Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good time to remember musicians who have been largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.

If nobody chooses to contribute, there are so many forgotten performers that I’ll the thread going for a while.

Sylvia Marlowe

Harpsichordist active around 1945 - 1980. She commissioned many 20th century composers and enriched the modern harpsichord repertoire greatly.

My favorites of her discography are a Purcell LP

https://youtu.be/pjVqIiQN0N8

Also her Couperin LPs are excellent. They’re on YouTube as well.

The playing in the above recordings are inspired, lively and most important - colorful. She played on a modern instrument with 4, 8, 16 foot stops along with nasals and lute stops.

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 9:00:48 AM UTC-6, JohnGavin wrote:
> Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good time to remember musicians who have been largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
>
> If nobody chooses to contribute, there are so many forgotten performers that I’ll the thread going for a while.
>
> Sylvia Marlowe
>
> Harpsichordist active around 1945 - 1980. She commissioned many 20th century composers and enriched the modern harpsichord repertoire greatly.
>
> My favorites of her discography are a Purcell LP
>
> https://youtu.be/pjVqIiQN0N8
>
> Also her Couperin LPs are excellent. They’re on YouTube as well.
>
> The playing in the above recordings are inspired, lively and most important - colorful. She played on a modern instrument with 4, 8, 16 foot stops along with nasals and lute stops.

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 9:00:48 AM UTC-6, JohnGavin wrote:
> Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good time to remember musicians who have been largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
>
> If nobody chooses to contribute, there are so many forgotten performers that I’ll the thread going for a while.
>
> Sylvia Marlowe
>
> Harpsichordist active around 1945 - 1980. She commissioned many 20th century composers and enriched the modern harpsichord repertoire greatly.
>
> My favorites of her discography are a Purcell LP
>
> https://youtu.be/pjVqIiQN0N8
>
> Also her Couperin LPs are excellent. They’re on YouTube as well.
>
> The playing in the above recordings are inspired, lively and most important - colorful. She played on a modern instrument with 4, 8, 16 foot stops along with nasals and lute stops.

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:04:28 AM UTC-6, Lawrence Kart wrote:
> On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 9:00:48 AM UTC-6, JohnGavin wrote:
> > Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good time to remember musicians who have been largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
> >
> > If nobody chooses to contribute, there are so many forgotten performers that I’ll the thread going for a while.
> >
> > Sylvia Marlowe
> >
> > Harpsichordist active around 1945 - 1980. She commissioned many 20th century composers and enriched the modern harpsichord repertoire greatly.
> >
> > My favorites of her discography are a Purcell LP
> >
> > https://youtu.be/pjVqIiQN0N8
> >
> > Also her Couperin LPs are excellent. They’re on YouTube as well..
> >
> > The playing in the above recordings are inspired, lively and most important - colorful. She played on a modern instrument with 4, 8, 16 foot stops along with nasals and lute stops.

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 9:00:48 AM UTC-6, JohnGavin wrote:
> Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good time to remember musicians who have been largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
>
> If nobody chooses to contribute, there are so many forgotten performers that I’ll the thread going for a while.
>
> Sylvia Marlowe
>
> Harpsichordist active around 1945 - 1980. She commissioned many 20th century composers and enriched the modern harpsichord repertoire greatly.
>
> My favorites of her discography are a Purcell LP
>
> https://youtu.be/pjVqIiQN0N8
>
> Also her Couperin LPs are excellent. They’re on YouTube as well.
>
> The playing in the above recordings are inspired, lively and most important - colorful. She played on a modern instrument with 4, 8, 16 foot stops along with nasals and lute stops.

I'd be thinking of the older Russian School of pianists....

Feinberg, Sofronitsky, Cherkassky, Flier, Ginsburg, Igumnov, Neuhaus, Postnikova, Davidovich, Ervy-Novitskaya, Leonskaya, Pachman, Zak, Virsaladze, Yudina, Nikolayeva......

On 12/24/2021 11:37 AM, Andy Evans wrote:
> I'd be thinking of the older Russian School of pianists....
>
> Feinberg, Sofronitsky, Cherkassky, Flier, Ginsburg, Igumnov, Neuhaus, Postnikova, Davidovich, Ervy-Novitskaya, Leonskaya, Pachman, Zak, Virsaladze, Yudina, Nikolayeva......

