Wilhelm Kempff · Piano Recitals in France 1959-1967 ∙ 2CD

December 2019 ∙ British Gramophone ∙ Rob Cowan ∙ Wilhelm Kempff ∙ Piano Recitals in France
Wilhelm Kempff (2 CDs, MC1042) defies expectations with a 1959 performance of the same work which is both urgent and restless, an assessment that can apply just as readily to his Brahms Op 118 and Handel Variations, and Schumann Fantasy. This is Kempff uncaged, keenly spontaneous and light years away from the chiselled perfectionist we know from so many of his commercial recordings.
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December 2019 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Wilhelm Kempff ∙ Piano Recitals in France
The excitements and energising electricity of a live performance very often brought out an extra quotient of spontaneity from Kempff and here the sonata’s finale, in particular, benefits from this adrenalin rush. This gatefold twofer offers lively, human, sometimes fallible, but always elevated music-making in variable sound.
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February 2020 ∙ French Classica ∙ Jean-Charles Hoffelé ∙ Wilhelm Kempff ∙ Piano Recitals in France
À Divonne, le clavier de Wilhelm Kempff est léger, fait s’envoler la Chaconne de Haendel, caracole dans la Sonate no 18 de Beethoven et anime un lumineux Opus 118 de Brahms. Mais la perle paraît à la fin : quelle merveille, malgré quelques approximations, que cet Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise au cantabile immatériel, qui rappelle que le pianiste était chez lui jouant Chopin ! À Prades, les Variations Haendel de Brahms et la Fantaisie de Schumann le montrent exalté, alors qu’à Besançon il joue comme pour lui-méme la Sonate n 28 de Beethoven et Carnaval de Schumann avec une désinvolture qui met des ailes à son clavier.
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February 2020 ∙ French Diapason ∙ Bertrand Boissard ∙ Wilhelm Kempff ∙ Piano Recitals in France
Captés entre 1959 et 1967, ces récitals donnés par Wilhelm Kempff à Prades, Divonne-les-Bains et Besançon mettent en lumière un musicien funambule (Sonate no 18 de Beethoven), parfois sur le fil du rasoir (Opus 22 de Chopin) mais constamment inspiré. Fantaisie de Schumann en fusion : au-delà de quelques scories, l’artiste allemand rend à sa passion première, sans limites, jusqu’à la folie.
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June 2020 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Wilhelm Kempff ∙ Piano Recitals in France
These three live radio broadcasts were taped in France between 1959 and 1967 by Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), later to become ORTF. Elegantly presented in well-constructed gatefold format, these three live recitals, of historical importance, are a valuable addition to the Kempff discography, which devotees of the pianist will welcome. Kempff’s approach to Brahms Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel is monumental and big-boned. The theme, taken from Handel’s Keyboard Suite in B flat, undergoes 25 variations topped off with a fugue. The variations range from exuberance and virtuosity to melting lyricism, and the fugue is a veritable tour-de-force. Kempff’s poetic gifts are to the fore in a compelling reading of Schumann’s Fantasie in C Major. The daring leaps across the keyboard in the coda of the middle movement, a nightmare for most pianists, are dispatched without any misfires. The finale is dreamlike and radiant. The sound quality is perfectly agreeable, though variable, in Lynn Ludwig’s skillful restorations. Meloclassic’s liner is an appreciated accompaniment. For inspirational pianism of the highest order, you need look no further.
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