5th Anniversary

Turina (Freccia, RPO) Chopin Dame Moura Lympany• Ruth Slenczynska Ravel Ralph Votapek • Nadia Reisenberg Liszt Ruth Slenczynska Fauré David Korevaar Mozart Ann Schein Mendelssohn Shura Cherkassky Hummel Albert Wong Paderewski Earl Wild (Fiedler, LSO) Ivory Classics 5th Anniversary

Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)

In , October 1907, Turina had a fateful encounter with Falla and Albeniz, where he conceived his artistic credo “to fight bravely for the national music of our country.” He studied piano with Moszkowski and theory and composition with Vincent d’Indy in the Schola Cantorum. A fierce proponent of his native Andalusia, Turina was no less a formalist he was greatly influ- enced by the Schola Cantorum and the ‘cyclic’ experiments in music from Franck, d’Indy and Chausson. Turina wrote his Rapsodia sinfónica 1 in 1931, deliberately exploiting light tex- tures, piano and strings, somewhat in the manner of Liszt’s Malediction, where the piano and a solo violin have a concertante role. The piece is in two sections, the first a lushly scored Andante that segues to an Allegro vivo that imitates the rapid repeated notes and tremolo figurations from Spanish guitar music and “deep song.” The form is a rondena in 3/4 and 6/8, quickly alter- Joaquin Turina nating (using hemiola) to achieve, a bravura, the flavor of the Andalusian countryside. Earl Wild 1 & 15 is considered by many to be the last of the Romantic pianists and is internation- ally recognized as one of the great virtuoso pianist/composers of all time. Born on November 26, 1915, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Earl Wild’s technical accomplishments are often likened to what those of Liszt himself must have had. Born with absolute pitch he started playing the piano at three. He studied with the great pianist Egon Petri (1881-1962). In 1942, he was soloist with and the NBC . Since then he has performed with virtually every major conductor and symphony orchestra in the world. Rachmaninov was a friend and an important idol in his life. It’s been said that

– 2 – Earl Wild, “is the incarnation of Rachmaninov, Lehvinne and Rosenthal rolled into one!” One of the few American pianists to have achieved inter- national as well as domestic celebrity, he has the singular honor of having performed at invitation of six Presidents of the , beginning with Herbert Hoover. In 1939, Earl Wild was the first classical pianist to give a recital on the new medium of Television. He is one of the world’s most recorded pianists, having recorded hundred’s of discs on 20 different record labels since 1939.

Fryderyk Chopin (1809-1849)

Chopin’s fifty-one mazurkas are his paean to his native Poland. Wilhelm Fryderyk Chopin von Lenz called the mazurkas “the diary of his soul’s journey through the socio-political territories of his Sarmatian dream-world.” Chopin played the basic 3/4 meter with much flexibility, clouding the opening beat by raising the dampers and using the soft pedal simultaneously at the beginning of each bar, prolonging and subduing the sound, an effect that Meyerbeer was con- vinced was in 2/4. The Mazurka in A minor from the Op. 17 (c. 1832) 2 set opens with soft chords for three bars in the left hand, followed by a triplet figure in bar four. At bar 18 we realize Chopin uses enharmonic modulation and ornamental variations in the form of a melancholy study, what has led this piece to be called “Das Trauergesicht,” the Mourner’s Face. Its Trio sec- tion is an earthy, punctuated, peasant dance. A lovely passage, unisono, takes us back to the main theme. Dame Moura Lympany 2 was born in Saltash, Cornwall, Great Britain on August 18, 1916. As a child she revealed remarkable musical gifts. In1929, she auditioned to enter England’s Royal Academy of Music. At fif- teen Ms. Lympany continued her studies with Paul Weingarten and Mathilde Verne - later studying with the great Tobias Matthay. In 1940, Ms. Lympany Dame Moura rocked the piano world with a stunningly well-received première of the Lympany

– 3 – Soviet-Armenian composer, Aram Khachaturian’s . After the Second World War, Dame Moura was able to resume her international career and became somewhat of a musical ambassadress, representing Great Britain on countless cultural missions. She gave her first New York recital on November 28, 1948. Today Dame Moura lives in Monte Carlo.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Increasingly, estimates of Ravel’s musical craft discard the epi- thet “impressionist” and embrace his severe, disciplined classicism, the clear workmanship that motivated Stravinsky to call him “the ultimate clockmaker.” Curiously, Ravel’s early impulse was to rebellion against the Establishment, joining the Société des Apaches. By 1917, the tolls of had created a reaction Le Tombeau de Couperin in Ravel, who turned back to a quieter time, to the world of the clavecinistes and Francois Couperin (1668-1733) as embodiments of a spiritual serenity and poise the world had destroyed. Even though this music honors the dead of the Great War, as well as the passing of the composer’s mother, there is little, overt sentimentality or mourning evident. The piano suite Le Tombeau de Couperin, is in six move- ments, the Menuet 12 and the Toccata 3 comprising the last two sections. Each is etched out of grace- ful, wistful porcelain or lacquer, in the manner of Debussy’s Poissons d’or and Ravel’s own Mother Goose. Nicolas Slonimsky calls the bass in the Menuet “recessive,” seeing only a formulaic classicism in the cadences at every fourth bar. While the music-box atmosphere of the piece alternates tonic and dominant, the mid- dle section becomes aggressive, until Ravel superimposes his gentle, modal opening on the martial air of the trio. The harmonic construction echoes something of Fauré. The Toccata, which owes much to Debussy, is a lightly deft perpetuum mobile in quasi-pentatonic harmony. The episodes and middle section have ele- ments of the water-piece Jeux d’eau and the later piano concertos. The quickness of the piece accelerates and the atmosphere becomes even more rarified, threatening, like so many of Ravel’s dance-forms, to explode in beauty and pain. Ralph Votapek 3 was born in Milwaukee in 1939 and began his musical studies at the age of nine.