Why do you say they are forgotten? By people who never heard of them in the first place?

On Friday, 24 December 2021 at 18:19:06 UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
> On 12/24/2021 11:37 AM, Andy Evans wrote:
> > I'd be thinking of the older Russian School of pianists....
> >
> > Feinberg, Sofronitsky, Cherkassky, Flier, Ginsburg, Igumnov, Neuhaus, Postnikova, Davidovich, Ervy-Novitskaya, Leonskaya, Pachman, Zak, Virsaladze, Yudina, Nikolayeva......

> Why do you say they are forgotten? By people who never heard of them in the first place?

That's a very good question. Some like Igumnov and Ervy-Novitskaya are more unlikely to have broken through to contemporary listeners. Others might have been listened to years ago and forgotten. I had to look up Virsaladze because although I remember her playing I'd forgotten her name. Whichever way you look at it, these are mostly names out of the usual currency with the probable exceptions of Sofronitsky and Cherkassky. I'm sure many of you would know most of them, and I'd expect Dan to know them all pretty well.

On 12/24/2021 1:44 PM, Andy Evans wrote:
> On Friday, 24 December 2021 at 18:19:06 UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
>> On 12/24/2021 11:37 AM, Andy Evans wrote:
>>> I'd be thinking of the older Russian School of pianists....
>>>
>>> Feinberg, Sofronitsky, Cherkassky, Flier, Ginsburg, Igumnov, Neuhaus, Postnikova, Davidovich, Ervy-Novitskaya, Leonskaya, Pachman, Zak, Virsaladze, Yudina, Nikolayeva......
>
>> Why do you say they are forgotten? By people who never heard of them in the first place?
>
> That's a very good question. Some like Igumnov and Ervy-Novitskaya are more unlikely to have broken through to contemporary listeners. Others might have been listened to years ago and forgotten. I had to look up Virsaladze because although I remember her playing I'd forgotten her name. Whichever way you look at it, these are mostly names out of the usual currency with the probable exceptions of Sofronitsky and Cherkassky. I'm sure many of you would know most of them, and I'd expect Dan to know them all pretty well.

I have recordings by every one of these. In some cases virtually everything they recorded (at least what has made it to CD or someone has transferred to CD-R). I'm not sure I can tell you why, but I particularly seek out recordings by Ervy-Novitskaya and Virsaladze. Maybe not so much Yudina, and Nikoleyeva.

I’ll tell you a forgotten pianist who I remembered a few months ago and enjoyed hearing - Harold Bauer.

And another one who I remembered and, when I listened again, I concluded was best forgotten: Nyiregyházi.

On Friday, 24 December 2021 at 18:54:12 UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
> I have recordings by every one of these. In some cases virtually everything they recorded (at least what has made it to CD or someone has transferred to CD-R). I'm not sure I can tell you why, but I particularly seek out recordings by Ervy-Novitskaya and Virsaladze. Maybe not so much Yudina, and Nikoleyeva.

That's good to know - I agree completely! I don't listen to Yudina or Nikolayeva, just stuck them in for completeness. Big fan of Virsaladze, and I have Ervy-Novitskaya in Prokofiev. Igumnov in Chopin #3, various Flier, Neuhaus, Ginsburg and Zak and plenty of Feinberg and Sofronitzky. Plus the others mentioned either on CD or I listen to them on YouTube.

Oh, another thing. Someone was asking about D664 - and my favourite by far happens to be by a forgotten piano player - Erdmann. So I got it out, played it, and was as predicted bowled over, and was also similarly impressed by his D 884. So I thought I’d explore some of his other stuff. Well, there are nice things but it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

I guess a similar story is true for many forgotten pianists - Ciani, De Brunhoff come to mind.

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 1:09:50 PM UTC-6, Mandryka wrote:
> Oh, another thing. Someone was asking about D664 - and my favourite by far happens to be by a forgotten piano player - Erdmann. So I got it out, played it, and was as predicted bowled over, and was also similarly impressed by his D 884. So I thought I’d explore some of his other stuff. Well, there are nice things but it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
>
> I guess a similar story is true for many forgotten pianists - Ciani, De Brunhoff come to mind.

Eduardo Del Pueyo -- his "Hammerklavier" and his "Nights in the Garden of Spain."

