Description
Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Classic Archive Collector's Edition Piano Blu-ray
Product Information
- UPC: 880242739841
- Product Type: Classical Music Blu-ray Box Set
- Genre: Classical Piano Performance/Documentary
- Languages: Various (Documentary portions)
- Subtitles: Deutsch, English, Français, Español
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
- Running Time: 945 minutes (15 hours, 45 minutes)
- Video Format: SD NTSC 4:3 on Blu-ray
- Audio: PCM 2.0 Dual Mono, Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono
- Region Code: All (worldwide)
- Distributor: EuroArts/Idéale Audience
Overview
The "Classic Archive Collector's Edition - Piano" is an extraordinary Blu-ray compilation featuring performances from ten legendary pianists of the 20th century. This comprehensive collection offers unique insights into the golden age of piano interpretation through more than 15 hours of concert performances, recitals, and documentaries. The featured pianists represent diverse schools and interpretive approaches: the intellectual Glenn Gould, the perfectionist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, the virtuosic Georges Cziffra, the poetic Wilhelm Kempff, the versatile Aldo Ciccolini, the passionate Samson François, the profound Claudio Arrau, the powerful Emil Gilels, the technically brilliant Byron Janis, and the analytical Alfred Brendel. Each pianist's distinctive artistry is showcased through carefully selected performances of major piano works spanning from Scarlatti to Prokofiev.
Product Features
- Format: Multi-disc Blu-ray set with worldwide region coding
- Video: Standard definition source material presented in 4:3 format
- Audio Options: PCM 2.0 Dual Mono, Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono
- Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish
- Running Time: 945 minutes (15 hours, 45 minutes)
- Special Feature: Documentary "Glenn Gould, The Alchemist" by Bruno Monsaingeon (Toronto 1974)
- Comprehensive accompanying booklet with detailed program information
Interesting Facts
Historical Performance Practice
This collection documents a fascinating period in piano performance history when interpretive approaches were more individualistic and diverse than today. The recordings, dating from 1959 to 1978, capture these master pianists when recording technology was advanced enough to preserve their playing with reasonable fidelity, but before the era when standardization through recording had begun to homogenize performance styles. These performances thus represent irreplaceable historical documents of artistic individuality.
Technical and Interpretive Contrasts
The set offers extraordinary opportunities to compare radically different approaches to piano playing: Cziffra's dazzling technique and improvisation-like freedom, Michelangeli's crystalline perfection, Gould's contrapuntal clarity and unconventional interpretations, Kempff's poetic lyricism, and Arrau's profound structural understanding. These contrasts illuminate not only the pianists' personalities but also the different national schools of piano playing they represent.
Behind-the-Scenes Documentary
The inclusion of Bruno Monsaingeon's documentary "Glenn Gould, The Alchemist" provides valuable context for understanding one of the 20th century's most enigmatic musical personalities. Filmed in Toronto in 1974 during Gould's self-imposed exile from the concert stage, this rare documentary offers insights into his unconventional recording process, musical philosophy, and technical approach that revolutionized Bach interpretation on the piano.
Program Content
Beethoven
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4, Op. 58 (Ciccolini, Paris 1962)
- Piano Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight" (Kempff, Paris 1970)
- Piano Sonata Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" (Brendel, Paris 1970)
- Piano Sonata Op. 111 (Arrau, Paris 1970)
- Six Bagatelles Op. 126 (Brendel, Paris 1970)
Chopin
- Polonaise Op. 53 (Cziffra, Paris 1961)
- Concerto for Piano No. 1, Op. 11 (François, Paris 1962)
- Scherzo Op. 31 (Cziffra, Paris 1963)
Debussy
- Preludes Book 1 (Michelangeli, Paris 1978)
De Falla
- Nights in the Garden of Spain (Ciccolini, Paris 1960)
Franck
- Variations Symphoniques (Cziffra, Paris 1965)
Granados
- Allegro de Concierto Op. 46 (Ciccolini, Paris 1965)
Grieg
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Op. 16 (François, Paris 1967)
Liszt
- Funérailles S. 173 (Ciccolini, Paris 1965)
- Etude d'Exécution Transcendante S. 139 No. 10 (Cziffra, Paris 1961)
Rachmaninov
- Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43 (Janis, Paris 1968)
Ravel
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major (François, Paris 1964)
Scarlatti
- Sonata K. 11 (Michelangeli, Paris 1965)
Schumann
- Papillons Op. 2 (Kempff, Paris 1961)
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Op. 54 (Arrau, London 1963)
- Carnaval Op. 9 (Arrau, Paris 1961)
Prokofiev
- Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 28 (Gilels, London 1959)
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3, Op. 26 (Janis, Paris 1963)
Tchaikovsky
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Op. 23 (Gilels, Paris 1959)
Documentary
- Glenn Gould, The Alchemist. A documentary film by Bruno Monsaingeon (Gould, Toronto 1974)
Publishers
A co-production involving Idéale Audience, BBC, INA, and CNC. Material originally produced for the Classic Archive TV series. © EuroArts Music International GmbH.
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