A catalogue of 78rpm Piano Recordings of Classical Pianists
Welcome
Welcome to APR - or Appian Publications & Recordings Ltd. to quote our full title, though we are invariably more familiarly known simply as "APR".
Within the relatively short time since APR was founded in 1986 it has won an enviable reputation as a quality label devoted predominantly - though not exclusively - to historic piano recordings. In particular APR has won countless laurels for the high standard of its 78rpm restoration work - "Transfers of genius" to quote one critic - as well as the detail and content of its booklets - "Presentation is, as always with APR, immaculate" - to cite another accolade. These features have been recognised by the award of numerous international honours, not least an unprecedented 9 Grand Prix by the Liszt Society of Budapest in recent years.
In September 2004, following the retirement of its founder, Bryan Crimp, APR changed hands, though the aspirations of the label remain unchanged. APR is now based in London, England and is owned and run by Michael Spring who previously spent many years at Hyperion Records.
New Releases
ALFRED CORTOT - The 1942-1943 Paris Chopin recordings
2CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (77.31)
1-12. 12 Études Op 10 recorded on 2 November 1942 in Paris at Studio Albert
13-24. 12 Études Op 25 recorded on 4 November 1942 in Paris at Studio Albert
25-28. Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor Op 58 recorded on 12 May 1931 in London at Small Queen’s Hall
COMPACT DISC 2 (75.47)
1-24. 24 Préludes Op 28 recorded on 2 December 1942 & 25 February 1943 in Paris at Studio Albert
25-38. 14 Waltzes recorded on 24 May and 7th July 1943 in Paris at Studio Albert
What better way to introduce Alfred Cortot to APR’s French Piano School series than by focussing on the few recordings he actually made in France.
There’s a good case for claiming Cortot as the greatest of twentieth century French pianists and he was certainly the most prolific one to record in the 78-rpm era. He began recording as a soloist in 1919 and continued through to the 1950s, but nearly all his discs were made in the USA and the UK. It was only during World War 2 that he recorded solo repertoire in France and these recordings, originally only released locally, are much less well-known than his London HMVs from the 1930s. Cortot seems to have planned these Paris sessions to be a substantial survey of Chopin’s works, including the complete Polonaises and Scherzi which he had not previously recorded, but in the end only the Etudes, Preludes and Waltzes were released. Cortot here is still on top form, the post war decline in his playing not yet evident, and these performances are very much complimentary to his earlier ones. Anyone, knowing of Cortot’s ‘wrong notes’ and doubting his technique only has to listen to these Etudes (all first takes!) to hear virtuoso playing of the highest order, and of course Cortot’s unique poetry is never in doubt. Perhaps the Preludes best reveal the soul of our pianist, and this set finds him at his finest.
As an appendix we have included another rarity, Cortot’s first recording of Chopin’s B minor Piano Sonata, made in London in 1931. He was to remake the work in the then new Abbey Road studios in 1933, and it is this later version which has been continuously reissued, but this earlier version is in no way inferior and could be argued to be better in parts than the 1933 version. It is also in very good sound for its time and we are happy to give it some well-deserved attention.
APR6046
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to Stream
FANNY DAVIES The complete Schumann recordings
1CD (78'37)
FANNY DAVIES
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A minor Op 54
1. Allegro affettuoso
2. Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso –
3. Allegro vivace
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA / ERNEST ANSERMET
Recorded on 15 & 16 June 1928
4. SCHUMANN Kinderszenen Op 15
Recorded in the Portman Rooms, London, on 2 February 1929
17. SCHUMANN Davidsbündlertänze Op 6 omitting Nos III, VII, XV & XVI
Recorded in the Petty France large studio, London, on 10 December 1930
ADELA VERNE
31. CHOPIN Polonaise in A flat major Op 53
32. IGNACIO CERVANTES Three Cuban Dances
33. MOSZKOWSKI La Jongleuse Op 52 No 4
Recorded in 1917
Of the few pupils of Clara Schumann to make recordings, Fanny Davies (1861 1934) was by far the most important. She studied for two years with the great pianist and very much saw herself as a disciple. She went on to have a significant career and was praised for her noble and unsentimental approach to the music of Robert Schumann in interpretations that were said to resemble Clara’s very closely. The three recorded works she left us are thus some of the most important documents of 19th-century pianism we have, and we are delighted to return them to the catalogue in new transfers.