– 4 – He studied at Northwestern University and subsequently attended both the Manhattan and the of Music. Although his princi- pal teachers were Rosina Lhevinne and Robert Goldsand, he also stud- ied with Nadia Reisenberg and Rudolf Serkin. In 1959, he won the Naumburg Award. Mr. Votapek won the Gold Medal at the first Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1962. The prize offered him a debut recital, a contract with famed impresario Sol Hurok, and an RCA Victor recording contract. Since 1962, Mr. Votapek has maintained a versatile and remarkable performance and recording career. Mr. Votapek has toured South America every other year for the past three decades. He has appeared with virtually every major American orchestra and legendary conductor such as Kubelik, Steinberg, Krips, Leinsdorf and Fiedler. Mr. Votapek has held the title of Artist-in-Residence at Michigan State University for over 30 years. Ralph Votapek

12 13 Nadia Reisenberg & was born in , , on July 14, 1904 and died in on June 10, 1983. Ms. Reisenberg studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Leonid Nikolayev. At the onset of the Russian Revolution Ms. Reisenberg and her family traveled first to Warsaw, then and Berlin. In 1922 they immigrated to the United States where she became a pupil of Alexander Lambert (a Liszt pupil) and the legendary . In the period between November 1938 and March 1939 she performed a historic series of all 27 Mozart Piano Concerti (plus the two con- cert rondos), in sequence over WOR radio in NYC with Alfred Wallenstein . She was a gift- ed performer with a rare sensitivity and musical elegance who recorded many discs for Westminster throughout the 1950’s. Nadia Reisenberg’s career as a teacher and virtuosa spanned over sixty years.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Liszt conceived his 12 Transcendental Études in 1851 as a complement to the piano studies of Chopin and the violin Caprices of Paganini, as well as a Rosetta Stone for his own fusion of technique and rhetor- ical figuration. said of Liszt’s Etudes that whoever “masters them, as they should be mastered, in an easy, entertaining way, so that they glide past us like different scenes in a marionette show, may travel confidently all over the world and will return with golden laurels, a second Paganini-Liszt.”

– 5 – The Études d’Exécution Transcendante No. 5, Feux Follets 4 the so-called “Will o’ the Wisp” étude, combines ornament and color, applied in a supple alchemy of dynamic gra- dations of touch. While it begins with a kind of staggered motion, once it erupts forward, it punishes the performer with rapid figures in the fingers and wrists. The coda must be pearly magic.

Fryderyk Chopin (1809-1849)

Chopin did not invent the concert or salon Albert Wong, Earl Wild & Ruth Slenczynska waltz, but he refined the popular dance-form to a degree that Schumann claimed, “such a wave of life flows through them that they seem to have been improvised in the ballroom.” The Waltz in A-flat Op. 64, No. 3 5 from the set of three, Op. 64, was first composed in 1840, but its publication was withheld until 1847, with a dedication to Baroness Katarzyna Branicka, at a time when his final illness managed to allow Chopin some days of rest and repose at the square d’Orleans in Paris. This Waltz has great inner vitality, chromatically moving between major and minor and subtle rhythmic shifts. The heroic middle section is in C Major and sug- gests a burgeoning polonaise. Ruth Slenczynska 4 & 5 was born in Sacramento, California on January 15th 1925. The daughter of a violinist - she had her first piano lesson at age 3 and at 4 she gave her first public concert in Oakland. At the age of 5, she played before an audience of 3,500 in San Francisco. She was awarded a scholarship to study with the esteemed pianist Josef Hofmann at the Curtis Institute. A few years later she was taken abroad for further study with such masters as Petri, Schnabel, Cortot and Rachmaninov. At the age of 6, she gave a concert at the Bach Saal in Berlin, astonishing an audience of musical authorities by the ease with which she played an extended program of taxing masterpieces. In 1932, at the age of 7, Ruth Slenczynska made her debut in Paris. At the age of 8, a concert veteran, Ruth Slenczynska returned to the States for her New York debut to triumphal ovations. Since those early days, Ms. Slenczynska has performed in recital

– 6 – and with countless orchestra’s all over the world. In 1956, she appeared as honoree on the TV program ‘This is your Life’. Today at the age of 77, Ms. Slenczynska continues to perform and record. Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Although Fauré took his forms mazurka, impromptu, barcarolle, nocturne, prelude from Chopin, his long and adventurous career in music led him along a dissimilar path, eschewing virtuosity and pyrotechnical display, and instead exploring an idiosyncratic, modal syntax that expresses his serious and introspective nature. Fauré com- posed thirteen barcarolles and thirteen nocturnes. Ernest Hutcheson lauded Fauré’s “smooth phrases [that] by some unexpected turn of line or harmony confer the stroke of distinction upon them.” Fauré’s Barcarolle No.6 in E-flat Major, Op. 70, 6 written in 1896 dates from his middle period. It’s not merely a water-piece; instead, its modal Gabriel Fauré arpeggiations capture the carefree fluidity and modulating currents with a clarity worth of Ravel. Each of the later Barcarolles becomes more harmonically concentrated. Hutcheson again celebrates their “subtly evanescent harmony” of broken chords, which “abound with lyri- cal invention and refinement of taste.” The Barcarolle No.8 in D-flat Major Op. 96, 7 which was written in 1906, is gloomy and poignantly tragic, rife with discordant juxtapositions. Its waters may take their color from Debussy and Watteau, but the bass harmonies suggest Scriabin and his unorthodox mix of thirds, sixths, and tritones. The effect is more of Joseph Conrad, where the waters of even the most civ- ilized sensibilities swirl with currents from the Heart of Darkness.

