Clearly it was Levitzki’s
increasingly successful performances
and recordings that encouraged HMV to
increase its commitment to his discography.
Born in 1898 and a student of Alexander
Michalowski at the Warsaw Conservatory
Levitzki later settled in America where
he studied with Sigismund Stojowski.
In 1913 an initially distrustful von
Dohnányi relented and took him
on as a pupil at the Berlin Hochschule
für Musik. His New York debut followed
in 1916 and he made an extensive Australasian
tour in 1921 followed closely by celebrity
trips across Asia. He was one of the
most fêted of the pianists popular
in central Europe but his London debut
had to wait until 1927 – and the first
of his HMV discs followed soon after.
In 1929 he recorded
the Liszt E flat major concerto with
house accompanist Landon Ronald and
the LSO. This was a recording notable
for the forward sounding winds and for
Levitzki’s zesty and triumphant passagework.
In the opening movement there are opportunities
to listen to the old style clarinet
playing and to leader W.H. Reed’s solo
playing as indeed there are in the Quasi
Adagio where the tonal profile of the
orchestra is decidedly old fashioned
in sound. Levitzki meanwhile is full
of drive and animation. A few years
later he recorded the Schumann G minor
Sonata (No. 2) – an attractive though
not especially affectionate performance
though one that does stress the intimate
qualities of the music. His Liszt Hungarian
Rhapsodies are forthright and frequently
brashly glittering. We’re fortunate
that we get takes one and four of his
1928 La Campanella; the first
take was originally selected but the
pianist subsequently requested that
take four should be used instead.
Horowitz always ran
Levitzki down as an artisan ("awful…just
fingers") but enough evidence exists
to show that he was more than a mere
technician. The transfers here are excellent
and highlight Levitzki’s jewelled treble
and that fabulous trill in the slow
movement of the Liszt.
Jonathan Woolf