Description

 Though many recordings made in Germany during WWII have been issued by a number of labels over the years, this “Emperor” is the only CD release of a stereo recording of a complete work from that era.

When it first appeared on our label, Mortimer H. Frank wrote in Fanfare: “[the Emperor Concerto’s sound] is astonishingly good, not only in terms of timbral accuracy and stereo spread, but also in its realistic reproduction of the piano. And Gieseking’s performance is magnificent: imperious, thrustful, and all of a piece.”

The coupling presents a new transfer of Gieseking’s celebrated English Columbia 78s of Beethoven’s First Concerto with Kubelik.

New notes by Farhan Malik along with an extensive essay on the early history of stereo recordings by Tom Null.

CD-1145(1) WALTER GIESEKING plays BEETHOVEN CONCERTOS. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15, Philharmonia Orchestra; Rafael Kubelik from Columbia (UK) 78s LX 1230/2, CAX 10333/40 Rec. EMI Studio No. 1, Abbey Rd., London, 13 Oct. 1948. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 73, “Emperor” Grosses Funkorchester, Artur Rother Rec. Saal No. 1, Haus des Rundfunks (Reichsender Berlin), 23 Jan. 1945. The only complete recording of a classical work in stereo surviving from the WWII era! Total time: 67:40. [AAD] UPC# 017685-11452-6. Restoration (2004): Aaron Z. Snyder.

Sound Clips (MP3):

1. Piano Concerto No- 1 in C major, Op- 15 I- Allegro con brio – Walter Gieseking

2. Piano Concerto No- 1 in C major, Op- 15 II- Largo – Walter Gieseking

3. Piano Concerto No- 1 in C major, Op- 15 III- Rondo Allegro scherzando – Walter Gieseking

4. Piano Concerto No- 5 in E flat major, Op- 73, Emperor I- Allegro – Walter Gieseking

5. Piano Concerto No- 5 in E flat major, Op- 73, Emperor III- Rondo Allegro – Walter Gieseking