I received Deutsche Grammophon's new Wilhelm Kempff edition this week. Although I have many Kempff recordings, I bought this set to get the chamber music and mono Beethoven Sonatas set, along with the 78rpm recordings in one convenient package.
While listening, I stumbled onto something rather startling: eight bars are missing from the coda of the 1951 Beethoven Appassionata. Those who know the piece will immediately recognize what's missing below.
The Cleveland Orchestra has released another recording on their own label, which includes Schubert's "Great" C major Symphony and Křenek's Static and Ecstatic. Click here to read my review.
Lea Singer’s “The Piano Student” tells, in a convoluted way, the story of Vladimir Horowitz’s two-year affair with his first pupil, Nico Kaufmann. Despite cries of foul from some of Horowitz’s more idolatrous and provincial admirers, there is considerable evidence the affair took place, and given that all the main characters are dead and left no descendants, there’s no real harm in revealing it.
Click here to read my review.
