Wilhelm Backhaus. Wilhelm Backhaus, 1907 Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (March 26, 1884 – July 5, 1969)[1] was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Beethoven and romantic music such as that by Brahms. He was also much admired as a chamber musician. He was an enthusiastic user of Bechstein pianos.[2] Musical Biography[edit] Born in Leipzig, Backhaus studied at the conservatoire there with Alois Reckendorf until 1899, later taking private piano lessons with Eugen d'Albert in Frankfurt.
He made his first concert tour at the age of sixteen. Role in Nazi Germany[edit] Recordings[edit] His chamber music recordings include Brahms's cello sonatas, with Pierre Fournier, and Schubert's Trout Quintet with the International Quartet and Claude Hobday.[7] The Times praised Backhaus in its 1969 obituary for having upheld the classical German music tradition of the Leipzig Conservatory.
References[edit] External links[edit] Recordings[edit] Vladimir Sofronitsky. Vladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky (or Sofronitzky; Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Софрони́цкий, Vladimir Sofronitskij; May 8 [O.S. April 25] 1901 – August 26, 1961) was a Soviet-Russian classical pianist, best known as an interpreter of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, whose daughter he married. Biography[edit] Vladimir Sofronitsky was born in St.
Petersburg to a physics teacher father and a mother from an artistic family. In 1903, his family moved to Warsaw, where he started piano lessons with Anna Lebedeva-Getcevich (a student of Nikolai Rubinstein),[1] and later (at age nine) with Aleksander Michałowski.[2] He gave his first solo concert in 1919,[5] and his only foreign tour in France between 1928 and 1929.[6] The only other time he performed outside the Soviet Union was at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, when he was suddenly sent by Stalin to play for the allied leaders.[7] His daughter is the Canadian classical pianist Viviana Sofronitsky. Repertoire[edit] References[edit] Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Italian: [arˈtuːro beneˈdɛtti mikeˈlandʒeli]; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist.
He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. Biography[edit] Born in Brescia, Italy, he began music lessons at the age of three, initially with the violin, but quickly switched to the piano. At ten he entered the Milan Conservatory. In 1938, at the age of eighteen, he began his international career by entering the Ysaÿe International Festival in Brussels, Belgium, where he was placed seventh. (A brief account of this competition, at which Emil Gilels took first prize, is given by Arthur Rubinstein,[where?] The music critic Harold C. On the other hand, the Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache always saw in Michelangeli a colleague, and not merely another competent pianist: “Michelangeli makes colors; he is a conductor. " Notes[edit] References[edit] Kaiser, Joachim (1972). External links[edit] Walter Gieseking. Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer.
Career[edit] Born in Lyon, France, the son of a German doctor and lepidopterist, Gieseking first started playing the piano at the age of four, but without formal instruction. His family travelled frequently and he was privately schooled. From 1911 to early 1916, he studied at the Hanover Conservatory. There his mentor was the director Karl Leimer, with whom he later co-authored a piano method. He made his first appearance as a concert pianist in 1915, but was conscripted in 1916 and spent the remainder of World War I as a regimental bandsman. His first London piano recital took place in 1923, establishing an exceptional and lasting reputation. During World War II Gieseking continued to reside in Germany, while continuing to concertize in Europe.
Notable students[edit] References[edit] Jump up ^ Dean Elder, Pianists at Play, Kahn & Averill, 1989 Bibliography[edit] External links[edit] Alfred Cortot. Alfred Denis Cortot (26 September 1877 – 15 June 1962) was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann. Early life and education[edit] Career[edit] In 1905, Cortot formed a trio with Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals, which established itself as the leading piano trio of its era.
In 1907, he was appointed Professor by Gabriel Fauré at the Conservatoire de Paris, replacing Raoul Pugno. He continued to teach at the Paris Conservatoire until 1923, where his pupils included Yvonne Lefébure, Vlado Perlemuter, Simone Plé-Caussade and Marguerite Monnot. As a leading musical figure, Cortot traveled for many international music events. In 1925 he made the world's first electrical recording of classical music - Chopin impromptus and Schubert's Litanei for Victor Records.[1] World War II[edit] Contribution[edit] Bibliography[edit] French organ school. The French organ school formed in the first half of the 17th century. It progressed from the strict polyphonic music of Jean Titelouze (ca 1563–1633) to a unique, richly ornamented style with its own characteristic forms that made full use of the French classical organ.
