Wolfgang Sawallisch - Philharmonia Orchestra
Annie Fischer: piano
Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 291 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 91 mb
Artwork @ 300dpi = 10 mb
Total playing time: 64:31
Recorded 28th February and 1st, 2nd and 10th March 1958, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Rd., London.
Released 2004
EMI Classics 7243 5 62750 2 7
Track listing:
1. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: I Allegro maestoso
2. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: II Andante
3. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: III Allegro vivace assai
4. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat: I Allegro
5. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat:II Andante
6. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat:III Rondo (Allegro)
Reviews:
Gramophone
There is a snag about loving a piece of music especially dearly—you practically never hear a performance that is all you desire. I mention this because this E flat Mozart Piano Concerto is my own favourite of them all—yet everybody concerned with this record, bless them, has given me just the performance I want to hear; one, indeed, that even surpasses the ideal one of my imagination. I can find no praise too high for Annie Fischer's playing, for she makes every phrase a delight. Even plain scale passages become more than neatly played runs of notes, they become music. There is no end to the subtlety of her phrase shaping, of minute casings of tempo and, indeed, of everything that goes to make outstanding Mozart- piano playing. If both slow movements sound rather more adagio than andante, certainly the superb music of the E flat will stand it, especially when it is played as it is here.
The C major sounds rather less wonderful after the E flat, but that is probably only because it is a less wonderful concerto, for I am sure that the same remarkable artistry is brought to it. Cadenzas are by Hummel in the C major, by Busoni in the E flat.
Not less of a delight is that Sawallisch partners his soloist to perfection. These performances have clearly not been made on a run-through rehearsal before the first "take". (If they have, then Sawallisch is a genius at the job!) It sounds as if an appropriately small string body was used, with consequently good balance—indeed, here and there I wondered if the strings were not being unnecessarily held back a bit.
But everybody — soloist, conductor, orchestra and recording experts — has here combined to produce something really outstanding among recordings of Mozart concertos.
Classicstoday
These famous and rightly acclaimed performances need little recommendation from me. Annie Fischer's small discography for EMI has not been as well treated as it deserves, and so the release of this disc redresses a disservice to a very special artist. Fischer's characteristic intensity suits these concertos particularly well, and she turns the solo part into a true dialog with the orchestra. Especially in the slow movements it's wonderful to hear how she reacts to what is happening around her, while the use of Busoni's cadenzas in Piano Concerto No. 21 gives the reading unusual interest. Wolfgang Sawallisch admirably leads what clearly is Klemperer's Philharmonia, with woodwinds well to the fore; this makes Concerto No. 22 (with clarinets replacing the oboes) a particular feast for the ears and a marvel of textural interplay between Fischer and her colleagues. EMI's remastered sound is a bit bright, but it's vivid and clear nevertheless. A "great performance of the century" indeed!
Musicweb
Annie Fischer, the great Hungarian pianist, who died in 1995, was in her mid-forties when these superlative performances were committed to disc. She was at the height of her powers, and had as her collaborators in Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philharmonia. In Sawallisch she had a conductor who could respond whole-heartedly to her aesthetic and as for the Philharmonia this was certainly one of the best orchestras in the world at that time.
The trick with Mozart’s concertos is to be subtle without ever being twee, and Fischer knew exactly how to do that. As the liner-notes point out, her first entry in the C major concerto is masterly, sidling in almost apologetically amidst the woodwind conversation. The middle movement of each concerto is probably quite a bit slower than we have come to expect of a Mozart Andante these days. But that’s no bad thing, for Fischer and Sawallisch are able to give the music space and time without undue indulgence. This performance of the ‘dream Andante’ of the C major, long before Elvira Madigan was thought of, is perfection; the dreaminess is there, captured with ineffable beauty, but so are the uncomfortable twinges of realism that keep intruding. The finale of K.467 is again on the slow side of Mozart’s prescribed Allegro assai vivace, but has everything you would want in terms of wit and élan.
K.482 is one of the very finest of the Mozart keyboard concertos, with its majestic opening Allegro, its surprisingly dour Andante, and the serenade-like episode that interrupts the jolly finale. Fischer is devastating in the profoundly emotional solo passages of the Andante, and Sawallisch and the orchestra, particularly the fine woodwind soloists, respond magnificently.
The recording was in the absolute top class for its day, and this excellent transfer job by EMI means that it has come up sounding fresh as a daisy, and completely natural. An issue for which the word ‘great’ is in no way misplaced.