David Korevaar 6 & 7 was born in 1962 in Madison, Wisconsin but grew up in La Jolla, California. At age 13, he became a student of the great American virtuoso, Earl Wild. At 14, he performed his first full-length piano recital in the Palm Springs Desert Museum. By age 20, he had earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he continued his studies with Earl Wild as well as study- ing composition with David Diamond. He later continued piano studies with Paul Doguereau, a student of Ravel and Petri. In May 2000, he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School, studying with Abbey Simon. David Korevaar has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as soloist and chamber musician. He was awarded the top prize in the 1988 University of

– 7 – Maryland/William Kapell International Piano Competition. In 1989, he received a special prize for his performances of French music from the Robert Casadesus International Competition in Cleveland. Mr. Korevaar is currently assistant professor of piano at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Arguably the most gifted composer of the Western World, Mozart had the ability to make simple materials complex and complex materials seem simple. His C Major Piano Sonata, K.545 (1788) 8 -10 is a case in point. The fashioning of the musical structure of this famous piece is virtually Aristotelian: it has clearly delineated exposition, development and recapitulation, David Korevaar whose only departure from stricture is the advent of the sub-dom- inant at the recap. The music is as much etude as sonata, with Mozart’s taking care to apply every required technique and rhetor- ical device of his time: Alberti bass, upward and descending scales, rocket figures, trills in each hand, and modulating arpeggios. The Andante is a simple song whose Alberti bass never fluctuates. The Rondo finale is a study in digital finesse, alternating legato and staccato motives, then juxtaposing and combining them. We hear something of the later Chopin’s predilection for making the piano a primarily vocal instrument, espressivo being this work’s domi- nant affekt, even given its playful character. Ann Schein 8 -10 was born in New York in 1939. She has been thrilling audiences since her sensational first recordings for Kapp records in the late 1950’s. She has performed all over the world with orchestras such as New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington, London, and the BBC, as Ann Schein well as with conductors; Szell, Wallenstein, Sargent, Rudolf, – 8 – Fleisher, Levine, Ozawa, Davis, Mester and Zinman. In 1980, in an inspir- ing artistic triumph, Ann Schein extended the legacy of her teachers, Mieczyslaw Münz, , and Dame Myra Hess, by presenting the complete major Chopin repertoire to six sold-out houses in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall - the first Chopin cycle heard in New York in 35 years. She and her husband, violinist Earl Carlyss - for 20 years a member of the Juilliard String Quartet also perform frequently as a duo. In 1995, Ms. Schein toured the States and Brazil with the soprano, Jessye Norman. She gives yearly lectures and master classes across the United States and fre- quently serves as an adjudicator in major music competitions.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Felix Mendelssohn

Mendelssohn was more than a formidable musician, composer and pianist, so much so that many regarded him as a second Mozart. Yet despite the prowess and fluency of his craft, Mendelssohn was less successful at large-scale keyboard sonatas and opted to write six books of miniatures, two of which appeared posthumously, as the lyrical Songs Without Words. These small, somewhat similar, character- pieces made Mendelssohn a household name in Britain. Sheltered from intense, visceral passions, shape- ly and flowing with tender melodies and rounded forms, they inspired Gerald Abraham to comment on “the sweet, Virgilian purity of [Mendelssohn’s] idyllic passages.” Mendelssohn’s Op. 38 (1837-38) compris- es six pieces. The Song in A Minor, No. 5, 11 has a bit of dark flair: it car- ries an agitated bass line that sustains its affect throughout. Shura Cherkassky 11 was born in Odessa on October 17, 1909 and died in London on December 27, 1995. In 1922 he immigrated to the United States where his New York debut in November 1923 was regarded as one of the most extraordinary musical events in recent memory. In 1924 he became the pupil of Josef Hofmann at the famed Curtis Institute. During the 1940’s Shura Cherkassky

– 9 – Cherkassky moved to Los Angeles where he lived in the Hollywood Hills. His world acclaim increased in the 50’s and 60’s. His concert career encompassed the entire musical world. He was among the last of the post-Romantic tradition of master pianists. Over his long and distinguished career he recorded for at least 14 different record labels.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Prokofiev remains a strong example of Russian individualism, a har- binger of the modern school of percussive pianism marked by his explo- sive and acerbic temperament in pieces like Suggestion diabolique, the Op. 10 D-flat Concerto and his Op. 17 Sarcasms. Prokofiev composed Nadia Reisenberg his Ten Pieces (or “Episodes”) Op. 12 in 1913, a fertile period in his out- put, which includes the Toccata, Op.11 and the D Minor Sonata, Op. 14. While some sections of Op. 12 conform to his penchant for athletic bravura, the C Major Prelude 13 is his “Aeolian Harp” study, a moment of inspired lyricism from a composer more noted for his irony.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)

Hummel was a Viennese musical phenomenon “discovered” by Mozart when Hummel was seven. Hummel became a widely sought-after pianist, since his skills at improvisation could equal those of Beethoven. Hummel attempted to codify the modern school of keyboard virtuosity by systematical- ly exploring trills and ornamentation in his own works. His was a clean, sparse style, marked by judicious use of pedal. His influence on later composers makes him the “natural” bridge from Mozart to Chopin (and some aspects of Schumann). Hummel’s so-called “Rondo favori” in E-flat 14 comes from a period c. 1800, when Beethoven was popularizing many of the same tech- niques and rhetorical figures in his Waldstein Sonata. Most of the demands on the player are strictly digital, with emphasis on clean runs in thirds and sud- Hummel den appogiaturas and non-harmonic notes.