On 12/24/2021 2:01 PM, Andy Evans wrote:
> On Friday, 24 December 2021 at 18:54:12 UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
>> I have recordings by every one of these. In some cases virtually everything they recorded (at least what has made it to CD or someone has transferred to CD-R). I'm not sure I can tell you why, but I particularly seek out recordings by Ervy-Novitskaya and Virsaladze. Maybe not so much Yudina, and Nikoleyeva.
>
> That's good to know - I agree completely! I don't listen to Yudina or Nikolayeva, just stuck them in for completeness. Big fan of Virsaladze, and I have Ervy-Novitskaya in Prokofiev. Igumnov in Chopin #3, various Flier, Neuhaus, Ginsburg and Zak and plenty of Feinberg and Sofronitzky. Plus the others mentioned either on CD or I listen to them on YouTube.
I have so many duplicates, it ridiculous. I have every single Sofronitsky disk on Vista Vera and Denon. There were a few released on Classound, which I read somewhere had better sound, but I never got around to testing that. There was one Classound Sofronitsky release that I've never seen offered for sale. That is this one:

https://ruslania.com/en/music/223689-vladimir-sofronitsky-chopin-polonaise-valses-mazurkas/

I've been looking for it for years.

On 12/24/2021 2:09 PM, Mandryka wrote:
> Oh, another thing. Someone was asking about D664 - and my favourite by far happens to be by a forgotten piano player - Erdmann. So I got it out, played it, and was as predicted bowled over, and was also similarly impressed by his D 884. So I thought I’d explore some of his other stuff. Well, there are nice things but it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
>
> I guess a similar story is true for many forgotten pianists - Ciani, De Brunhoff come to mind.

D664 was never on CD, right?

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 8:05:11 PM UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
> On 12/24/2021 2:09 PM, Mandryka wrote:
> > Oh, another thing. Someone was asking about D664 - and my favourite by far happens to be by a forgotten piano player - Erdmann. So I got it out, played it, and was as predicted bowled over, and was also similarly impressed by his D 884. So I thought I’d explore some of his other stuff. Well, there are nice things but it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
> >
> > I guess a similar story is true for many forgotten pianists - Ciani, De Brunhoff come to mind.
> D664 was never on CD, right?

Not as far as I know -- you can hear it on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4bNK6r6zdc&ab_channel=gullivior

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 8:04:31 PM UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
> On 12/24/2021 2:01 PM, Andy Evans wrote:
> > On Friday, 24 December 2021 at 18:54:12 UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
> >> I have recordings by every one of these. In some cases virtually everything they recorded (at least what has made it to CD or someone has transferred to CD-R). I'm not sure I can tell you why, but I particularly seek out recordings by Ervy-Novitskaya and Virsaladze. Maybe not so much Yudina, and Nikoleyeva.
> >
> > That's good to know - I agree completely! I don't listen to Yudina or Nikolayeva, just stuck them in for completeness. Big fan of Virsaladze, and I have Ervy-Novitskaya in Prokofiev. Igumnov in Chopin #3, various Flier, Neuhaus, Ginsburg and Zak and plenty of Feinberg and Sofronitzky. Plus the others mentioned either on CD or I listen to them on YouTube.
> I have so many duplicates, it ridiculous. I have every single Sofronitsky disk on Vista Vera and Denon. There were a few released on Classound, which I read somewhere had better sound, but I never got around to testing that.. There was one Classound Sofronitsky release that I've never seen offered for sale. That is this one:
>
> https://ruslania.com/en/music/223689-vladimir-sofronitsky-chopin-polonaise-valses-mazurkas/
>
> I've been looking for it for years.

I have that, I can let you have it (are you a member of Symphonyshare?) I think the material is available elsewhere (maybe his Great Pianists), mostly or all late performances I think -- the transfers are good (but maybe not better than others.)

