Masters of Chopin
Ignace Tiegerman; Ignaz Friedman; Severin Eisenberger
Egyptian Radio Orchestra/Oreste Campisi
Cairo Symphony Orchestra/José Ferriz
Cincinnati Conservatory Orchestra/Alexander von Kreisler
Full tracklist at end of review
ARBITER 158 [4 CDs; 78:46 + 77:39 + 77:45 + 67:52; CD4 has computer
accessible mp3 files]
Back in 2003 I wrote a review
of a pioneering two-disc set of recordings of the pianist Ignace Tiegerman.
Now, in a new restoration and expansion, Arbiter has revisited this set and
significantly refashioned it. We now have 4 CDs under the rubric Masters
of Chopin. Some of the extra material comes via previously unpublished
Tiegerman performances, or fragments of his playing, but there are also performances
by Ignaz Friedman, and also by Severin Eisenberger. One of the Friedman recordings
is very rare – a 1924 test pressing of La Campanella and previously
unissued. The Eisenberger items include his 1938 performance of the Chopin
Concerto in F, which has been issued before, but also two Kodály pieces, which
haven’t.
Let me say first of all that the engineering of the new box has wrought distinct
aural advances. Things are not always an easy listen, but this represents
distinctly superior work vis-à-vis its earlier incarnation.
Despite the Chopinesque theme, developed in the always instructive booklet
notes, the performances themselves are not confined just to this composer.
Friedman’s famous Mendelssohn Song without Words recordings are here.
The complete Friedman – less that unpublished side – can be found on Naxos.
What follows is a reprise of my original Tiegerman review, very slightly amended
and expanded to accommodate the new material, with added lines on Friedman,
on Eisenberger, and on the mp3 items contained in disc four.
* * *
Part detective story, part historical reclamation, this set contains surviving
recordings made by Leschetizky pupil Ignace Tiegerman. The story of his wanderings
– he ended up in Cairo – is no less extraordinary than the lattice of contacts,
friends, colleagues, relatives and survivors that led to the discovery of
these discs and tapes. None were made for commercial purposes; they are private
or off-air and the bulk made in Cairo … though some date from an Italian trip
and are in significantly better sound.
Tiegerman was born in February 1893 and auditioned for Leschetizky when he
was barely ten. Four years’ study followed as did further work with the eminent
pedagogue’s assistant, none other than Ignaz Friedman. He seems not to have
cultivated a big career in central Europe – though he’s reputed to have unnerved
even so great a pianist as Horowitz, who routinely mocked putative rivals
but not Tiegerman. Physical problems – bronchial asthma – and the worsening
political climate led him to leave Europe and on Friedman’s advice he went
to Egypt where he opened the Tiegerman Conservatoire. His life thenceforth
concentrated mainly on pedagogic activity interspersed with recitals and the
occasional concerto performance but even in Cairo he wasn’t to remain untroubled
and the encroaching German North African advance saw him on the move again
– this time, in 1941, he left for the Sudan. His return necessitated surmounting
the later increasing domestic pressures in Egypt, which he seems to have done
with phlegmatic courtesy. Occasional visitors appeared – Bruce Hungerford
for one struck up a friendship with him but by the time of Tiegerman’s death,
in 1968, it’s fair to say that he had been pretty much a forgotten man for
nearly forty years.
As for the recordings some were made by the conductor Oreste Campisi in Italy
in 1966, two years before the pianist’s death. These are in fine sound and
allow one competently to judge Tiegerman’s mechanical and tonal qualities
at the age of seventy-three. Others come from his final concerto performance
in 1963 – the Franck and Saint-Saëns – and yet more were recorded ad hoc,
as he played for students and admirers. As befits a Leschetizky student, warmth
and pliancy of phrasing predominate and are conspicuous features of his pianism.
Enough aural material remains to substantiate the belief that he maintained
a tenacious adherence to his teacher’s precepts and that his post mortem status
has not been inflated.
Brahms’s Capriccio is full of rhythmic sophistication and the B flat minor
Intermezzo full of tonal nuance and flexibility; both were Italian recordings.