– 10 – Albert Wong,14 born on January 1, 1990 in Boston has resided in Carrollton, Texas (a suburb of Dallas) since September 1990. By the time he was four he enjoyed the piano so much that he announced that he wanted to be a pianist. At age five, he won the grand prize of the North Texas Piano Competition. He played his first solo recital at age six. He has appeared frequently on TV programs such as, Good Morning Texas, Positively Texas and Unsolved Mysteries, and been spotlighted in publications such as, Texas Monthly, The Dallas Morning News, Fanfare Magazine and Piano Magazine (Germany). He made his orchestral debut in 1997 (at the age of 7), playing the Bach F Earl Wild and Albert Wong on Carnegie Hall minor Concerto from memory shortly after stage November 29, 2000 he won the first prize of the Dallas Piano Concerto Competition. On his ninth birthday in 1999, he was the featured pianist in an All-Mozart pro- gram presented by the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth (with whom he has appeared for the last three years). Albert has performed solo piano recitals in Missouri, California, Georgia and Texas. In May of 2000 he received the Bayard H. Friedman Award from the Board of the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. Today at age 12 Albert is a seasoned performer. He now attends the University near his home studying Biology, Physics and Chemistry. In addition to his two recordings for Ivory Classics (Bach WTC Book II in 2000 and five Clementi Sonatas in 2001), his dream has been to perform in Carnegie Hall and to tour the world giving concerts. On November 29, 2000, one of those dreams became a reality when he was asked to perform the Hummel Rondo on the stage of New York’s Carnegie Hall following Earl Wild’s 85th Birthday recital.

– 11 – Ignaz Jan Paderewski (1860-1941)

Paderewski combined an important musical as well as politi- cal career, at one time retiring from the keyboard until his “fate- ful return” on November 22, 1922. An emotional pianist, Paderewski’s mesmerism of his audiences and his way of exag- gerating musical values often brought on critical censure. “He’s a great pianist but he’s no Paderewski” quipped Moritz Rosenthal. Arthur Fiedler & Earl Wild at Paderewski recording session Yet as a pianist and composer, Paderewski’s name was synony- mous with music itself. His Op. 21 Sonata in E Minor still demands respect. Taking his cue from Chopin’s Op. 61, Paderewski composed his Fantaisie Polonaise on Original Themes for Piano and Orchestra 15 in 1889. A one-move- ment work subdivided into four sections, is clearly Lisztian: rhapsodic and flamboyant, it exploits double glissandi, huge stretches for the hands, double octaves and various Chopinesque roulades that demand lightness as well as articulate filigree. There is an extended harp part that adds sentiment to the folksy, Polish & Arthur Fiedler Paderewski riffs and complex rhythms. While the second section is based on at their recording session a Mazovian dance tune, the third section, Andante, resembles a slow, Slavonic dumka. The strongly syncopated final section is Poland’s grand dance, the Krakowiak, exploited by Chopin in his Op. 14, and here vivaciously coupled with the tympani to achieve exciting climaxes. Another burst of double octaves and leaps in the piano lead to a stupendous close.

Liner notes by Gary Lemco ©2002

Paderewski’s funeral in New York July 10, 1941 – 12 – A word from Ivory’s President

I’m very pleased to be able to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Ivory Classics with this release. From the age of ten, when I began playing the cello, Classical music has been my lifelong passion. For the last three decades, I have been integrally involved in the music business, first as a consultant and then as a record produc- er. I created Ivory Classics five years ago in the hopes of correct- ing a few of the inadequacies that I found lurking in the classical record business. Ivory Classics’ focus has always been, “The Art of the Piano and the Pianist.” We have concentrated on interest- ing compositions for the piano with added emphasis on impor- tant and sometimes unfairly neglected performers. My efforts have been directed towards musical notables of preeminent dis- tinction spanning the 20th century. It is my hope that everyone who has listened to one of our Ivory Classics releases will be cog- nizant of the fact that they can always expect interesting perfor- mances. We’ve taken extra steps to distinguish ourselves from Michael Rolland Davis other record labels. All of our recordings have been mastered (first utilizing 20-bit) and now using 24-bit, state-of-the-art HDCD technology. Special attention has been paid to visually appealing packaging, detailed liner notes and rare photographs. Our motto has always been, “no detail is too trivial.” It is my opinion that quality is of utmost importance. A company that produces excel- lent performances with highest production values and arresting presentations will not fall short of public support. Looking to the future, Ivory Classics will continue to be totally committed to recording excellence as well as the promotion of historically sig- nificant recordings by exceptional pianists.

Michael Rolland Davis Ed Thompson Ivory’s chief engineer – 13 – Credits

Track 1 recorded in Walthamstow, London April 17, 1968 for Readers Digest Track 2 recorded in London, April 1968 for Readers Digest Track 3 recorded at Michigan State University 1994 Track 4 recorded in 1957 for American Decca Track 5 recorded in Concert 1984 Tracks 6 & 7 recorded in Merkin Hall, NYC, November 15, 1995 Tracks 8 thru 10 recorded in 1963, NYC for Readers Digest Track 11 recorded circa 1958 HMV 7ER 5113 Tracks 12 & 13 from WOR, NYC radio broadcasts 9/26/1939 & 12/12/1939 Track 14 recorded in Carnegie Hall, NYC November 29, 2000 Track 15 recorded in Barking Town Hall, London September 7, 1970 All Original and Remastered tracks recorded in 24-Bit HDCD encoded Compilation Producer: Michael Rolland Davis Remastering Engineer: Ed Thompson Generous assistance came from the Ivory Classics & Lucky Star Foundations Thanks to the artists who supplied master tapes for this release Liner Notes: Gary Lemco Design: Samskara, Inc