Instrumental in establishing this style were Louis Couperin (ca 1626–1661), who experimented with structure, registration and melodic lines, expanding the traditional polyphonic forms, and Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (1632–1714), who established the distinct forms and styles of what was to become the French organ tradition. Characteristic forms and nomenclature[edit] French organ composers cultivated four major genres: masses, hymns, suites and noëls.
Noëls are variations on Christmas carols, whereas the first three genres were all realized as collections of brief pieces in various characteristic forms. Such forms included the following:[1] Dialogue: a piece which constantly alternates between two different registrations. Arthur Rubinstein. A photograph of Rubinstein on the front cover of Wisdom Magazine in March 1957. Arthur Rubinstein, KBE (January 28, 1887 – December 20, 1982) was a Polish-American classical pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music written by a variety of composers and many regard him as the greatest Chopin interpreter of his time.[1][2] He was described by The New York Times as one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.[1] He played in public for eight decades.[3] Early life[edit] Rubinstein grew up on Piotrkowska street, Łódź, Poland Rubinstein was born in Łódź, Congress Poland (part of the Russian Empire for the entire time Rubinstein resided there) on January 28, 1887, to a Jewish family.
Rubinstein's birth name was to be Leo, but his eight-year-old brother claimed that "His name must to be Arthur. At the age of two, Rubinstein demonstrated perfect pitch and a fascination with the piano, watching his elder sister's piano lessons. Music and career[edit] Wilhelm Kempff. Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff (25 November 1895 – 23 May 1991) was a German pianist and composer.
Although his repertoire included Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well known for his interpretations of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, by both of whom he recorded complete sets of their piano sonatas.[1][2] He is considered to have been one of the chief exponents of the Germanic tradition during the 20th century.[3] Early life[edit] As a pianist[edit] Wilhelm Kempff recorded over a period of some sixty years.
His recorded legacy includes works of Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, Mozart, Bach, Liszt, Chopin and particularly, of Beethoven.[1] The pianist Alfred Brendel has written that Kempff "played on impulse... it depended on whether the right breeze, as with an aeolian harp, was blowing. Technique[edit] As a performer he stressed lyricism and spontaneity in music, particularly effective in intimate pieces or passages.
Daniel Barenboim. Daniel Barenboim, KBE (Hebrew: דניאל ברנבוים; born 15 November 1942) is an Israeli Argentine-born pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings. Currently, he is general music director of La Scala in Milan,[2] the Berlin State Opera, and the Staatskapelle Berlin; he previously served as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris. Barenboim is also known for his work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a Seville-based orchestra of young Arab and Israeli musicians, and as a resolute critic of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Biography[edit] Daniel Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to parents of Russian Jewish descent, Aida (née Schuster) and Enrique Barenboim.[5] He started piano lessons at the age of five with his mother, continuing to study with his father, who remained his only teacher. Career[edit] Musical style[edit] Recordings[edit] Glenn Gould. Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould[fn 1][fn 2] (25 September 1932 – 4 October 1982) was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century.[1] He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
His playing was distinguished by remarkable technical proficiency and capacity to articulate the polyphonic texture of Bach's music. Gould was also known as a writer, composer, conductor, and broadcaster. He was a prolific contributor to musical journals, in which he discussed music theory and outlined his musical philosophy. His career as a composer was less distinguished. His output was minimal and many projects were left unfinished. There is evidence that, had he lived beyond 50, he intended to abandon the piano and devote the remainder of his career to conducting and other projects. Life[edit] Early life[edit] Gould's interest in music and his talent as a pianist became evident very early. Vladimir Horowitz. Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (Ukrainian: Володи́мир Самiйло́вич Го́ровиць, Volodymyr Samijlovich Gorovitz; October 1 [O.S.
