This set is available at a special rate: nine CDs for the price of eight. The ninth disc contains incomplete recordings, alternate takes, a private home recording and a 22-minute interview with William Kapell.This set is available at a special rate: nine CDs for the price of eight. The ninth disc contains incomplete recordings, alternate takes, a private home recording and a 22-minute interview with William Kapell. Read less
Concerto for Piano no 2 in C minor, Op. 18by Sergei Rachmaninov Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:
William Steinberg
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
Period: Romantic Written: Russia Date of Recording: 07/07/1950 Notes: Composition written: Russia (1900 - 1901).
8.
Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op. 43by Sergei Rachmaninov Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:
Fritz Reiner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
Period: Romantic Written: 1934; USA Date of Recording: 06/27/1951
Concerto for Piano in D flat majorby Aram Khachaturian Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:
Serge Koussevitzky
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century Written: 1936; USSR Date of Recording: 04/19/1946
11.
Concerto for Piano no 3 in C major, Op. 26by Sergei Prokofiev Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:
Antal Doráti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century Written: 1917-1921; USA Date of Recording: 01/07/1949
12.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in B flat major, Op. 19by Ludwig van Beethoven Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:
Vladimir Golschmann
Orchestra/Ensemble:
NBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical Written: 1793/1798; Vienna, Austria Date of Recording: 06/24/1946
Suite in A minor, BWV 818by Johann Sebastian Bach Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Baroque Written: circa 1722; Cöthen, Germany Date of Recording: 01/07/1947
16.
Children's Cornerby Claude Debussy Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1906-1908; France Date of Recording: 1950-51
17.
Sonata for Harpsichord in E major, K 380/L 23by Domenico Scarlatti Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Baroque Written: 18th Century Date of Recording: 03/01/1953 Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
18.
Suite Iberia, Book 1: no 1, Evocaciónby Isaac Albeniz Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic Written: 1904-1906; France Date of Recording: 04/27/1945
Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 19by Sergei Rachmaninov Performer:
William Kapell (Piano),
Edmund Kurtz (Cello)
Period: Romantic Written: 1901; Russia Date of Recording: 04/1947
23.
Sonata for Pianoby 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
Pictures at an Exhibition for Pianoby Modest Mussorgsky Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic Written: 1874; Russia Date of Recording: 03/01/1953 Venue: Live Frick Collection, New York City
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 77/Op. 17: no 3 in A flat majorby Frédéric Chopin Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic Written: 1832-1833; Paris, France Date of Recording: 12/27/1951 Notes: This selection is repeated in an alternate take.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 115/Op. 33: no 3 in C majorby 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 Notes: This selection is repeated in an alternate take.
Toccata Ostinatoby Robert Palmer Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Date of Recording: 03/21/1947 Venue: Live Carnegie Hall, New York City
Partita for Keyboard no 4 in D major, BWV 828: Allemandeby Johann Sebastian Bach Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Baroque Written: 1726-1731; Leipzig, Germany Date of Recording: 12/20/1951 Notes: Only the beginning of the movement is heard in this recording.
IndispensableDecember 23, 2011By T. Drake (South Euclid, OH)See All My Reviews"Leon Fleisher: "Willy was beyond a doubt the greatest pianistic talent this country [United States] has ever produced".
No small compliment coming from another great pianist. It is a tribute to William Kapell that, although he died at the age of 31, he was already a mature artist. One does not have a sense of unfulfilled potential, ala James Dean, for there is fulfillment aplenty on each of the nine discs in this boxed set. I know of no other pianist who gave so many indispensable performances of the core repertoire in such a short time. But the sense of tragedy, of what might have been if Kapell had not perished in a plane crash in 1953, hovers over this set.
The Chopin Sonata in B Minor, Op. 58 is easily the best this listener has ever heard, either on record or in concert - Kapell outclasses even Rubinstein. The same can be said for the Mazurkas, which carefully balance the dance elements of these small jewels with their tone poem qualities.
Both the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto and the Paganini Rhapsody eclipse nearly all other recordings, even those of the composer - who certainly knew how to play the piano.
Two other Russian concertos, by Aram Khachaturian and Serge Prokofiev, were early staples of Kapell's repertoire, and the performances are again a perfect balance of poetry and fury, which is exactly what this music requires.
A recording of Kapell in recital from March of 1953 (including another remarkable performance: the Copland Sonata) reveals that Kapell's extraordinary technique and musicianship are not the result of recording engineers and tape splicing - this is the real thing.
Equally fascinating is a twenty minute interview with Kapell, which reveals a profundity and maturity, both as man and musician, far beyond his years.
This was the first recording project from RCA after they reorganized and inventoried their vaults in the 1990s. The access to original sources is evident in the superbly restored sound (remastered by Jon Samuels) and the documentation is first rate. This boxed set is a template for how all classical music reissues should be handled, and should be on the shelves of all lovers of piano music. "Report Abuse