On 12/24/2021 3:47 PM, Mandryka wrote:
> On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 8:04:31 PM UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
>> On 12/24/2021 2:01 PM, Andy Evans wrote:
>>> On Friday, 24 December 2021 at 18:54:12 UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
>>>> I have recordings by every one of these. In some cases virtually everything they recorded (at least what has made it to CD or someone has transferred to CD-R). I'm not sure I can tell you why, but I particularly seek out recordings by Ervy-Novitskaya and Virsaladze. Maybe not so much Yudina, and Nikoleyeva.
>>>
>>> That's good to know - I agree completely! I don't listen to Yudina or Nikolayeva, just stuck them in for completeness. Big fan of Virsaladze, and I have Ervy-Novitskaya in Prokofiev. Igumnov in Chopin #3, various Flier, Neuhaus, Ginsburg and Zak and plenty of Feinberg and Sofronitzky. Plus the others mentioned either on CD or I listen to them on YouTube.
>> I have so many duplicates, it ridiculous. I have every single Sofronitsky disk on Vista Vera and Denon. There were a few released on Classound, which I read somewhere had better sound, but I never got around to testing that. There was one Classound Sofronitsky release that I've never seen offered for sale. That is this one:
>>
>> https://ruslania.com/en/music/223689-vladimir-sofronitsky-chopin-polonaise-valses-mazurkas/
>>
>> I've been looking for it for years.
>
> I have that, I can let you have it (are you a member of Symphonyshare?) I think the material is available elsewhere (maybe his Great Pianists), mostly or all late performances I think -- the transfers are good (but maybe not better than others.)

Thanks, but no thanks. I want the CD. Not a big deal, but for completeness, you know. If you want to sell yours......

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:54:12 AM UTC-8, Frank Berger wrote:
> On 12/24/2021 1:44 PM, Andy Evans wrote:
> > On Friday, 24 December 2021 at 18:19:06 UTC, Frank Berger wrote:
> >> On 12/24/2021 11:37 AM, Andy Evans wrote:
> >>> I'd be thinking of the older Russian School of pianists....
> >>>
> >>> Feinberg, Sofronitsky, Cherkassky, Flier, Ginsburg, Igumnov, Neuhaus, Postnikova, Davidovich, Ervy-Novitskaya, Leonskaya, Pachman, Zak, Virsaladze, Yudina, Nikolayeva......
> >
> >> Why do you say they are forgotten? By people who never heard of them in the first place?
> >
> > That's a very good question. Some like Igumnov and Ervy-Novitskaya are more unlikely to have broken through to contemporary listeners. Others might have been listened to years ago and forgotten. I had to look up Virsaladze because although I remember her playing I'd forgotten her name. Whichever way you look at it, these are mostly names out of the usual currency with the probable exceptions of Sofronitsky and Cherkassky. I'm sure many of you would know most of them, and I'd expect Dan to know them all pretty well.
> I have recordings by every one of these. In some cases virtually everything they recorded (at least what has made it to CD or someone has transferred to CD-R). I'm not sure I can tell you why, but I particularly seek out recordings by Ervy-Novitskaya and Virsaladze. Maybe not so much Yudina, and Nikoleyeva.

I remember when Novitskaya's Melodiya-Angel Prokofiev album first came out (right after she won the QEB Competition in 1968) - man, did I have the hots for her! Unfortunately, her babeliousciousness didn't last that long - but I've always enjoyed her rather aggressive performances on that album, and of course I still have the CD remastering. In any case, I've never forgotten her!

Op vrijdag 24 december 2021 om 16:00:48 UTC+1 schreef JohnGavin:
> Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good time to remember musicians who have been largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
>
> If nobody chooses to contribute, there are so many forgotten performers that I’ll the thread going for a while.
>
> Sylvia Marlowe
>
> Harpsichordist active around 1945 - 1980. She commissioned many 20th century composers and enriched the modern harpsichord repertoire greatly.
>
> My favorites of her discography are a Purcell LP
>
> https://youtu.be/pjVqIiQN0N8
>
> Also her Couperin LPs are excellent. They’re on YouTube as well.
>
> The playing in the above recordings are inspired, lively and most important - colorful. She played on a modern instrument with 4, 8, 16 foot stops along with nasals and lute stops.

Bela Siki,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUV8Ybx4600

Tamas Vasary,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi4WOECWRCM

Anderzej Czajkowski,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCYFpc_NxpM

Ingrid Haebler,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-el7eCBek

Henk

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:00:48 AM UTC-5, JohnGavin wrote:
>
> Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good
> time to remember musicians who have been
> largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings
> have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.

