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 StreamTHE EARLIEST FRENCH PIANO RECORDINGS
3CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (77’59)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Gramophone & Typewriter Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—26 June 1904
1. SAINT-SAËNS Africa: Fantasie for piano and orchestra Op 89† (2.53)
2. SAINT-SAËNS Valse mignonne Op 104 (2.33)
3. SAINT-SAËNS Valse nonchalante Op 110 (3.16)
4. SAINT-SAËNS Andante sostenuto Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor, Op 22† (3.58)
5. SAINT-SAËNS Rapsodie d’Auvergne for piano and orchestra Op 73† (1.55)
†abbreviated as piano solo
Gramophone Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—24 November 1919
6. SAINT-SAËNS Rêverie du Soir (à Blidah) Suite Algérienne, Op 60/3 (3.47)
7. SAINT-SAËNS Marche Militaire Française Suite Algérienne, Op 60/4 (3.42)
8. SAINT-SAËNS Première Mazurka Op 21 (3.03)
9. SAINT-SAËNS Valse mignonne Op 104 (2.30)
10. SAINT-SAËNS Prélude from Le Déluge Op 45 (arr. for violin & piano) (3.36)
with GABRIEL WILLAUME (1873–1946) violin
11. SAINT-SAËNS Élégie Op 143 with GABRIEL WILLAUME (4.34)
Gramophone Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—26 November 1920
12. SAINT-SAËNS Havanaise Op 83 with GABRIEL WILLAUME (8.12)
Louis Diémer (1843–1919)
Gramophone & Typewriter Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—1904
13. DIÉMER Grande Valse de Concert Op 37 (2.35)
14. DIÉMER Le Chant du Nautonier Op 12 (3.18)
15. GODARD Valse No 5 (Valse chromatique) Op 88 (3.10)
16. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Spinning Song’ Op 67 No 4 (1.46)
17. CHOPIN Nocturne in D flat major Op 27 No 2 (3.43)
Gramophone & Typewriter Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—1906
18.DIÉMER Le Chant du Nautonier Op 12 (3.08)
19.DIÉMER Grande Valse de Concert Op 37 (2.48)
Vincent d’Indy (1851–1931)
HMV, Hayes: acoustic recordings—7 June 1923
D’INDY Tableaux de voyage Op 33
20. No 4: Lac vert (3.01)
21. No 8: Halte, au soir (1.56)
22. No 6: La poste (1.00)
23. No 9: Départ matinal (3.28)
24. D’INDY Poème des Montagnes, Op 15: No 2 Danses rythmiques (3.49)
COMPACT DISC 2 (80’29)
Raoul Pugno (1852–1914)
Gramophone & Typewriter Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—April 1903
1.HANDEL Gavotte & Variations from Suite in G major, HWV441 (2.45)
2.D SCARLATTI Sonata in A major K24 (L495) (2.07)
3.PUGNO Impromptu-valse (2.45)
4.CHOPIN Waltz in A flat major Op 34 No 1 (2.50)
5.LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 11 S244/11 (4.17)
6.WEBER Rondo brillante in E flat major Op 62 (2.40)
7.MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Hunting Song’ Op 19b No 3 (1.54)
8.PUGNO Sérénade à la lune (2.35)
Gramophone & Typewriter Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—November 1903
9.CHOPIN Nocturne in F sharp major Op 15 No 2 (3.36)
10.MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Spinning Song’ Op 67 No 4 (1.32)
11.MASSENET Valse folle (dedicated to Pugno) (3.01)
12.CHABRIER Scherzo-valse No 10 from Pièces pittoresques (3.36)
13.PUGNO Valse lent No 1 from Trois Airs de Ballet (3.22)
14. CHOPIN Impromptu No 1 in A flat major Op 29 (3.17)
15. CHOPIN Berceuse in D flat major Op 57 (3.39)
16. CHOPIN Marche funèbre from Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Op 35 (4.09)
17. MENDELSSOHN Scherzo in E minor Op 16 No 2 (2.09)
Aimée-Marie Roger-Miclos (1860–1951)
Fonotipia recordings, Paris: acoustic recordings—September 1905
18. GODARD Mazurka No 4 from Suite de danses anciennes et modernes, Op 103 (2.54)
19. CHOPIN Waltz in D flat major ‘Minute’ Op 64 No 1 (1.59)
20. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Spinning Song’ Op 67 No 4 (1.56)
21. MENDELSSOHN Rondo capriccioso Op 14 (abridged) (3.41)
22. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 13 S244/13 (vivace only) (1.59)
23. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 11 S244/11 (andante sostenuto to the end) (2.28)
Fonotipia recordings, Milan: acoustic recordings—15 November 1906
24. CHOPIN Nocturne in F sharp major Op 15 No 2 (3.35)
25. CHOPIN Waltz in C sharp minor Op 64 No 2 (3.17)
26. MENDELSSOHN Scherzo in E minor Op 16 No 2 (2.33)
27. SCHUMANN Traumes Wirren No 7 from Fantasiestücke, Op 12 (2.36)
Gaston Régis (1879–1935)
Gramophone Company, Algiers: acoustic recordings—21 July 1921
28. CHOPIN Tarantelle in A flat major Op 43 (2.57)
COMPACT DISC 3 (80’44)
1. SAINT-SAËNS Menuet No 2 from Suite pour le piano, Op 90 (3.45)
2. SAINT-SAËNS Gavotte No 3 from Suite pour le piano, Op 90 (2.13)
3. SAINT-SAËNS Valse mignonne Op 104 (2.29)
Francis Planté (1839–1934)
French Columbia, Saint-Avit, Mont-de-Marsan: electrical recordings—4 July 1928
4. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Hunting Song’ Op 19b No 3 (2.33)
5. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Spring Song’ Op 62 No 6 (2.45)
6. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Spinning Song’ Op 67 No 4 (2.01)
7. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Serenade’ Op 67 No 6 (2.04)
8. MENDELSSOHN Scherzo in E minor Op 16 No 2 (3.02)
9. CHOPIN Étude in C sharp minor Op 10 No 4 (2.27)
10. CHOPIN Étude in G flat major ‘Black Keys’ Op 10 No 5 (1.57)
11. CHOPIN Étude in C major Op 10 No 7 (2.02)
12. CHOPIN Étude in A flat major ‘Aeolian Harp’ Op 25 No 1 (2.29)
13. CHOPIN Étude in F minor Op 25 No 2 (1.44)
14. CHOPIN Étude in G flat major ‘Butterfly’ Op 25 No 9 (1.16)
15. CHOPIN Étude in A minor ‘Winter Wind’ Op 25 No 11 (4.06)
16. SCHUMANN Romance in F sharp major Op 28 No 2 (2.21)
17. SCHUMANN Romance in D minor Op 32 No 3 (3.00)
18. SCHUMANN/DEBUSSY À la Fontaine (Am Springbrunnen) Op 85 No 9 (2.58)
19. BERLIOZ/REDON Sérénade de Méphistophélès Damnation of Faust (2.28)
20. BOCCHERINI/PLANTÉ Célèbre Menuet de Boccherini Quintet, Op 13/5 (2.15)
21. GLUCK/PLANTÉ Gavotte from Iphigénie en Aulide (2.49)
Lucien Wurmser (1877–1967)
Gramophone Company, Paris: acoustic recordings—April & May 1911
22. MOZART Pastorale variée K Anh. 209b (probably spurious) (3.59)
23. CHOPIN Mazurka in B minor Op 33 No 4 (4.22)
24. CHOPIN Waltz in A flat major Op 69 No 1 (4.17)
25. CHOPIN Waltz in C sharp minor Op 64 No 2 (3.05)
26. WURMSER Petit aubade (2.48)
27. WURMSER Impromptu (2.39)
28. SCHUBERT/FISCHOF Rosamunde, Ballet Music D797/9 (2.35)
29. SCHUBERT/TAUSIG Marche Militaire in D flat major D733/1 (3.53)
This latest issue in APR’s ongoing French Piano School series is perhaps the most important yet.
The set brings together some of the earliest and rarest piano recordings ever made, not just in France, but worldwide, and includes the complete solo recordings of all the pianists featured except Wurmser. Many are reissued for the first time.
The French office of the Gramophone Company was a pioneer in bringing serious artists into the studio and the results are a legacy of the utmost historical importance. So too are the early Fonotipia recordings of the only Herz pupil to record, Roger-Miclos, and the later Columbia electric recordings of Planté, made in his 90th year. With Saint-Saëns, Diémer and Planté we can hear pianists who were born in the first half of the 19th century – a unique window into the past.
The latest digital technology has been applied throughout and, amongst other improvements, we are now able to hear Pugno’s wonderful recordings, hitherto flawed by a notorious vibrato caused by the unstable recording turntable used in 1903, with their pitch stabilized.
APR7318
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 Stream