Adela Verne (1877–1952) is less well-known today, perhaps because she left only two recordings, made in 1917, but in her day, she was a major figure, starting life as a prodigy and giving the first performance of the Brahms 2nd Concerto at the Proms in 1905. Her principal teacher was her elder sister Mathilde Verne, another Clara Schumann pupil. This is the first time her discs have been reissued.
APR5648
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to StreamFRENCH SCHOOL PIANISTS PLAY FRENCH CONCERTOS
3CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (72’10)
Jeanne-Marie Darré: SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor Op 22
ORCHESTRE DES CONCERTS COLONNE / PAUL PARAY recorded 24 February 1948
Alfred Cortot: SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No 4 in C minor Op 44
UNNAMED ORCHESTRA / CHARLES MÜNCH recorded 9 July 1935
Kazuko Kusama (Yasukawa): SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No 5 in F major ‘Egyptian’ Op 103
TOKYO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / HISATADA OTAKA recorded 1943
COMPACT DISC 2 (77’40)
Marcelle Herrenschmidt: WIDOR Fantaisie in A flat major Op 62
ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE PARIS / CHARLES MÜNCH recorded October 1938
Lucien Wurmser: PÉRILHOU Fantaisie pour piano et orchestre
ORCHESTRE DES CONCERTS COLONNE / VICTOR GALLOIS recorded 1939
Jean Doyen: FAURÉ Fantaisie in G major Op 111
ORCHESTRE LAMOUREUX / JEAN FOURNET recorded 12 December 1949
Francis Poulenc: POULENC Aubade
ORCHESTRE DES CONCERTS STRARAM / WALTHER STRARAM recorded 20 & 22 January 1930
Marguerite Roesgen-Champion: ROESGEN-CHAMPION Idylle & Passepied
ORCHESTRE DES CONCERTS MARIUS-FRANÇOIS GAILLARD / MARIUS-FRANÇOIS GAILLARD recorded 30 May 1941
Jean Françaix: FRANÇAIX Concertino pour piano et orchestre (1932)
BERLIN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA / LEO BORCHARD recorded 26 February 1937
COMPACT DISC 3 (74’04)
Jean Françaix: FRANÇAIX Concerto pour piano et orchestre (1936)
ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE PARIS / NADIA BOULANGER recorded 6 February 1937
Arnaud de Gontaut-Biron: SAUGUET Piano Concerto No 1 in A minor
PARIS CONSERVATOIRE ORCHESTRA / ROGER DÉSORMIÈRE recorded 29 June 1943
Jacques Février: RAVEL Piano Concerto for the left hand in D major
PARIS CONSERVATOIRE ORCHESTRA / CHARLES MÜNCH recorded 8 October 1942
Émile Passani: RAVEL Piano Concerto in G major
ORCHESTRE DES CONCERTS COLONNE / JEAN FOURNET recorded 28 October 1947
This set brings together twelve French-trained pianists performing thirteen French works for piano and orchestra of which ten are premiere recordings. Most of the performers knew the composers and worked with them and four works are performed by their composers. It’s hard to imagine a more definitive view of this repertoire, recorded at a time when French pianism still had a very distinctive personal voice, and as such, these recordings, many little known, are a permanent legacy of their time.