At the top of my oblivion list: Ernst Levy, Maryla
Jonas, Esteban Sanchez, Harry Datyner, Julian
von Karolyi, Ervin Nyiregyházi, Monique de la
Bruchollerie, Fabienne Jacquinot, France
Clidat, Rudolf Kehrer, Jean-Rodolphe Kars.

dk

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 8:48:08 PM UTC-5, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:00:48 AM UTC-5, JohnGavin wrote:
> >
> > Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good
> > time to remember musicians who have been
> > largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings
> > have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
> At the top of my oblivion list: Ernst Levy, Maryla
> Jonas, Esteban Sanchez, Harry Datyner, Julian
> von Karolyi, Ervin Nyiregyházi, Monique de la
> Bruchollerie, Fabienne Jacquinot, France
> Clidat, Rudolf Kehrer, Jean-Rodolphe Kars.
>

I would add Dino Ciano, Sergio Perticaroli
and Richard Farrell. One does not hear much
either about Sergio Fiorentino nowadays.

dk

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 7:48:08 PM UTC-6, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:00:48 AM UTC-5, JohnGavin wrote:
> >
> > Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good
> > time to remember musicians who have been
> > largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings
> > have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
> At the top of my oblivion list: Ernst Levy, Maryla
> Jonas, Esteban Sanchez, Harry Datyner, Julian
> von Karolyi, Ervin Nyiregyházi, Monique de la
> Bruchollerie, Fabienne Jacquinot, France
> Clidat, Rudolf Kehrer, Jean-Rodolphe Kars.
>
> dk

Thanks to Dan, I know about and agree with him about Levy, Sanchez, and de la
Bruchollerie. When the Nyiregyházi "boom," so to speak, occurred some years ago, I bought
the recordings but remained unconvinced.

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:18:00 PM UTC-5, ljk...@aol.com wrote:
> On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 7:48:08 PM UTC-6, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:00:48 AM UTC-5, JohnGavin wrote:
> > >
> > > Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good
> > > time to remember musicians who have been
> > > largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings
> > > have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
> >
> > At the top of my oblivion list: Ernst Levy, Maryla
> > Jonas, Esteban Sanchez, Harry Datyner, Julian
> > von Karolyi, Ervin Nyiregyházi, Monique de la
> > Bruchollerie, Fabienne Jacquinot, France
> > Clidat, Rudolf Kehrer, Jean-Rodolphe Kars.
>
> Thanks to Dan, I know about and agree with him
> about Levy, Sanchez, and de la Bruchollerie. When
> the Nyiregyházi "boom," so to speak, occurred some
> years ago, I bought the recordings but remained
> unconvinced.

Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0S1KDOC8is

Nyiregyházi's (non)career was the greatest loss in
the history of music.

dk

On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 8:48:08 PM UTC-5, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:00:48 AM UTC-5, JohnGavin wrote:
> >
> > Christmas Eve somehow seems like a good
> > time to remember musicians who have been
> > largely forgotten. In many cases their recordings
> > have gone into oblivion with the advent of CDs.
>
> At the top of my oblivion list: Ernst Levy, Maryla
> Jonas, Esteban Sanchez, Harry Datyner, Julian
> von Karolyi, Ervin Nyiregyházi, Monique de la
> Bruchollerie, Fabienne Jacquinot, France
> Clidat, Rudolf Kehrer, Jean-Rodolphe Kars.
>

Hommage aux Brigades Françaises du Piano:

France Clidat:

Liszt 3 Sonnets de Pétrarque -- France Clidat (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_PLtwHZ8rM

Schubert/Liszt -- Complete Soirées de Vienne (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC7b-_SjVDM

Liszt -- Sonata in B minor (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbFbG0dKceg

LIszt -- Treifscendental Etudes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRY7BYvcB1A

Monique de La Bruchollerie:

Saint-Saëns -- Toccata (Étude op. 111 no. 6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgl9QacaEs

Meowszart Piano Concerto No 23 A Major KV 488 (1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuN1uLJk_hI

Saint-Saëns –Piano Concerto n°5 (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76DU-LhApzM

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 Ansermet/BSO 1951
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGE-ZWl8ic8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJSjswYEBas

Fabienne Jacquinot:

Schumann -- L'Oiseau Prophète, Op. 28 No 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOC9mAKndUI

Schumann -- Carnaval op. 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgqOjVLtXEc

Schumann -- Davidsbündlertänze op. 6 (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZDCCOUKoI

J. Strauss -- "An der schönen blauen Donau" (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba_A-xVBKYk

Saint-Saëns -- Piano Concerto No. 5 Op. 103 in F (1953)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHjPrO1BCWA

Enjoy!

dk