Availability Meloclassic

Poldi Mildner (piano)
Piano Recitals in Germany
rec. 1955-1959
MELOCLASSIC MC1055 [80]

Leopoldine Josefine Poldi Mildner was born in Vienna in 1913. Some sources, including a release of several of her commercial discs by Hastedt Musikedition HT6603 gives it as 1915. It is suggested that this was to extend her years as a prodigy but the excellent notes by Michael Waiblinger make it clear that her father was opposed to a career as a musician so she was not pushed into a life as a prodigy at least until she was in her teens. She made considerable progress as a pianist under her aunt's tutelage and with Emma Werner and Hans Keitel in Jägersdorf where the family had moved when she was six. At the age of 13 she entered the Vienna Conservatory where she studied with the wife of Liszt pupil Moriz Rosenthal, Hedwig Kanner-Rosenthal (1882-1951) though she also had lessons with Rosenthal himself. After her debut in 1927 playing the Tschaikowsky B flat minor Concerto she appeared frequently around Europe while occasionally gaining from the advice of greats such as Artur Schnabel and Sergei Rachmaninov.

Her heritage is reflected in the repertoire that she recorded, Strauss transcriptions, Liszt and Chopin, and we can hear more of the latter on Meloclassic's excellent first Mildner release alongside Schubert and Debussy (Meloclassic MC1022). This new volume gives us a even broader picture of the pianist; there is more romantic repertoire including a couple of transcriptions and on the more serious side Franck's epic Prélude, Choral et Fugue as well as Debussy and relatively little known Poulenc. She opens with her speciality, a recital of virtuoso works recorded on 9^th December, 1955 first playing two Chopin Waltzes that both display her velvety tone and poised sense of rhythm. Liszt's Rhapsodie espagnole is given a performance that Georges Cziffra would have been proud of with crisp articulation, glittering figuration and effortless virtuosity; even though the folies d'espagne starts at a fairly fast tempo she has no trouble with the complexities of its variations and the clarity in the triplet chordal runs is enviable. It says arr. by Rosenthal and as far as I can see this is restricted to one page where scale runs are replaced with octaves runs and a slightly thicker texture. She recorded Rosenthal's stunning and inventive Carnaval de Vienne commercially – it can be found on HT6603 mentioned above – and this live version has perhaps even more presence and verve. Perhaps this is as close to hearing how Rosenthal may have played it in his heyday as we are likely to get. More short dances follow, this time two of the four sparkling polkas by Smetana that make up book of his Czech dances. As is her want Mildner plays these rather fast and I am used to hearing the A minor at a more gentle pace. That said she is not wanting for poetry in either and these are thrilling and buoyant performances. I was delighted to see she had recorded the F major which has long been one of my favourites; was once a familiar encore item, having five recordings in the 1920s, two of them by Wilhelm Backhaus in his virtuoso days. Two etudes by Scriabin are impressive but seem almost restrained in comparison with frankly astonishing suggestion diablolique that closes this selection; I can't recall that I have ever heard this played so fast and diabolerie seeps from every note. The back cover contents list this as a Scriabin piece no.4 op.8 but I doubt pianophilies will be put off by this.

Four years later Mildner recorded a varied programme that opened in a blaze of fireworks but also featured more serious music from Franck and the sunny and quirky Napoli suite by Poulenc. Again the virtuosity in the Liszt transcription is overwhelming and though I feel Cziffra has the edge in making more of the piece than it perhaps merits this is all pretty stunning. The Franck is a sharp contrast in terms of musical quality and though Mildner brings some of her improvisatory feel to the opening arpeggios she is earnest and dramatic throughout. I am particularly taken with the Choral, where the melodies sing out effortlessly and she adapts her tone to the music, bringing a real sense of stillness and observing the cantabile, non troppo dolce with a change of texture. She is passionate in the climaxes, just occasionally wanting for a little breathing space but creating a large scale dramatic canvas of a piece. Unusually for Mildner she is slower than one would expect in the opening Barcarolle from Poulenc's Napoli and so loses a little of the joi de vivre that is intended though she does shape the middle section beautifully. In the serene nocturne she admirably captures the unruffled calm that Poulenc calls for with the melody uniform and without nuance. There are high jinks a-plenty in the Caprice italien, a very different tarantella than the one that opened her programme. She is charming in the slower A flat minor section and is joyous and commanding in the frenetic closing pages.

The earliest recording here dates from 8^th December, the day before the recital of romantic music that opens this recital and consists of the first book of Debussy's Images. Her approach is quite romantic and while reflets dans l'eau opens with a well judged wash of colour she does get a little Lisztian when the first theme returns swathed in arpeggios. In this and Hommage à Rameau I am impressed with her control of pedal effects and though she tends to play things fast there is no denying her balancing of voices or legato touch. Mouvement is quite possibly the fastest I have heard it and impressive thigh it there are times when it sounds a bit of a scramble.

I am grateful to Meloclassic for making these remarkable recordings available. Mildner was always an exciting pianist though perhaps her brand of larger-than-life romanticism added to the relative decline in her career partly after the war years; she was one of those musicians caught between worlds, boycotted in the United States for having played under the Nazi regime in the pre-war years but forced to leave Germany by the Nazis as she played with Jewish musicians. She did live in the United States and Buenos Aires over this period but returned to Germany later to teach and often appeared on German radio thanks to which we can hear so much more of this flamboyant artist. Meloclassic have more releases planned and I for one hope that there will be a Poldi Mildner volume 3.

Rob Challinor

Previous review: Stephen Greenbank

Contents
Fréderic Chopin (1810-1849)
Waltz in D flat major Op.70 No.3
Waltz in A flat major Op.42
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) arr. Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946)
Rhapsodie espagnole S.254
Moriz Rosenthal
Carnaval de Vienne
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)
Czech dances Book 1 Nos. 2 and 3
Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915)
Etudes Op.8 Nos. 10 and 12
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Suggestion diabolique Op.4 No.4
rec. 9^th Dec, 1955 at Hamburg, Studio NDR – radio studio recording
Franz Liszt
Tarantelle di bravura after Auber's La Muette de Portici S.386
César Franck (1822-1890)
Prélude, Choral et Fugue FWV.21
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Suite Napoli FP.40
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Images Book.1