To place an order or to be included on mailing list: Ivory Classics® • P.O. Box 341068 • Columbus, Ohio 43234-1068 Phone: 888-40-IVORY or 614-761-8709 • Fax: 614-761-9799 [email protected] • Website: http://www.IvoryClassics.com

– 14 – Eric Himy plays Ravel (CD - 72009) (DDD) In this first recording for Ivory Classics, Juilliard trained pianist, Eric Himy performs an all solo Ravel recital. A medal winner in many piano competi- tions, Mr. Himy has performed critically acclaimed recitals and with Symphony Orchestras throughout five continents. He has been hailed as, "one of the finest pianistic talents of our time." Many critics around the globe have praised his interpretations of such Spanish and French masters as Albeniz, Falla, Debussy and Poulenc. He is particularly well-known for his elegant and dramatic interpretations of the French composer, , having performed numerous all Ravel concerts throughout France and at the French Embassy in Washington D.C. The Washington post has said, "Himy has an awesome technique and musicianship." The performance of Scarbo on this disc is virtually demonic. Not to be missed.

Earl Wild performs Brahms (CD - 72008) (DDD) There is no substitute for the wisdom of age and experience. Earl Wild, the legendary 86-year-old Grammy Award-winning virtuoso pianist, gives us a new recording of the piano music of Johannes Brahms. "Of the great many recordings of Brahms' monumental F minor Sonata No. 3 that I have heard, Earl Wild's is far and away the most fully realized, the most musically satis- fying, and the most breathtaking. Wild's command of the Sonata is so com- plete and his playing (even at 86) so brilliantly captures its expansive tonal palette, volatile drama and its exquisite poetry, we are apt to forget that Brahms' writing teems with technical difficulties. Wild's Paganini Variations dating from a 1982 Paris recital have irresistible flair - they are as brilliant musically as they are technically. The recording as a whole is unsurpassable."

Ralph Votapek - Granados ‘Goyescas’ (CD - 72007) (DDD) A new release by pianist Ralph Votapek who skyrocketed to world promi- nence when he won the Gold Medal at the first Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1962. Mr. Votapek has a special affinity for Spanish music. His performance of the most important piano suite in Spanish liter- ature, Enrique Granados’ Goyescas, is especially vibrant. His full bodied sonority sings with lyric simplicity. “Votapek has a prodigious technique but one eventually takes it for granted because he takes it for granted, playing the music, not the notes, teasing gorgeous sonorities and lilting rhythms from Granados’ Goyescas.” – 15 – Earl Wild - 53 poèmes pour piano by Reynaldo Hahn (2-CD’s - 72006) (DDD) French composer Reynaldo Hahn wrote very few solo piano compositions. This world première two disc recording performed here by the GRAMMY® Award winning pianist Earl Wild, includes the very rare collection of 53 solo piano compositions entitled, Le Rossignol Éperdu (The Bewildered Nightingale). Recorded here in its entirety for the first time, these fifty-three delightful poèmes for piano were composed between 1899 and 1911. “Wild’s performances are exquisite in every catagory - technical, interpretive and aes- thetic.” Liner notes by Lord Londonderry are both in English and French. 11-year-old Albert Wong - Clementi Piano Sonatas (CD - 72005)(DDD) As a follow up to his highly acclaimed debut CD of Bach’s Well -Tempered Clavier Book II, 11-year-old pianist, Albert Wong has chosen to record five of Muzio Clementi’s greatest piano sonatas: the B minor Op. 40, No. 2; D Major Op. 40, No. 3; C Major Op. 37, No. 1; B-flat Major Op. 24, No. 2 and A Major Op. 33, No. 1. The performances by this extremely talented piano prodigy are both elegant and sensitive, revealing his amazing capabilities. “This is not a circus act. This is remarkable music-making at any age.” Morley & Gearhart Two-Piano duo - Rediscovered (2-CD’s - 72004) (ADD) From 1940 until 1954, this husband and wife two-piano duo performed for enthusiastic audiences from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. This double CD of remastered historic recordings, showcases the extraordinarily sophisticated Livingston Gearhart two-piano arrangements of popular and classical standards by: Gershwin, J. Strauss Jr., Falla, R. Strauss, Arlen, Arensky, Ravel, Chopin, Kern, Rachmaninov, Confrey, Liszt, Debussy, Duke, Glière, Carmichael, Poulenc, Berlin, Brahms, Rodgers and Prokofiev. Shura Cherkassky Historic 1940’s Recordings (2-CD’s - 72003) (ADD) Cherkassky was a direct link to the ‘Golden Age’ of pianists. “For sheer color it would be hard to beat these performances - these are some of the most beguiling studio recordings the pianist ever made.” Cherkassky performs works by: Glinka, Chopin, Khachaturian, Liadov, Medtner, Chaminade, Brahms, Liszt, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Saint-Saëns, Scriabin, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Gould. “Thanks to Ivory Classics we can become familiar with what Cherkassky sounded like in the 1940's.” “Ivory Classics presentation is superb.” – 16 – Ethel Leginska - Complete Columbia Masters (1928-1929) (CD - 72002) (ADD) Leginska was a highly gifted pianist, composer and conductor who studied with Theodore Leschetizky, Ernst Bloch and Eugene Goossens. She helped break down gender barriers around the world which aided many women musicians to succeed. “Hats off to Ivory Classics for reminding us of the talents of Ethel Leginska.” These solo piano recordings of Schurbert - Impromptus & Moments Musicaux; Schubert/Tausig - Marche Militaire; Chopin - Polanaise & Prelude; Rachmaninov - Preludes and Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody are being offered for the first time on CD.

