Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 5, No. 6 (1931-03)

March, 1931, Vol. V. No. 6 179 A Survey of Recorded Pianists By HARRY L. ANDERSON (Concluded from the February issue) O F recorded woman pianists, Mero and Samaroff have been known longest to the American public. Musically and technically they are excellent artists—Samaroff has presented all the Beethoven sonatas in series—and Mero, in particular, excels in works of a scintillating nature. Both, with feminine charm and brilliance, have contributed to the rather extensive list of Victor “one record” artists. The an- tithesis of feminine charm is Ethel Leginska’s playing (Col- umbia), masculine in force, and to an extent, in concept; sometimes it is too consciously so, and then lacking in grace. On the whole, her choice for recording has perhaps been un- felicitous, although her Schubert Impromptus and Moments Musical are sound versions. The Latin sparkle and senti- ment of Guiomar Novaes, the Brazilian pianist, give her ac- cess to the mood of the romantics; as a Chopin and Liszt player, she stands above others of her sex. Three records (Spanish Victor)—Strauss’ Standchen, Ibert, Villa-Lobos, etc., are the captivating fare of her new recording which might well be more extensive. The English, popularly known as unmusical, have produced more eminent woman pianists during the last fifty years than any other country. Besides Fanny Davies and Leginska, there have been recorded Myra Hess, Irene Scharrer, and Harriet Cohen. Innate musicality, classic beauty of line, absence of virtuosity for its own sake, have marked the last three, par- ticularly Hess and Cohen. Myra Hess’ carefully chosen rep- resentation on records (Columbia) is a model for other pian- ists to follow—a group of works that, for its length, comes nearer than any other to being a true index of the artist’s na- ture and ability. Also worthy of imitation, is the unity of coupling—each record is an entity of composer or style, in- stead of the usual hodgepodge. Bach, Scarlatti, Brahms, Schubert (Sonata Op. 120 in A, B Flat Trio), Debussy, De Falla, Griffes, etc., are all played with a fragrant tonal beauty, poise, artistry, that leave little basis for choice apart from one’s preference as to work. Irene Scharrer’s art is more essentially feminine, but at times more brilliant. H. M. V. records of Scarlatti, Paradies, Mozart (Sonata in G), Purcell, are unhackneyed examples of her charm in the classics. Per- haps her recent debut for English Columbia may promise some two-piano work with Hess. Harriet Cohen is to make her American bow this season, but collectors may already know her for the first nine preludes and fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavichord. Noted for the imagination and musicality of her Bach, she is also a noted exponent of Ar- nold Bax. The English line does not end with women. Harold Sam- uel’^ fame has come to him comparatively late, but in ten years he has won an unequalled reputation as a Bach player. His readings have clarity, beauty of tone, and a rather archaic charm. Like Busoni’s they have a great philosophic strength, but tempered with more warmth. His English Suite in A Minor (Victor) and Partita in B Flat (H. M. V.), are stimu- lating works for the library. He has a penchant not only for Bach, but also for Brahms. His H. M. V. list of solo works and sonatas with the violinist, Menges, by these two compos- ers is therefore significant. Musicianly, rather than virtuosic, Ethel Leginska Cuttner Solomon, William Murdoch, Evlyn Howard-Jones, and Donald Frances Tovey, have all been heard by American audiences in the East where, as abroad, their playing has caused considerable respect. The first three are recorded by Columbia in works of importance—Solomon in the Tchaikow- sky Concerto, Murdoch in chamber music, notably with Al- bert Sammons, and Howard-Jones in the second Columbia al- bum of the Well-Tempered Clavichord, and a little Delius disc that may hold unusual interest because of the pianist’s participation in the recent festival. Tovey, recorded with Fachiri in Beethoven’s G Major Sonata, Op. 96 (National Gramophonic Society), has triumphed over a considerably less than brilliant technique with such depth and intellect that he was encored recently in London after the fifty-three Bee- thoven Diabelli Variations. If the English, and Germans, are prodigal in supplying pianists, the Russians, even since their internal troubles, have been inexhaustible; in fact, the revolution, if anything, in- creased the deluge by driving many of their musicians into exile, as in the case of Rachmaninoff, Siloti, Sapellnikoff, Prokofieff, Strawinski, and Pouishnoff. Leff Pouishnoff has been recorded by Columbia. Like Sapellnikoff (whose prom- ised version of the Rachmaninoff Concerto for Decca was evidently routed by the composer’s version), he has a polish, sparkle, and brilliance in music of the elevated salon style and the romantic that should make his recordings of Liszt and some modern composers popular. But that is only one side of him, and very Schubertian is his Schubert Sonata in G, Op. 78. The last two pupils of Leschetizky, Benno Moiseivitch and Alexander Brailowsky, like others from the source, have at- tained great brilliance. Moiseivitch combines poetry, elegance, intellect, with a mercurial technique and a subtlety of tone. His fine Medtner and Prokofieff disk (Victor) entered a ne- glected field that the composers themselves might help to