It’s a measure of Levitzki’s
short life that his entire commercial
recordings fill something less than
three CDs. This is the last of them
and it includes, as well as a Chopin
series (and some Rubinstein and Rachmaninov),
some rarities in the form of two 1935
broadcasts. I’ve written about Levitzki
before with a mixture of enthusiastic
admiration and perplexity: Volume
1
Volume
2
What’s become clear
over the course of listening to his
legacy is quite how erratic he could
be and that’s no less the case here;
in fact the 1928-29 Chopin discs demonstrates
the fact quite graphically. He highlights
and accents with highly idiosyncratic
results – try the C major Prelude –
and plenty of rubato or can be really
rather over dreamy (as with the companion
Prelude here, in A major). But his Waltz
in A flat major is both witty and vibrant,
even if that in G flat major comes to
a near standstill. His outbursts can
be rather predictable and tend toward
rhythmic instability – the mountainous
and eruptive quality that he evinces
also tends sometimes to sound hectic
(Ballade No. 3). This is true in the
C minor Nocturne where for all the nobility
of his rolled chords, when Levitzki
gets going he certainly does get going;
he’s very quick, loses a certain amount
of control and ironically and crucially,
vitiates tension and a sense of swelling
drama through this very sense of eruptive
speed. For Levitzki, one sometimes feels,
drama was a local event, too often unrelated
to surrounding material – and too often
emerging as disjunct and undisciplined.
So for all the finesse and animation,
views of his Chopin are decidedly mixed;
take the Polonaise in A flat for example.
It’s genuinely terpsichorean and unlike
many pianists he doesn’t put it under
too much pedal to hide technical flaws;
rhythm is vivacious but there are a
few "blank" moments where
one feels a want of colouristic imagination,
almost as if he doesn’t know what to
do with some passages; the excellent
co-exists with the bland. But the end
is brilliantly conceived.
We have a couple of
his own pieces recorded in 1938 for
RCA Victor and then the earlier 1935
broadcasts, really rare survivors these.
In them we have some prices to be paid.
He reprises pieces well known from his
commercial discography – the biggest
is the A flat major Ballade which is
somewhat slower than the earlier commercial
recording. We have the additional liability
of inane announcers (in one case talking
over Levitzki’s playing – shame
on NBC!) and a bad pitch drop in the
C sharp minor Waltz. The sound deteriorates
in the extract from the Saint-Saëns
– especially the orchestral sound –
but elsewhere it’s perfectly serviceable
(even if there’s a degree of "spread")
for its vintage and circumstances. These
are valuable retrievals though they
don’t in all honesty add much to our
appreciation of his musicianship.
Admirers of the pianist
should certainly keep faith with Levitzki.
He is erratic but full of personality
and the commercial transfers have depth
and are convincing. Comparison with
APR’s Levitzki series is nip and tuck
and I wouldn’t necessarily always prefer
Naxos – but their price is tempting
and they have the advantage of those
ultra rare broadcasts.
Jonathan Woolf
Mischa Levitzki (piano) with accompaniment as
above 