Notes and Editorial Reviews
The music world suffered an incalculable loss when, on October 29, 1953, pianist William Kapell was killed in a plane crash at the age of thirty-one. More than a young man on the brink of greatness, he was already achieving it with a combination of virtuosity, temperament and intellect that set him apart, even from other brilliant players. RCA has done a heroic job of assembling his scattered recorded legacy in a nine-disc WILLIAM KAPELL EDITION and one of the surprise dividends is this never-before released recital recorded at the Frick Collection on March 1, 1953.
Kapell's repertoire came from both the romantic center and the outer edges, which is reflected in this program of Copland, Chopin, Mussorgsky, Schumann and Scarlatti. His
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Copland Sonata is riveting, a reminder that the composer's 'Piano Fantasy' had just been written for him when he died. His 'Pictures at an Exhibition' is a marvel of insight, delineating more clearly than most the interplay between the painting pieces and the reactive promenades. The Chopin selections give us the pianist in microcosm, dreamily rhapsodic in the Nocturne, wistful in the Mazurka, intense in the big 'Polonaise-fantasie,' always taking the music where he felt it should go without the slightest hint of artifice. Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Sonata for Piano by Aaron Copland
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939-1941; USA
Date of Recording: 03/01/1953
Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Length: 21 Minutes 2 Secs.
2.
Nocturnes (2) for Piano, B 152/Op. 55: no 2 in E flat major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1843; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 03/01/1953
Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Length: 4 Minutes 58 Secs.
3.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 115/Op. 33: no 3 in C major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1837-1838; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 03/01/1953
Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Length: 1 Minutes 28 Secs.
4.
Polonaise-fantaisie for Piano in A flat major, B 159/Op. 61 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845-1846; Poland
Date of Recording: 03/01/1953
Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Length: 12 Minutes 44 Secs.
5.
Pictures at an Exhibition for Piano by Modest Mussorgsky
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1874; Russia
Date of Recording: 03/01/1953
Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Length: 29 Minutes 12 Secs.
6.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: no 1, Von fremden Ländern und Menschen by Robert Schumann
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Germany
Date of Recording: 03/01/1953
Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Length: 1 Minutes 48 Secs.
7.
Sonata for Harpsichord in E major, K 380/L 23 by Domenico Scarlatti
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Baroque
Written: 18th Century
Date of Recording: 03/01/1953
Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Length: 3 Minutes 17 Secs.
Sound Samples
Nocturne in E-Flat, Op.55, No. 2
Mazurka in C, Op.33, No. 3
Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-Flat, Op.61
Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
Catacombs (Sepulchrum romanum)
Con mortuis in lingua mortua
About Foreign Lands and People
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