The Saint-Saëns Egyptian Concerto - a final salute from a wanderer
to the country he made his home – was part of his farewell concert of 1 June
1963. It’s survived in a rather poor off-air recording with a distractingly
bad orchestra, the resident Cairo Symphony, but ones ears should be on Tiegerman.
Amidst his very audible groans and the occasional aural distortions he essays
some glittering runs, drenched in colour and light, whereas the rapt stillness
of the Andante finds a poet at the keyboard. No less than another elite Leschetizky
pupil, his near contemporary Moiseiwitsch (who as boys may well have met in
their teacher’s classes), Tiegerman was alert to the crystalline and to the
vivacious spirit that drives Saint-Saëns’ concertos. In Brahms’ Romance in
F one can admire the poetic depth of his chording that even some queasy overloading
can’t quite efface.
The two surviving movements of Brahms’ B flat Concerto attest to Tiegerman’s
earlier fiery reputation. Indeed this is combustible playing, one that sweeps
up its romantic tracery into a powerful vortex. Stormy and directional, with
some memorable pointing the Allegro non troppo takes on monumental proportions
but not ones that are motivated by speed or indifference (vide Horowitz).
His passagework is frequently coruscating, his technique impressively intact,
his phrase-leaning of incisive imagination. Yes there are momentary pitch
drops, yes the trumpets blare but the force that compels is Tiegerman’s alone.
Nothing is trivialised, no matter how extreme the drive, and even the few
dropped notes attest to the strongly directional aim of the performance. The
speciously rhetorical had no place in Tiegerman’s armoury – he is part of
the orchestral fabric and binds the solo part to it. The Allegro Appassionato
once again has marvellous drive and a feeling of intense – but not unduly
introspective – concentration. How frustrating that the final two movements
have not survived but how lucky that we can hear those that have - and to
hear Tiegerman’s leonine power in this of all works.
His Field is delicate and tonally beautiful and he plays a lot of Chopin as
well. I particularly admired the Nocturne in B, which is phrased with real
delicacy, and the Ballade in F minor, which is laced with drama and intensity,
pitch drops notwithstanding. The Third Sonata is from a radio broadcast but
despite the aural limitations we can hear a Chopin master at work; nobility,
grandeur and sensitivity in the opening Allegro maestoso, rapid clarity of
fingers in the scherzo – where for all the motoric imperative there is concomitant
evenness and beauty of tone and colour. I found less to admire in his Fauré,
the Nocturne in E flat emerging as rather leaden, metrical and cold.
Major additions for this expanded set include a good Chopin Op.9/3 Nocturne
and fragments from the Op.10/3 Etude and Op.47 Ballade but not that these
really are fragments, especially in the latter case; 1:16. There are two Beethoven
sonata snippets. The most revealing and important of the surviving music however
is Ondine, recorded c.1956, and the Brahms Handel variations, of which only
I to XII survive. Enough does survive however to interest the collector, not
least the barely suppressed excitement of the pianist, and corresponding brief
affirmative exhalation of delight, when his fingers prove fully equal to the
powerful demands made of them. There is a very brief souvenir of his speaking
voice, and two examples of his compositions, one played by Tiegerman himself,
the other – recorded in 1998 – by Henri Barda.
As I noted before, a major figure has been finally accorded the justice that
in life escaped him. The relative primitiveness of the recordings is a price
worth paying.
