CYRIL SMITH The complete solo recordings

APR7313

3CDs

COMPACT DISC 1 (76.52) HMV recordings, Abbey Road Studios, London 
1. BALAKIREV Islamey recorded on 29 January 1935
2. GÄRTNER/FRIEDMAN Viennese Dance No 2 recorded on 27 January 1935
3. RUBINSTEIN ‘Staccato’ Etude Op 23/2 recorded on 27 January 1935
Decca recording, Chenil Galleries, London 
4. BLISS Polonaise No 2 from Suite for piano recorded on 12 September 1935
Columbia recordings, Abbey Road Studios, London 1944–1952
5. SCHUBERT Impromptu in G flat D899/3 Recorded on 22 May 1950
6. CHOPIN Impromptu in B flat D935/3 recorded on 24 May & 25 September 1950
7. CHOPIN Barcarolle in F sharp Op 60 recorded on 22 May 1950
8. CHOPIN Nocturne in F sharp Op 15/2 recorded on 19 November 1951
9. CHOPIN Waltz in D flat Op 64/1 recorded on 19 November 1951
10. CHOPIN Waltz in G flat Op 70/1 recorded on 19 November 1951
11. CHOPIN Scherzo No 1 in B minor Op 20 recorded on 22 August 1946
12. SCHUMANN Romance in F sharp Op 28/2 recorded on 25 May 1950
13. ALBÉNIZ Seguidillas from Cantos de España, Op 232 recorded on 4 June 1952
14. ALBÉNIZ/GODOWSKY Tango from España, Op 165 recorded on 19 November 1951
15. ALBÉNIZ Triana from Iberia recorded on 13 July 1944

COMPACT DISC 2 (72.08) Columbia recordings 1944–1950 
1. RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Op 43 recorded on 1 October 1948
MALCOLM SARGENT / PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA
2. PAGANINI/LISZT La campanella Grandes Études de Paganini, S141/3 recorded on 13 July 1944
3. BACH/SAINT-SAËNS Bourrée from Violin Partita in B minor, BWV1002 recorded on 22 May 1950
4. BACH/RUMMEL Mortify us by Thy grace No 5 from Cantata No 22 recorded on 22 May 1950
5. RACHMANINOV Prelude in G minor Op 23/5 recorded on 16 August 1946
6. RACHMANINOV Prelude in G Op 32/5 recorded on 16 August 1946
7. RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor Op 18 recorded on 12–14 & 16 June 1947
MALCOLM SARGENT / LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

COMPACT DISC 3 (68.53) Columbia recordings 1929–1946
1. DOHNÁNYI Variations on a Nursery Song Op 25 recorded on 8 February 1944
MALCOLM SARGENT / LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
2. DOHNÁNYI Capriccio in F minor Op 28/6 recorded in January 1929
3. DELIBES/DOHNÁNYI Naïla Waltz recorded on 19 May 1944
4. RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor Op 30 recorded on 22–23 January 1946
GEORGE WELDON / CITY OF BIRMINGHAM ORCHESTRA

We tend to remember CYRIL SMITH (1909–1974) these days as the pianist who overcame the misfortune of a paralysing stroke to form a hugely successful duo for three hands with his wife, pianist Phyllis Sellick. Before then though, he had conquered the virtuoso repertoire in a most un-British fashion – making Rachmaninov the centre of his art and recording a series of warhorses in spectacular style. The Dohnányi Capriccio of 1929, his earliest recording, and part of a prize for a competition win, lays down the gauntlet in a coruscating performance to rival the Horwitz version released the same year. His recordings of the 2nd and 3rd Rachmaninov concertos and Rhapsody were for a time best-sellers. But there is poetry and charm too, particularly in the various encore-like transcriptions he set down. This set brings together for the first time all the recordings he made as a solo player before his stroke.

APR7313 Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to Stream