

I'd recommend against the Chopin/Schumann disc for all but Cortot completists. 1953 was really too late to hear him at his best; in his mid-70s, he no longer had the physical control to express himself fully. He had recorded all of this music superbly before the war, much of it more than once, and EMI's remakes are disappointing. I remember getting the LP of this "Carnaval" and the "Etudes Symphoniques," the first time I heard Cortot, and wondering what his reputation could have been based on; not until the "Great Recordings of the Century" COLH reissues of the '50s and '60s did I understand. Cortot copes best with "Kinderszenen," as you'd expect, but earlier is still better.

Werner · Post by **Werner** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:11 pm

The towering pianist of my generation - to whom Donald and look up, Bruce Hungerford, had two heroes in the previous generation - Artur Schnabel, as one might guess - and Cortot.

Post by **Lance** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:43 pm

Thank you, Werner. I'm with you on these. We can be fortunate that we have these "golden age" pianists still amongst us in the way of recordings today. They lived during a period when the piano was played much differently than it is today, for the most part. Music must speaketh to the heart, and these artists have a way of letting one know you are hearing true piano "art."

Werner wrote:The towering pianist of my generation - to whom Donald and look up, Bruce Hungerford, had two heroes in the previous generation - Artur Schnabel, as one might guess - and Cortot.

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 3:32 pm

Donaldopato wrote:FPerhaps looked upon as a bit "old fashioned" today.............I will have to check these recordings out. Unfortunately, like most Naxos Historical, not available in the US, I am sure.

That's what I don't like about him, although I love other pianists from the same era...

Lance did you order this stuff from Europe...

Post by **Lance** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:54 pm

Indeed, I did. It's one place one can get Naxos Historical releases since they are not admitted into the USA any longer, unfortunately, due to contractual reasons or international laws on copyright. It's ridiculous because one can still order them from abroad. The expense is more, of course.

Chalkperson wrote:
Donaldopato wrote:FPerhaps looked upon as a bit "old fashioned" today.............I will have to check these recordings out. Unfortunately, like most Naxos Historical, not available in the US, I am sure.
That's what I don't like about him, although I love other pianists from the same era...

Lance did you order this stuff from Europe...

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:21 pm

The ones I don't like are Horowitz, Schnabel, Rubinstein and Cortot, maybe it's just that they are all pretty much from the same time period and I just don't like that particular era very much, I was reading today about Lipatti being the first Post Modernist Pianist, using Rubinstein, Cortot and Schnabel as the pianists from the earlier generation...maybe that's the key to my non appreciation (a much better word than dislike) of these very talented musicians...

Lance wrote:I'll never understand why you don't like these pianists. They are among the best the world has known and they continue to live on, long after their passing, just like Arthur Fiedler!
Chalkperson wrote:He is another one I don't like...Horowitz and Cortot...heaven forbid...

ch1525 · Post by **ch1525** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:27 pm

I have this set:

Frédéric Chopin: Piano Works

I wonder how it compares in terms of sound quality to the Naxos releases.

Post by **Lance** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:58 pm

I have much/most of the EMI product as well. Obert-Thorn transfers, however, most always sound better and more realistic than the products from original masters produced by the original label. Cortot recorded SO MUCH Chopin at various times in his life that one has to watch the recording dates carefully.

ch1525 wrote:I have this set:

Frédéric Chopin: Piano Works

I wonder how it compares in terms of sound quality to the Naxos releases.

gfweis · Post by **gfweis** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:47 am

In the 6-cd EMI Chopin: Oeuvres Pour Piano Cortot box can be found one of the greatest piano recordings I have ever heard: his 1920 D flat Major Berceuse. I believe Cortot recorded this piece several times, and in fact his 1926 recording of it is also in the EMI box. But the real magic is in the 1920 performance. I hope somehow everyone, even those who, like me, don't listen to Chopin very often, have the opportunity someday to hear this miraculous playing.

John F · Post by **John F** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:52 am

Chalkperson wrote:The ones I don't like are Horowitz, Schnabel, Rubinstein and Cortot, maybe it's just that they are all pretty much from the same time period and I just don't like that particular era very much

You're entitled to your tastes, of course. But these four pianists could hardly be more different from each other - even as to time period, as Horowitz was a generation younger than the others - and I don't understand how one could dislike every one of them and still like any other pianist, at least any pianist with any character at all.

Well, there it is.

John F · Post by **John F** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:04 am

gfweis wrote:In the 6-cd EMI Chopin: Oeuvres Pour Piano Cortot box can be found one of the greatest piano recordings I have ever heard: his 1920 D flat Major Berceuse. I believe Cortot recorded this piece several times, and in fact his 1926 recording of it is also in the EMI box. But the real magic is in the 1920 performance. I hope somehow everyone, even those who, like me, don't listen to Chopin very often, have the opportunity someday to hear this miraculous playing.

Here it is, on YouTube:

I like individualistic performances, but this is too much even for me. Cortot's playing as such is very fine, but his extremes of tempo make no sense to me and go against the nature of a cradle song - no child would be lulled to sleep by this kind of pushing and pulling. Cortot's 1926 rerecording is much less willful, though certainly not rigid in tempo - it would seem that he himself thought better of his 1920 interpretation. And of course the early electric sound is truer to his tone than the acoustic disc:

Post by **Lance** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:59 am

I have done an accurate as possible sampling of the CHOPIN material in the EMI 6-CD boxed set [67359] and compared it to issues on five NAXOS sets. The Naxos catalogue numbers containing the duplications are shown in brackets at the end of each entry.