Sharing box space with Tiegerman is fellow Leschetizky pupil, Friedman. The
Krakow-born pianist made numerous tours, routinely touring Egypt and Turkey,
as well as the cultural centres of North and South America, Australasia and
Japan. He lived in Berlin until the start of World War One and then left for
Copenhagen where he was based until the outbreak of the Second War and flight
to Australia. He died there in 1948, partial paralysis having truncated his
career a few years earlier. His credentials included prodigious virtuosity,
stunning attacks, huge dynamic ranges, a compulsively roguish sense of rubato,
exceptional command of dance rhythms, and above all a gargantuan and explicitly
Romantic temperament. Arbiter has thankfully included Chopin Mazurkas - known
Friedman specialities. On all these occasions we are witness to extravagant
technical accomplishments co-existent with powerfully personalised and romanticised
interpretative decision making and it would be fair to add, quirks. Much here
is ravishing; equally things that are so personalised as to be more problematical
even though the textual emendations and lavish rubati were all part of the
virtuoso arsenal. He is outsize and heroic in the A flat Polonaise – exhilarating
if also somewhat exhausting. The Berceuse, perhaps because simpler, goes rather
better and is not subjected to anything like the same degree of rhetorical
romanticism. Suk’s Minuet, from the Op. 21 Suite, survives Friedman’s characteristic
injection of high adrenalin rubati – emerging playful and pert. His Mendelssohn
Songs without Words may not be as well known as his Chopin Mazurkas
but they share something of the same galvanic, life affirming aesthetic. Big,
vital, rhythmically vivacious and personalised he brings huge tonal warmth
and depth to these pieces. I’d especially cite the Op.30, F sharp minor which
is a little miracle of poetry with superb differentiation of depth and colour
in the right hand, and with the subtlest inflections in the bass pointing
– truly an example of unselfconscious beauty. His rubati are sometimes as
cavalier and provocative as they could be in Chopin – but who could fail to
resist his teasing way with Op.67 No.2 or the vertiginous, unforced power
of his bass colouration
The final and also fellow Leschetizky alumnus is the Galicia-born Severin
Eisenberger. The Kodály pieces, brief though they are, are valuable survivors
heard for the first time here. The Chopin Concerto is heard in improved sound
to predecessors – there was a release a number of years ago, for example,
on Pearl. It’s a shame that Eisenberger was so prominently over-recorded because
thereby many of the orchestral counter themes and statements go for relatively
little. Nevertheless one can admire his effortless roulades, and his Leschetizky-derived
and to our ears very Friedman-like rubati.
On the mp3 we can hear a raft of witnesses talking about Friedman. There’s
a brief extract [1:40] of the venerable Emil Telmanyi, and a sliver of 19
seconds of Nikita Magaloff talking about Friedman’s Chopin. We hear about
that fabled tone, but not how he conveyed it to his students, as noted by
Paula Kessler Hondius. There is an intriguing two and a half minutes of Ingebjørd
Gresvik playing and illustrating Friedman’s advice. It’s also good to hear
Dr. Miriam Hyde talking [1:20] about memory and of the initial disillusionment
of Pnina Salzman. Friedman’s talk of left hand accenting in the Mazurkas seemed
to her ‘criminal’ – talking about Chopin as if he were Bach. Later she realised
– too late, she adds sadly - exactly what he was trying to tell her. There
is also a larger extract, in French, of Segovia talking about Friedman. He
ignores the telephone ringing in the background! There are also photographs
of Friedman, and of Tiegerman, and annotated scores.
The thesis developed by Allan Evans in his notes about the Chopin tradition
is very well worth reading, not least as regards mazurka performances. This
is clearly a labour of love but it’s a set teeming with insight, and rich
rewards as well.
Jonathan Woolf
Clearly a labour of love … teeming with insight and rich rewards.
Full Tracklist
CD 1
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Song Without Words
Op. 19/3 in A [2:01]
Op. 19/6 in g [2:12]
Op. 102/5 in A [1:07]
Op. 30/6 in f# [3:22]
Op. 38/2 in c [2:23]
Op. 38/6 in Ab [3:16]
Op. 53/2 in Eb [2:25]
Op. 53/4 in F [2:47]
Op. 67/2 in F# [1:54]
rec. 16 and 17 September 1930
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Scherzo, Op. 16/2 in e [2:04]
rec. 6 September 1926
Etude Op. 25/9 in Gb [0:56]
Etude Op. 10/5 in Gb [1:27]
rec. 2 October 1928
Berceuse, Op. 57 [3:30]
rec. 9 November 1928
Impromptu Op. 36 in F# [4:47]
rec. 23 November 1936
Mazurka Op. 7/1 in Bb [2:01]
rec. 9 February 1928
Mazurka Op. 7/2 in a [2:29]
Mazurka Op. 7/3 in f [1:51]
Mazurka Op. 24/4 in bb [3:41]
Mazurka Op. 41/1 in c# [2:56]
Mazurka Op. 67/4 in a [1:57]
Mazurka Op. 68/2 in a [2:28]
rec. 13 September 1930
Polonaise Op. 53 in Ab [6:26]
rec. 28 February 1933 (first reissue ever, not known to have existed!)