Earl Wild plays Liszt - The 1985 Sessions (2-CD’s - 72001) (DDD) The Romantic Master plays: Dante Sonata, Sonata in B minor, Ballade No.2, Three Sonetti del Petrarca, Les jèux d’eau à la Villa d’Este, Liebesträume Nos. 2 & 3, Un Sospiro, Funérailles, Consolation No.3, Die Loreley, Chopin/Liszt ‘My Joys’, Bach/Liszt Fantasia and Fugue in G minor and Mephisto Polka. “Earl Wild is a premier Lisztian, one of the great Romantic pianists of our age, claims easily con- firmed by this two-disc set of major Liszt piano works recorded in 1985 and issued here in splendid sound.” “The Sonetti No. 104 and the Dante Sonata are among the best versions ever recorded.” David Korevaar - piano music of Ernö Dohnányi (CD - 71008) (DDD) Top prize winner at the William Kapell Piano Competition, David Korevaar interprets these rarely heard works with deep understanding and romantic con- ception. Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song, Op.29, Six Concert Etudes, Op.28, Hungarian Christmas Song and the suite Ruralia Hungarica, Op.32a. “Korevaar is in full command of his powers, and Ivory Classics top-notch engineering only adds to the listening pleasure. Warmly recommended.”

10-year-old Albert Wong plays Bach WTC (Book II) (2-CD’s - 71007) (DDD) “Albert Wong’s Bach-playing is not only technically secure - an amazing achievement for any pianist - but also musically mature.” “Many big-name pianists could learn from this affectionate shaping and dovetailing of Bach’s counterpoint and his sensitive response to harmonies.” “This would be an impressive debut for any musician; for a ten-year-old, it is astonishing, one of the best recordings of any musical prodigy ever made.”

– 17 – Ann Schein plays Schumann (CD - 71006) (DDD) “These Shumann works have been part of Ann Schein’s repertoire since the early days of her career - indeed she played the Davidsbündlertänze at her Carnegie Hall debut in 1962. Wonderful playing with rare understanding and authority - continuing in the tradition of two of her teacher’s, Arthur Rubinstein and Dame Myra Hess.” “With fluent keyboard technique at her disposal, Schein invests the Humoreske Op. 20, the Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6 and the Arabeske Op. 18 with poetic imagination and romantic flair.”

Earl Wild - 20th & 21st Century Piano Sonatas (CD - 71005) (DDD) GRAMMY® Award winning pianist, Earl Wild, whose legendary career has spanned over 70 years, performs four sonatas in this virtuosic new recording - Barber Op. 26, Hindemith No. 3, Stravinsky (1924) and a world première of his own Sonata 2000. “This release is one of the finest recordings in Earl Wild’s long, individual career and cannot be recommended too highly. He remains an unreal pianist at 85.” “I hope the outcome of this Sonata 2000 will stepup Wild’s creative productivity, for he is a real composer.” “The sound of the piano is extremely good.” Ruth Slenczynska plays Schumann - The 1999 Sessions (CD - 71004) (DDD) This legendary pianist and virtuosa celebrates her 75th birthday with this new release. “It’s no exaggeration to say that Ruth Slenczynska performance of the Carnaval belongs in the same distinguished company as Rachmaninov, Argerich and Rubinstein. Her Carnaval is absolutely splendid - this is simply stunning piano playing. Unlike many pianists, she neither underplays nor overplays the exquisite miniatures of Scenes from Childhood. In the Sonata No.2 she turns in a highly passionate and achingly lyrical reading.” Schumann & Dohnányi Piano Quintets (CD - 71003) (DDD) “It’s rare to hear piano quintets performed as works for piano and full string orchestra. In this new release Earl Wild has augmented the strings and added a bass part to these two great quintets. The result is a unique listening expe- rience that packs a huge emotional punch. Wild - a youthful 85 this year - plays both the Schumann E-flat Major Quintet Op. 44 and the Dohnányi C minor Quintet Op. 1 with breathtaking virtuosity and sumptuous poetry with strong support from the strings.” – 18 – Philip Thomson - Felix Blumenfeld Complete Preludes and Impromptus (CD - 71002) (DDD) “Felix Blumenfeld was a celebrated conductor, pianist, composer and teacher (Horowitz and Barere were students). Credit for this recording must go to the technically irreproachable and always sensitively intelligent playing of Philip Thomson. The centerpiece of this recording are the 24 Preludes Op.17 - Thomson rises to the challenge every time.” “The sound quality is excellent and the recording owes its success in considerable measure to the Baldwin piano, prepared by Edd Kolakowski - a far more suitable choice than a typical Steinway.”

Earl Wild plays Schumann (CD - 71001) (DDD) “Wild’s masterly playing of the Schumann Symphonic Etudes and the Fantasie, Op. 17, is a supreme example of an almost extinct brand of golden age piano playing.” “Earl Wild has produced performances with all the technical dex- terity of a youngster with a maturity and profundity that can only come with age. The younger generation of pianists will be well served by listening to this legend.” “Wild at his very best, warm and spontaneous. Four Stars.”

José Iturbi - Historic Mozart performances (1937-1940) (CD - 70908) (ADD) “This is an excellently remastered collection of Mozart recordings represent- ing José Iturbi (1895-1980) at the peak of his career. This is Mozart playing of rare distinction: bracing tempos, elegant phrasing, transparent textures, and extraordinary balances between soloist(s) and orchestra. The pianistic articulation is brilliant, and the orchestra really sings.” “In the Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365, again directed from the piano by José, his sister Amparo collaborates with him and the pair produce a stylish performance.”