APR7319
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to StreamNICOLAS MEDTNER The complete solo piano recordings
3CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (75’06) The unpublished 1931-1931 Columbia recordings & Beethoven Appassionata Sonata
1. MEDTNER Skazka in E minor Op 14 No 2 (March of the Paladin)
2. MEDTNER Skazka in B minor Op 20 No 2 (Campanella)
Recorded in Central Hall, Westminster, London, on 31 March 1930
3. MEDTNER Skazka in A major Op 51 No 3 (take 1)
4. MEDTNER Skazka in A major Op 51 No 3 (take 3)
5. MEDTNER Skazka in F sharp minor Op 51 No 5
6. MEDTNER Skazka in B flat minor Op 20 No 1
Recorded in Central Hall, Westminster, London, on 1 April 1930
7. MEDTNER Skazka in F minor Op 26 No 3
8. MEDTNER Skazka in E flat major Op 26 No 2
9. MEDTNER Skazka in A major Op 51 No 3
Recorded in Petty France Studios, London, on 11 February 1931
10. MEDTNER Hymn in praise of toil Op 49 No 1 (Before work)
11. MEDTNER Danza jubilosa No 4 of Forgotten Melodies III, Op 40
12. MEDTNER Skazka in A minor Op 51 No 2
13. MEDTNER Danza festiva No 3 of Forgotten Melodies I, Op 38
14. MEDTNER Canzona matinata No 4 of Forgotten Melodies II, Op 39
Recorded in Petty France Studios, London, on 25 February 1931
15. MEDTNER Skazka in C minor Op 8 No 1
16. MEDTNER Novelle in G major Op 17 No 1 (Daphnis and Chloe)
Recorded in Petty France Studios, London, on 26 February 1931
17-19. BEETHOVEN Sonata in F minor Op 57 (Appassionata)
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London,on 20–21 November & 9 December 1946
COMPACT DISC 2 (76’14) The 1936 & 1947 HMV recordings & Violin Sonata No 1
1. MEDTNER Novelle in G major Op 17 No 1
2. MEDTNER Skazka in B flat minor Op 20 No 1
3. MEDTNER Skazka in B minor Op 20 No 2 (Campanella)
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 21 April 1936
4. MEDTNER Skazka in A minor Op 51 No 2
5. MEDTNER Danza festiva No 3 of Forgotten Melodies I, Op 38
6. MEDTNER Skazka in A minor Op 34 No 3 (Wood Goblin)
7. MEDTNER Arabesque in G minor Op 7 No 3 (Tragedy Fragment)
8. MEDTNER Danza jubilosa No 4 of Forgotten Melodies III, Op 40
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 22 April 1936
9. MEDTNER Skazka in A major Op 51 No 3
10. MEDTNER Skazka in E minor Op 14 No 2 (March of the Paladin)
11. MEDTNER Skazka in E flat major Op 26 No 2
12. MEDTNER Skazka in F minor Op 26 No 3
13. MEDTNER Skazka in E minor Op 34 No 2
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 8 May 1936
14. MEDTNER Russian Round-Dance Op 58/1 with BENNO MOISEIWITSCH piano
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 24 October 1946
15. MEDTNER Improvisation Op 31 No 1
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 28 October 1946
16-18. MEDTNER Violin Sonata No 1 in B minor Op 21 with CECILIA HANSEN violin
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 25 April 1947
COMPACT DISC 3 (62’23) The 1947 HMV recordings
1. MEDTNER Canzona matinata No 4 of Forgotten Melodies II, Op 39
2-4. MEDTNER Sonata tragica in C minor No 5 of Forgotten Melodies II, Op 39
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 19 March 1947
5. MEDTNER Arabesque in A minor Op 7 No 2 (Tragedy fragment)
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 21 March 1947
6-8. MEDTNER Sonata-Ballada in F sharp major Op 27
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 24, 25 & 27 March 1947
9. MEDTNER Hymn in praise of toil Op 49 No 1 (Before work)
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 25 March 1947
10. MEDTNER Novelle in C minor Op 17 No 2
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 27 March 1947
11. MEDTNER Skazka in D minor Op 51 No 1
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 21 & 31 March 1947
12. MEDTNER Skazka in F minor Op 26 No 3
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 31 March 1947
13. MEDTNER Primavera No 3 of Forgotten Melodies II, Op 39
Recorded in Studio 3, Abbey Road, London, on 19 September 1947
APR’s landmark issue on three CDs of Nicolas Medtner’s complete solo recordings, which included fifteen 78-rpm sides of previously thought lost Columbia recordings from 1931 and an unpublished HMV recording of his Violin Sonata No 1, are here reissued as a set. Medtner was a magnificent pianist, and these are definitive performances of many of his most important compositions.
We can also hear him in Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata, the only music other than his own, he was to record.
For this reissue we have added a track – his recording of the Russian Round Dance for two pianos where he is joined by Benno Moiseiwitsch – and made some further refinements to the sound quality of the transfers.
APR7315
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to Stream