Nocturne Op. 55/2 in Eb [4:34]
rec. 23 December 1936
Polonaise Op. 71/2 in Bb [6:29]
rec. 15 February 1929
Niccolo PAGANINI (1782-1840)
La Campanella arr Liszt-Busoni: * (first release of rare unpublished test
pressing) [4:26]
rec. 21 January 1924
Josef SUK (1874-1935)
Minuet [3:51]
rec. 2 March 1928
Ignaz Fiedman (piano) (1882-1948)
CD 2
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Capriccio Op. 76/2 in b [3:29]
Intermezzo Op. 117/2 in bb [4:13]
rec. 1965
Piano Concerto no. 2, Op. 83 in Bb (1878-81); two movements only I. Allegro
non troppo II. Allegro appassionato [23:47]
Egyptian Radio Orchestra/Oreste Campisi
rec. 18 May 1954
Romanza Op. 118/6 in F [3:23]
rec. circa 1956
César FRANCK (1822-1890)
Variations symphoniques (1885) [14:54]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Piano Concerto no. 5 "Egyptian" (1896) [27:30]
Cairo Symphony Orchestra/José Ferriz
rec. 1 June 1963
CD 3
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Nocturne Op. 9/3 in B* [7:00]
rec. 1 June 1963 (encore)
Prelude Op. 28/7 in A [0:44]
Prelude Op. 28/8 in f# [2:00]
Nocturne Op. 9/3 in B [6:20]
Scherzo Op. 20 in b [9:15]
Ballade Op. 52 in f [10:23]
Barcarolle, Op. 61[7:36]
rec. 1950s
John FIELD (1782-1837)
Nocturne no.1 in Eb (1812) [4:01]
Nocturne no.13 in d (1834) [3:45]
rec. 1965
Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924)
Nocturne in Eb, Op. 36 (1884) [5:06]
Chopin: Sonata Op. 58 in b [21:04]
Radio Caire announcement [0:14]
rec. 1950s
CD 4
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Etude Op. 10/10 in Ab [2:11]
Etude Op. 25/6 in g# [2:19]
Etude Op. 10/3 in E, fragment* [1:24]
Ballade Op. 47 in Ab, fragment* [1:16]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Handel Variations: I-XII* [8:46]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Sonata Op. 53: I fragment* [2:17]
Sonata Op. 31/3/II: fragment* [1:48]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Ondine* [6:14]
rec. circa 1956:
Ignace TIEGERMAN (1893-1968)
Rêverie viennoise* [2:50]
rec. circa 1956
Meditation [2:18]
Henri Barda (piano)
rec. 25 December 1998
Tiegerman speaks [0:08]
Ignace Tiegerman (piano) (1893-1968)
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Piano Concerto no. 2 in f, Op. 21 [29:40]
Cincinnati Conservatory Orchestra/Alexander von Kreisler
rec. 14 May 1938
Zoltán KODÁLY (1882-1967)
Hét zongoradarab, Op. 11*
No. 2 Székely keserves [2:34]
No. 6 Székely nóta [3:23]
rec. 1 May 1937
Severin Eisenberger (piano) (1879-1945)
*previously unpublished
Play CD 4 in a computer to access the following files:
I. Friedman remembered (mp3 audio):
1. Nikita Magaloff
2. Paula Kessler Hondius
3. Dr. Manfred Clynes
4. Laurence Davis
5. Ingebjørd Gresvik
6. Ingebjørd Gresvik cont.
7. Dr. Harry Rich
8. Dr. Miriam Hyde
9. Pnina Salzman
10. Mack Jost
11. Emil Telmanyi
12. Mr. & Mrs. George Kugel, with Bruce Hungerford
13. Patricia Rovik
14. Andres Segovia, with Nina Walder
II. Tiegerman remembered (mp3 audio):
1. Prince Hassan Aziz Hassan
III. Photo albums:
1. Friedman
2. Tiegerman
IV. Chopin: Etudes — Friedman's Instructive Edition
V. Friedman's annotated scores:
1. Liszt: Feux Follets;
2. Balakirev: Islamey mm.21-36;
3. Scriabin: Nocturne, Op. 9/2
VI. Leila Birbari Wynn: Memoir of Tiegerman