Earl Wild - Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions ‘1997 GRAMMY® Award’ (CD - 70907) (DDD) “I am very enthusiastic about this release. Mr. Wild’s technique is still there. In this set of piano transcriptions, almost all of them are by Wild himself. And what wonderful transcriptions they are. As for the playing on this disc, it ranges from the merely extraordinary to the truly breathtaking.” Includes Mr. Wild’s transcriptions of: Bach, Handel, Saint-Saëns, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Fauré, J. Strauss Jr., and his Fantasy on Snow White.

– 19 – Dame Moura Lympany - Piano Legend (CD - 70906) (ADD) “These well-transferred recordings for piano and orchestra (Mendelssohn, Litolff, Falla & Liszt), made at the height of Moura Lympany’s career, date from 1964 and 1967 and show her at her best - which means aristocratic lyricism, with plenty of power when needed - elegance personified.” “These are performances of superb authority.” “Lympany reaches for scintillation and bravura.” “The sound on these recordings is excellent.”

Earl Wild plays Beethoven Sonatas & Beethoven/Liszt - Symphony No. 1 (CD - 70905) (DDD) “Earl Wild’s geniality and warmth of projection are irresistible. The most striking technical quality in these performances is his smoldering tonality, deep-throated and nonpercussiveness even in loud or rapid passages. These original digital recordings of Op.10, No.3 & Op.57, beautifully capture the special tone, graceful phrasing and effortless virtuosity of this American mas- ter. As usual with Ivory Classics, the sound engineering is superb. In short, a wonderful and unique Beethoven recital.”

Shura Cherkassky - The 1982 San Francisco Recital (CD - 70904) (DDD) “This 1982 San Francisco recital is arguably the best of them all.” “I don’t believe Cherkassky has been as well represented by any single disc in the cat- alog as he is by the luscious 1982 San Francisco recital, a CD that documents his style at its most persuasive.” “A priceless document of one of the last great romantic pianists.” Disc includes: Lully Suite, Tchaikovsky Sonata, Hofmann Kaliedoskop, Mendelssohn Scherzo a Capriccio, Chopin Polonaise Fantaisie and Waltz.

Earl Wild plays Russian Romantic Masters (CD - 70903) (ADD) “The remastering of these performances are, as you’ve come to expect from this label, of the highest quality. The performance of the Pictures is one of the finest I’ve encountered. What’s most important in this reissue from 1966, is that Earl Wild imparts rich color and vivid images to his playing.” “Brendel’s Pictures sounds especially insipid next to Wild’s performance.” “This remains one of the best Pictures on record.” “Relatively few pianists, past, present or future, could play like this.” “The Tchaikovsky Seasons and Medtner’s Improvisation No. 1, shows off Wild’s imposing technique to mar- velous effect.” – 20 – Ruth Slenczynska in Concert - St. Louis 1984 (CD - 70902) (DDD) “Ruth Slenczynska is clearly a pianist who can do anything - playing a Haydn Sonata with a fine sense of coiled-spring power in reserve, Chopin’s Sonata No.3 with many jewel-like details and several Rachmaninov preludes with a full romantic sweep but crystalline sense of dignity.” Ms. Slenczynska studied with piano greats such as Rachmaninov, Hofmann, Cortot, Schnabel and Petri.

The Virtuosity of Earl Wild (2-CD’s - 70901) (DDD & ADD) “Earl Wild will go down as one of the greatest American virtuosos of the 20th century. Wild has remained at the pinnacle of his career for about the last two decades. This 2 CD set featuring 28 virtuoso showpieces by Liszt, Dohnanyi, Moszkowski, d’Albert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Paganini, Schubert, Schumann and Tchaikowsky is a clear winner, documenting Wild’s stunning artistry, spanning the years 1963-1985.” “Wild supplies an effer- vescence that makes such intent virtuosos as Barere seem witless by compari- son.” “In this release we have taste and proportion rather than banging, bombast, and show-off. Romanticism still lives.” Nadia Reisenberg - The Acclaimed Haydn Recordings (2-CD’s - 70806) (ADD) “Nadia Reisenberg is sensational! She brings seasoned mastery, pinpointed fingerwork, singing tone, unerring proportion, and graceful firmness to each one of these ingenuous works. Moreover, she underscores the composer’s metric and harmonic sleights-of-hand with effortless expressive economy, and scales her dynamics to telling effect.” “The remastering of the original Westminster (1955-1958) original is eminently effective: the quality of the recorded sound is at once clean, intimate, and warm.”

Earl Wild plays Spanish and French Gems (CD - 70805) (ADD) “Earl Wild’s performances here dating from the 1960’s offer scintillating playing.” “Rarely has Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau so transcended the piano’s percussive nature. Next to Earl Wild’s succulent Albeniz and Granados pieces, Alicia de Larrocha’s classic interpretations seem monochromatic and wiry. The sound, as on all Ivory Classics releases, is first rate. A disc to treasure.” “Each jewel in this shimmering collection is played with consummate artistry.” This disc also includes elegant compositions by Falla, Mompou, Ravel, Moszkowski plus additional Debussy works.