The following are the ONLY items that NAXOS DUPLICATES what is on the 6 EMI disc set, i.e., same performance/date/venue/piano:

•12 Etudes Op 10 (r. July 1933, London) [Naxos 8.111052] [EMI also includes the Paris 1942 recording]

•12 Etudes Op 25 (r. June 1934, London) [Naxos 8.111052] [EMI also includes the Paris 1942 recording]

•3 Nouvelle Etudes (1-3) (r. Nov. 1949, London) [Naxos 8.111052]

•Sonata #2 in b-flat Op 35 (r. July 1933, London) [Naxos 8.111065]

•Berceuse in D-flat Op 57 (r. Dec. 1926, Camden NJ) [Naxos 8.111261]

•Barcarolle in F#, Op 60 (r. July 1933, London) [Naxos 8.111261]

•Impromptu #2 in F# Op 36 (r. March 9125, Camden NJ) [Naxos 8.111261]

•Impromptu #3 in G-flat Op 51 (r. July 1933, London) [Naxos 8.111023]

•Polonaise #6 in A-flat Op 53 ("Heroic") (r. July 1933, London) [Naxos 8.111065]

•3 Chant Polonaise Op 74 (trans. Liszt) (r. March 1939, London) [Naxos 8.111065, Spring, Ring and My Joys. EMI omits My Joys]

•Fantaisie in f Op 49 (r. July 1933, London) [Naxos 8.111035]

•Nocturne #2 in E-flat Op 9/2 (r. March 1929, London) [Naxos 8.111245]

•Nocturne #7 in Cc# Op 27/1 (r. Oct. 1951, London) [Naxos 8.111245]

•Nocturne #15 in f Op 55/1, (r. Oct. 1947, London) [Naxos 8.111245]

•Nocturne #16 in E-flat Op 55/2 (r. Dec. 1947, London) [Naxos 8.111245]

•Etude in A-flat Op 25/1 (r. March 1925, Camden NJ) [Naxos 8.111261]

•Waltz #7 in c# Op 64/2 (r. March 1925, Camden NJ) [Naxos 8.111261]

If one is an Alfred Cortot follower/admirer, it will be necessary to have the EMI set, which offers other recordings of the same repertoire recorded at different times AND the NAXOS discs. For example, the Naxos set features the the complete Op 28 Preludes recorded in London on March 26, 1926 whereas the EMI set is the London 1942 recording. EMI also offers a separate group of seven Preludes, Op. 28 recorded in April 1926 in London and a couple of others recorded outside the complete sets. There is much to admire in BOTH the EMI and Naxos issues. It would be my hope that, eventually, on either label, we will have ALL of Cortot's recordings. One just has to have a careful eye inasmuch as Cortot re-recorded a great deal of material. It is generally felt that his electric 1920s, 1930s and early 1940s recordings illustrate the pianist at his peak versus the later dated recordings.

Please, anyone, correct me if there are any omissions or errors in the above listing.

gfweis · Post by **gfweis** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 11:20 am

Just ask the genie, aka John F, and your wish shall be granted! John, thanks so much for digging up the 1920 Cortot Berceuse and sharing it with everyone on the board. It never came close to occurring to me to look for it on youtube. Since you point it out, I do register, of course, that it is an extremely e-l-a-s-t-i-c performance, maybe shockingly so to most refined ears. Boy, does it work for me though! It might not put me to sleep, but it sure does put me in a trance!

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 1:28 pm

John F wrote:You're entitled to your tastes, of course. But these four pianists could hardly be more different from each other - even as to time period, as Horowitz was a generation younger than the others - and I don't understand how one could dislike every one of them and still like any other pianist, at least any pianist with any character at all. Well, there it is.

That's just how I am, and I love piano music, but, I have tried for years to appreciate these great pianists, maybe it's because I discovered Gilels and Richter long before these four, I remember that you were shocked that I did not find Cortot Poetic...

Also, I am a different Generation than you and many others here, maybe that is part of it too...

CharmNewton · Post by **CharmNewton** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 3:00 pm

Chalkperson wrote:
John F wrote:You're entitled to your tastes, of course. But these four pianists could hardly be more different from each other - even as to time period, as Horowitz was a generation younger than the others - and I don't understand how one could dislike every one of them and still like any other pianist, at least any pianist with any character at all. Well, there it is.
That's just how I am, and I love piano music, but, I have tried for years to appreciate these great pianists, maybe it's because I discovered Gilels and Richter long before these four, I remember that you were shocked that I did not find Cortot Poetic...

Also, I am a different Generation than you and many others here, maybe that is part of it too...

While I find Schnabel a probing and penetrating pianist, I'm no big fan of Horowitz or Rubinstein. The Horowitz recordings I do enjoy tend to be his late recordings for DG--his Mozart disc with Giulini conducting Concerto No. 23 and the Sonata K. 333 is a winner. So is his 1932 Liszt Sonata, Naida Cole's recording is the one I'll go to when I want to hear this much-recorded piece. Most of the recordings I have of Rubinstein are collaborations with others, primarily Heifetz. He doesn't do much for me. I can enjoy Cortot some recordings, particularly those made for American Victor in the 1920s where he is reasonably good shape technically. Victor also did a good job capturing his tone.

John

John F · Post by **John F** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:44 am

gfweis wrote:It never came close to occurring to me to look for it on youtube.

YouTube is amazing. Or rather, the people who use YouTube are amazing. They figured out that it wasn't limited to video, and are making it a library of audio recordings as well. You never know what you might find there.

Such as Camille Saint-Saëns, at 69, playing his abridged solo version of the first movement of his second piano concerto:

Less pensive and Bach-like, more dashing and Lisztian, than people play it nowadays.

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The CORTOT solo piano recordings on NAXOS

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