September 18] 1903 – November 5, 1989)[1] was a Russian-born American classical pianist and composer.[2] His technique, use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were considered legendary.[3] He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.[4] Life and early career[edit] Vladimir Horowitz was born in Kiev[5] in the Russian Empire (now the capital of Ukraine). Horowitz was the youngest of four children of Samuil Horowitz and Sophia Bodik, who were assimilated Jews. Horowitz received piano instruction from an early age, initially from his mother, who was herself a pianist. In December 1925, Horowitz crossed the border into the West, ostensibly to study with Artur Schnabel in Berlin.
Career in the West[edit] Horowitz in 1931 Recordings[edit] Horowitz in 1986 Students[edit] Personal life[edit] Last years[edit] Artur Schnabel. Artur Schnabel, about 1906 Artur Schnabel (April 17, 1882 – August 15, 1951) was an Austrian classical pianist, who also composed and taught. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura.
Among the 20th century's most respected and most important pianists, his playing displayed a vitality, profundity and spirituality in the Austro-German classics, particularly the works of Beethoven and Schubert. His performances of these compositions have often been hailed as models of interpretative penetration, and his best-known recordings are those of the Beethoven piano sonatas. Harold C. Schonberg referred to Schnabel as "the man who invented Beethoven".[1] Life and work[edit] Early years[edit] Born in Lipnik (Kunzendorf) near Bielitz, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (today a part of Bielsko-Biała, Poland),[2][3] Schnabel was the youngest of three children born to Isidor Schnabel, a textile merchant, and his wife, Ernestine Taube (née Labin). Claudio Arrau. Claudio Arrau León (February 6, 1903 – June 9, 1991)[1] was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms.
He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. Life[edit] Arrau was born in Chillán, Chile, the son of Carlos Arrau, an ophthalmologist who died when Claudio was only a year old, and Lucrecia León Bravo de Villalba, a piano teacher. He belonged to an old, prominent family of Southern Chile. Claudio Arrau, 1929 In 1935, Arrau gave a celebrated rendition of the entire keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach in 12 recitals. In 1937, Arrau married the mezzo-soprano Ruth Schneider, a German national, and they had three children: Carmen (1938–2006), Mario (1940–1988) and Christopher (1959).
Tone and approach to music[edit] Claudio Arrau Many[who?] Arrau was an intellectual and a deeply reflective interpreter. Great Pianists of the 20th Century – Martha Argerich II. Great Pianists of the 20th Century – Martha Argerich II is the third volume of the Great Pianists of the 20th Century box set and is the second of two volumes dedicated to her. The album features music by the composers Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, and Robert Schumann. Featured works[edit] Frédéric Chopin[edit] Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 45Polonaise in A flat, Op. 61 'Polonaise Fantasie'3 Mazurkas, Op. 59Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 3924 Preludes, Op. 28Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31Polonaise in A flat, Op. 53 'Heroic'Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 Robert Schumann[edit] Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 Franz Liszt[edit] Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in D flat major, S. 244 Track listing[edit] Disc 1[edit] Disc 2[edit] "Allegro maestoso" – 10:53"Scherzo.
Alfred Brendel. Alfred Brendel, 2010 Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian pianist, poet, and author.[1] He is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. [2] Biography[edit] Brendel was born in Wiesenberg (now Loučná nad Desnou, Czech Republic) to a non-musical family. They moved to Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), when Brendel was six, and later to Graz, Austria.
Towards the end of World War II, the 14-year old Brendel was sent back to Yugoslavia to dig trenches. Brendel began piano lessons when he was six with Sofija Deželić, and later studied piano with Ludovica von Kaan at the Graz Conservatory and composition with Artur Michel. After the war, Brendel composed music, as well as continuing to play the piano, to write and to paint. Brendel recorded extensively for the Vox label, providing them his first of three sets of the complete Beethoven sonatas. Brendel has been married twice.
Work[edit] Publications[edit] Awards[edit] Recordings[edit] References[edit] Sviatoslav Richter. Great Pianists of the 20th Century. Paul Wittgenstein.