Search - Franz Liszt, Maurice Ravel, Henry Litolff :: Legendary Piano Duos - Original Piano Roll performances by famous piano duos - Tina Lerner & Vladimir Shavits / Polly & Walter Damrosch / Joseph Lambert & Nadia Reisenberg / Percy Grainger & Ralph Leopold / Harold Bauer & Ossip Gabrilowitsch, etc.

Historic Reproducing-Piano Performances

Louis Richards | Rochester, NY | 12/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been a fan of the piano-duo Gabrilowitsch & Bauer for many years. Their joint concerts early in the 20th century have been commented upon by musicians for 90 years and old accoustic recordings give a slight indication of the magic they were able to create together. This CD, however, permits the listener to hear a clear, clean performance of a piece for which they are particularly wellknown. When compared to the accoustic recording of 1929, this CD also confirms (for me) that reproducing piano rolls, when 'performed' on an appropriate instrument in proper tune and supported by qualified technicians & engineers, faithfully present the artists as they intended to be heard. I bought this CD basically for only one track: the Arensky Waltz; nonetheless, all the tracks are essential for any 'collector' of historic pianists. The 'duet' played by Friedman was especially interesting because he accompanies himself and played both parts! Included on the CD are cuts by Percy Grainger - always one of my favorites - with Ralph Leopold and also conductor Walter Damrosch performing with his daughter, Polly. I don't mean to gloss over the performances of Dame Myra Hess & Harold Bauer or those by Lerner & Shavitz or the glittering Litolff Scherzo performed by Lambert & Reisenberg; all are delightful to the ear. For any serious collector, this recent release is a 'Must Have' and bound to give complete satisfaction.

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