This is the first reissue of Mark Hambourg’s
cycle of the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies. The two CDs also contain
variant performances – the 1926 recording of No.2 as well as
the 1932 replacement, the 1929 No.14 and the 1933 traversal
that superseded it. There’s also the 1927 Marche de Rákóczy
and the scintillating performance, with his daughter Michal,
of the Concerto Pathétique.
Bryan Crimp speculates
that the intention to record a complete cycle formed with the
opening of the Abbey Road
studios in 1931. Up to that point Nos. 2, 8, 10, 11, 12 and
14 had already been recorded – as we’ve seen Nos. 2 and 14 were
re-recorded to bring them into sonic contention with the newer
recordings, though the others were considered acceptable.
Although admired
by his contemporaries Hambourg tended to be written down as
an executant. Though it’s undeniably the case that he was not
an infallible finger technician his
bravura sense of projection and drama usually compensated for
any smudges or flurries. Certainly the rippling delicacies of
the E major, coursing with Olympian rubato, make for a most
engaging start. Cimbalom effects are always to the fore in his
performances – and note too that the later recording of No.2
is somewhat tighter than the earlier 1926 early electric. It’s
hardly note perfect but it is genuinely exciting.
Try the volcanic
paraphrases of Hambourg’s way with No.5 in E minor where the
concluding flourishes are a whirl of driving passion. Or the
treble flecked figuration of No.6 with those dancing figures
so saturated in heartfelt personality and his characteristically
personalised sonority. Yes, No.9 is splashy but it’s also vigorous
and alive – though one should add that where Hambourg tends
to be marked down technically he’s not sufficiently marked up
tonally.
Bryan Crimp’s excellent
transfer work does well by these sides and there are gratifyingly
full discographic details – and I mean FULL.
By the way for those
interested you might like to consider Arbiter’s The Hambourg
Legacy (see review).
Jonathan Woolf
Mark Hambourg
(piano) 