Click here to download
Annie Fischer: piano
Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 291 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 91 mb
Artwork @ 300dpi = 10 mb
Total playing time: 64:31
Recorded 28th February and 1st, 2nd and 10th March 1958, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Rd., London.
Released 2004
EMI Classics 7243 5 62750 2 7
Track listing:
1. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: I Allegro maestoso
2. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: II Andante
3. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: III Allegro vivace assai
4. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat: I Allegro
5. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat:II Andante
6. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat:III Rondo (Allegro)
Reviews:
Gramophone
There is a snag about loving a piece of music especially dearly—you practically never hear a performance that is all you desire. I mention this because this E flat Mozart Piano Concerto is my own favourite of them all—yet everybody concerned with this record, bless them, has given me just the performance I want to hear; one, indeed, that even surpasses the ideal one of my imagination. I can find no praise too high for Annie Fischer's playing, for she makes every phrase a delight. Even plain scale passages become more than neatly played runs of notes, they become music. There is no end to the subtlety of her phrase shaping, of minute casings of tempo and, indeed, of everything that goes to make outstanding Mozart- piano playing. If both slow movements sound rather more adagio than andante, certainly the superb music of the E flat will stand it, especially when it is played as it is here.
The C major sounds rather less wonderful after the E flat, but that is probably only because it is a less wonderful concerto, for I am sure that the same remarkable artistry is brought to it. Cadenzas are by Hummel in the C major, by Busoni in the E flat.
Not less of a delight is that Sawallisch partners his soloist to perfection. These performances have clearly not been made on a run-through rehearsal before the first "take". (If they have, then Sawallisch is a genius at the job!) It sounds as if an appropriately small string body was used, with consequently good balance—indeed, here and there I wondered if the strings were not being unnecessarily held back a bit.
But everybody — soloist, conductor, orchestra and recording experts — has here combined to produce something really outstanding among recordings of Mozart concertos.
Classicstoday
These famous and rightly acclaimed performances need little recommendation from me. Annie Fischer's small discography for EMI has not been as well treated as it deserves, and so the release of this disc redresses a disservice to a very special artist. Fischer's characteristic intensity suits these concertos particularly well, and she turns the solo part into a true dialog with the orchestra. Especially in the slow movements it's wonderful to hear how she reacts to what is happening around her, while the use of Busoni's cadenzas in Piano Concerto No. 21 gives the reading unusual interest. Wolfgang Sawallisch admirably leads what clearly is Klemperer's Philharmonia, with woodwinds well to the fore; this makes Concerto No. 22 (with clarinets replacing the oboes) a particular feast for the ears and a marvel of textural interplay between Fischer and her colleagues. EMI's remastered sound is a bit bright, but it's vivid and clear nevertheless. A "great performance of the century" indeed!
Musicweb
Annie Fischer, the great Hungarian pianist, who died in 1995, was in her mid-forties when these superlative performances were committed to disc. She was at the height of her powers, and had as her collaborators in Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philharmonia. In Sawallisch she had a conductor who could respond whole-heartedly to her aesthetic and as for the Philharmonia this was certainly one of the best orchestras in the world at that time.
The trick with Mozart’s concertos is to be subtle without ever being twee, and Fischer knew exactly how to do that. As the liner-notes point out, her first entry in the C major concerto is masterly, sidling in almost apologetically amidst the woodwind conversation. The middle movement of each concerto is probably quite a bit slower than we have come to expect of a Mozart Andante these days. But that’s no bad thing, for Fischer and Sawallisch are able to give the music space and time without undue indulgence. This performance of the ‘dream Andante’ of the C major, long before Elvira Madigan was thought of, is perfection; the dreaminess is there, captured with ineffable beauty, but so are the uncomfortable twinges of realism that keep intruding. The finale of K.467 is again on the slow side of Mozart’s prescribed Allegro assai vivace, but has everything you would want in terms of wit and élan.
K.482 is one of the very finest of the Mozart keyboard concertos, with its majestic opening Allegro, its surprisingly dour Andante, and the serenade-like episode that interrupts the jolly finale. Fischer is devastating in the profoundly emotional solo passages of the Andante, and Sawallisch and the orchestra, particularly the fine woodwind soloists, respond magnificently.
The recording was in the absolute top class for its day, and this excellent transfer job by EMI means that it has come up sounding fresh as a daisy, and completely natural. An issue for which the word ‘great’ is in no way misplaced.
Click here to download
So glad to see Annie Fischer here. I was responsible for the first public posting of her Cpte. Beethoven Sonatas on Demonoid.... quite a while back. I felt that they should be available to EVERYONE. Thanks for the above, I have them... but more people should be made aware of her existance!!!
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