Search - Grieg, Mahler, Ravel :: Welte Mignon Piano Rolls 1905-1914

The Welte-Mignon Conjures Up Great Ghosts In The Machine

05/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enthusiastically echo the laudatory critique of the previous review. The Welte-Mignon piano rolls are truly one of the great musical finds of this century. Where else can we hear the likes of Mahler, Debussy, Scriabin, and Ravel actually playing the piano with all their technique, artistry and intelligence intact? I understand that Mahler made four Welte-Mignon rolls and Scriabin performed on eight (the former's collection is on an out-of-print CD called MAHLER PLAYS MAHLER and the latter's is featured on an in-print Saison Russe mono CD). So why isn't every piano roll made by these giants available in full digital sound? (If there's a public willing to buy Schnabel's scratchy 78s, wouldn't an even larger public flock to hear state-of-the-art Audio-DVD recordings of actual turn-of-the-century composers playing their own works?)While I'm not knocking this splendid and well-recorded collection, it is only a small sampling. I have heard an out-of-print three-record compilation featuring Welte-Mignon piano rolls by Granados, Faure, Busoni, etc., so I am very eager to hear much more than this CD delivers (which, at a paltry 59:39, the producers could have easily extended another 20 minutes). And why, with so much unreleased Debussy, Scriabin and Mahler available, is there nearly ten minutes of a comparitive musical lightweight like Saint-Saens? Frankly, I would attend a concert of the Welte-Mignon just to be in the "presence" of these musical greats (and I think such a tour, perhaps augmented with a multi-media biography of each composer/player, would be a great success). So haunting, exciting and downright strange are the sensations at hearing a Debussy-the-pianist's very own interpretations of a Debussy-the-composer's compositions, that an actual concert could only heighten such drama. There are dozens of CDs and hundreds of concerts every year featuring no-name pianists playing Debussy, so why aren't the master's "own" renditions deemed worthy of the CD and concert marketplace? I have hunted the internet: this CD, along with the Scriabin mentioned above, are the only ones I can find of Welte-Mignon piano roll renditions still in-print. Obviously, the historical weight of this material alone should preclude it ever going out of print, yet this CD is just the tip of the treasure. Apparently there were 2,500 piano rolls registered up until World War 2. I would implore a company with taste, power and money, such as Deutsche Gramophone or Sony, to undertake a search for those rolls. If only 10% are found in working order, the value to world music culture would be incalcuable.All of us who profess a love of classical music owe it to ourselves to hear these Welte-Mignon performances. They constitute not only a provocative musical and artistic event, but, to commune with the digital reenactment of nearly century-old performances makes for a profoundly existential, even spiritual, experience as well."

Superb!! Great composers play their own music.

08/19/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an outstanding cd to buy. To hear Mahler himself play the first movement of his 5th symphony is worth the money. And I might add, rare, and hard to find. Also, Debussy, Ravel (he makes an error which is interesting to hear), Richard Strauss, a particularly fine piece by Max Reger, as well as, Saint-Saens, Scrabin, and Grieg.The Welte-Mignon was no ordinary Piano Roll. It had great fidelity and sensitivity to the pianists touch and to the pedal work. For it's time (these were all recorded between 1905-1913) the Welte-Mignon was a stunning technological breakthrough. Virtually forgotten for 80 years, many of these priceless recordings were destroyed in WWII or discarded because they were 'out of fashion. 'They are simply fascinating."