New acquisition: Andor Foldes, pianist (complete DGG)

[Lance]

I have long had an interest in this Hungarian pianist, Andor Foldes, who spent much time in the USA (he and his wife became American citizens) but never achieved the popular notariety here of other foreign-born pianists of his time. This is a 19-CD set containing not only all his DGG records (recorded mono and stereo), his Mercury recordings of Schumann and Grieg and his French Polydor recordings featuring Prokofiev's PC #1 and other solo pieces, along with much Bartok. About his Barok, Harold C. Schonberg said: "Very probably the finest Bartok pianist in circulation. Foldes knew both Bartok and Kodaly. There's 14 Beethoven sonatas, concertos 1/4 of Beethoven, the Choral Fantasy (Fritz Lehmann conducting); Mozart Piano Concertos 15, 21, 17, 25; the Liszt Piano Concertos 1/2 and Rachmaninoff's PC #2; Liszt Piano Sonata and other jewels; Brahms sets of Variations. Foldes also made a number of recordings for EMI. Hopefully they may bring out a set of those recordings given the inspiration of the new DGG release. I had some correspondence with Foldes over the years before his death from a fall down a set of stairs. He and his wife wrote a very interesting book, Andor Foldes: Seventy Years of Music's Magic Carpet and he wrote a fascinating book, Keys to the Keyboard. This is wonderful collection and the booklet gives a fine outline of his career. First class presentation on DGG-Eloquence 474 1256. According to the box note: "[This is] the most comprehensive tribute ever issued to the Hungarian pianist ... renowned for his polished and self-effacing style, containing many recordings new to CD, freshly remastered and enhanced by extensive notes and rarely reproduced photographs from the Deutsche Grammophon archive." Further, the original jackets are reproduced for each pocket-sleeve. •

[Rach3]

Many thanks, a pianist I have yet to explore.

[barney]

I've got this set too, but haven't opened it yet. I have a large number of the CDs already- at least a dozen from releases as single Decca Eloquence CDs. He also appears in other sets. Still, maybe I will have the self discipline to find the single recordings and give them to friends so as to free up space on my shelves. I have about 1000 CDs scattered around because there's no shelf space for them. Still, I haven't had that discipline so far, so no reason to assume it's coming now. Foldes' Bartok and Kodaly are indeed indispensable.

[barney]

Sorry, DG Eloquence, as you said Lance. It comes from the same Australian compiler whether Decca or DG.

[maestrob]

Fascinating! I guess he wasn't much promoted here in the USA, as I've not heard of him either. What a tragedy: killed by a fall! That happened to my voice teacher, who was in otherwise great health, but suddenly began suffering bouts of dizziness. One day, he got up too quickly and......just toppled over. A tragedy when that happens. I have another friend who broke his ankle from falling like that. The lesson is that we all have to be careful these days.

Thanks Lance, for the alert. It's good to see you posting again.