BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
Byron Janis Edition - The Legendary Concerto Recordings
CD 1 [75:19]
Sergey RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto 2 [30:51]; Piano Concerto
3 [37:45]; Prelude in E flat Op.23 No.6 [2:49]; Prelude in C sharp minor Op.3
No.2 [3:50]
CD 2 [50:29]
Sergey RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No.1 [24:51]
Sergei PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No.3 [26:49]
CD 3 [69:17]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Piano Concerto [29:51]; Arabeske
[7:12]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No.1 [32:14]
CD 4 [66:51]
Franz LISZT Piano Concerto 1 [17:27], Piano Concerto 2 [19:38]
Modest Petrovich MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition [39:46]
Byron Janis (piano)
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra/Kirill Kondrashin (Rach 1; Prok 3; Liszt 1)
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra/Gennady Rozhdestvensky (Liszt 2)
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra/Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (Schumann); (Rachmaninov
3)
London Symphony Orchestra/ Herbert Menges (Tchaikovsky); Antal Dorati (Rachmaninov
2)
rec. 1960-63, Moscow, London, Minneapolis
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9182 [4 CDs: 75:19 + 50:29 + 69:17 + 66:51]
Byron Janis was born in 1928 at McKeesport, Pennsylvania. His zenith appears
to have been during the 1960s. He was of the same generation as Van Cliburn,
Graffman and Fleisher – the latter also suffering problems with his hands.
Janis’s triumphs in Moscow during the height of the Cold War left an indelible
impression as a result of the recordings made there. In 1973 he was afflicted
psoriatic arthritis in both hands and wrists which ultimately brought his
performing career to a close. His last recording was made in 1970 for EMI.
In 1986, he became a spokesperson for the Arthritis Foundation as its National
Ambassador to the Arts. He wrote the music for a musical theatre production
of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and also composed the score for the
film-documentary The True Gen: Cooper and Hemingway – a 20 Year Friendship.
He married the daughter of Gary Cooper.
A student of Horowitz for three years, phenomenally gifted and celebrated
he made a handful of LPs for Mercury Living Presence. His technical team was
led by Cozart and Fine and their triumphs on location in Moscow and in London
and Minneapolis are reflected in this set of analogue originals. The wallet
style box has muscular claims on your bank account now that the five individual
Mercury CDs are difficult to lay hands on.
Janis has a resounding touch as well as opalescent delicacy when required.
He is recorded close-up and personal and is superbly partnered by the London
Symphony Orchestra and Dorati in Rachmaninov 3. Janis rips into the part with
awe-inspiring technique and artistic yield. Nothing is allowed to pass as
commonplace whether limelight melody or chuggingly stolid ostinato. To sample
the best from among the best try from 10:40 in the finale of No. 3. Dorati
draws a crackingly coordinated barking report from the LSO brass at the start
of the finale.
Janis’s Rachmaninov Second begins almost impassively - certainly modestly.
The weight of the Minneapolis strings instantly captivates as it also does
in the precise stereo by-play of the finale. Janis tends to be less than probing
in the middle movement and he is not helped by a vibrato-laden flute. No such
reservations about Janis’s Rachmaninov No. 1 which has all the volatility,
fire and heady poetry of the Third. The shrapnel dazzle and euphoric tumbling
complexity of the finale is glorious. Much the same applies to the Prokofiev
3 with its echoes of Walton in his Sinfonia Concertante. Kondrashin
drives the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra mercilessly but has time for gawky
charm in the middle movement. Janis has charisma in spades in the finale.
The Schumann and the Tchaikovsky are in the same exalted league. Again the
pianist’s breathtaking skills, the spot-on yet life-enhancing orchestral contribution
and the recording all conspire to make this a special listening experience.
There’s nothing anonymous about this music-making. An almost cosy Arabeske
is sandwiched between the two concertos. For fear that my earlier comments
might have you concluding that there is insufficient dynamic contrast you
need only listen to the whisper quiet Andante semplice to be reassured.
The fourth and final disc offer the meretricious yet sentimentally entertaining
two Liszt concertos which Janis despatches with all the élan and tireless
confidence you would expect. The Second Piano Concerto is a finer work with
more musical substance and it again shines in the hands of Janis and the Rozhdestvensky
whether in elfin display, thunderous triumph or melancholy swoon. The recording
in this case brings out a certain shrillness in the more demonstrative movements.
The Pictures bristle with grainy character and phenomenal virtuosity.
It shines from an artist who seems to have no need to struggle with technique.
Microphone placement is ideal for it picks up detail in a glowing macro focus
that reminds me of the best of Decca recordings of the 1960s and 1970s .
These are drawn from analogue tapes and the music signal is underpinned with
a soft hiss – more a cradle than a distraction.
Satisfying notes from Ates Orga.
I doubt you will again see these fine recordings as inexpensively and as classily
packaged as they are here. These are classic fifty-year-old recordings of
performances without a hint of autopilot about them. The set demands your
consideration.
http://www.byronjanis.com
Rob Barnett
Classic readings without a hint of autopilot. Demands your attention and will
reward it with generosity.