– 21 – Ralph Votapek plays 20th Century Masterpieces (CD - 70804) (DDD) This new recording includes: Ginastera’s Sonata No.1, Szymanowski’s Masques, Poulenc’s Eight Nocturnes and two Tangos by Astor Piazzolla. “This brilliant program confirms Ralph Votapek’s keyboard mastery and musical aristocra- cy.” “Votapek understands what makes this music tick. A delicious disc.” “Mr. Votapek plays with extraordinary ease, transparency, and decisiveness.” “Votapek engages all of the music he plays with an all-encompassing artistry that make this an unusually satisfying recital.”

Dances for Two Pianos - Earl Wild and Christian Steiner (CD - 70803) (ADD) “Together, pianists Earl Wild and Christian Steiner create elegant, probing and poetic music - they play with an easy, unperturbable assurance.” “These are superlative 1968 performances of Ravel’s La Valse and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, Op.45 and Waltz from Suit No. 2, Op.17 - offering wide expressive range that takes in the music’s indulgences without diluting its venom. Sound, as usual from Ivory Classics, is exceptionally vivid. Highly recommended.”

Ruth Slenczynska - Historic Performances (CD - 70802) (ADD) “There is much to enjoy on this Ruth Slenczynska disc, dating from mater- ial recorded in the early 1950’s - no piano aficionado will be disappointed by this splendid issue.” “It’s amazing how she deftly handles the competing lines in the Presto from Bach’s Italian Concerto and the Fuga from the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue.” "Her Chopin/Liszt - Six Chants Polonais are an unal- loyed delight. The sound is excellent." Disc also includes, Liszt Consolation No. 1 & Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 ‘Rákóczy March’.

Earl Wild Goes To The Movies (CD - 70801) (ADD) “These performances are vintage Earl Wild. Wild is so responsive to the idioms of each work that it’s sometimes hard to believe that we’re listening to a single pianist. This 1960’s sound, outclasses that on most releases being pro- duced today.” “Listen to the dazzling sonic quality of Mr. Wild’s inventive arrangement of Rodgers Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Rozsa’s Spellbound Concerto and Steiner’s Symphonie Moderne.” The ‘Big Cinema Sound’ is always apparent. Wild is as stylish in the Mozart Concerto No. 21 (Elvira Madigan) as he is in film music; this is a fine performance of polish and character.”

– 22 – Earl Wild - Historic Gershwin Recording (CD - 70702) (ADD) “This disc is very much a collector’s piece. Whiteman and Wild’s reading of the ‚ is extraordinarily vigorous and alive. It firecrackers out across the years in this fine transfer from the 1945, 78 rpm original.” “Earl Wild’s Seven Virtuoso Etudes and Porgy and Bess Fantasy‚ on Gershwin themes recorded in 1976, represents a type of captivating, creative pianism that only someone of Earl Wild’s ultra sophisticated virtuosity could offer.” “A terrif- ic disc which will appeal to anyone with the slightest interest in Gershwin.” “By anyone’s standards, they’re a marvel, a thing of real beauty, as good if not better than anything Liszt might have written.”

Earl Wild - Complete Chopin Nocturnes (2-CD’s - 70701) (DDD) “This is the finest collection of the complete Nocturnes ever recorded - and that takes in such hallowed figures as Arthur Rubinstein and Guiomar Novaes. The instrument cannot be played more perfectly than it is here. Earl Wild today stands alone as the Last Romantic.” “No other complete set is as satisfying as this one.” “The recording quality is exceptional.” “Recordings like this one will stand for a long time as the best you can get.” “Beauty and grandeur. Extraordinary use of the pedal.” - 5 Tuning Forks

All Recordings are Mastered and Remastered Using 20 & 24-Bit State-of-the-Art Technology ® Encoded

– 23 – 5th Anniversary

1 Turina - Rapsodia sinfónica Op. 66 (AAD) (Earl Wild) 8:34 Massimo Freccia, Conductor, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 2 Chopin - Mazurka in A minor Op. 17, No. 4 (AAD) (Dame Moura Lympany) 3:49 3 Ravel - Toccata from ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ (DDD) (Ralph Votapek) 3:48 4 Liszt - Études d’Exécution Transcendante No. 5, ‘Feux Follets’ (Ruth Slenczynska) 3:43 5 Chopin - Waltz in A-flat Op. 64, No. 3 (AAD) (Ruth Slenczynska) 2:42 6 Fauré - Barcarolle No. 6 in E-flat Op. 70 (DDD) (David Korevaar) 3:22 7 Fauré - Barcarolle No. 8 in D-flat Op. 96 (DDD) (David Korevaar) 3:07 Mozart - Sonata in C Major, K. 545 (AAD) (Ann Schein) 8:54 8 1st Mvt. - Allegro 2:58 9 2nd Mvt. - Andante 4:30 10 3rd Mvt. - Rondo. Allegretto 1:22 11 Mendelssohn - Song without Words in A minor Op. 38, No. 5 (Shura Cherkassky) 2:26 12 Ravel - Menuet from ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ (AAD) (Nadia Reisenberg) 4:01 13 Prokofiev - Prelude in C Op. 12 (AAD) (Nadia Reisenberg) 1:53 14 Hummel - Rondo in E-flat (DDD) (Albert Wong) 4:27 15 Paderewski - Fantaisie Polonaise Op. 19 (AAD) (Earl Wild) 19:10 Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, London Symphony Orchestra Total Time: 71:08 Compilation Producer: Michael Rolland Davis • Remastering Engineer: Ed Thompson All Original and Remastered tracks recorded in 24-Bit HDCD encoded

2002 Ivory Classics® • All Rights Reserved. 64405-72010 STEREO Ivory Classics® • P.O. Box 341068 ® Columbus, Ohio 43234-1068 U.S.A. Phone: 888-40-IVORY or 614-761-8709 • Fax: 614-761-9799 & [email protected] • Website: www.IvoryClassics.com