Arthur de Greef (piano) - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 (Liszt) (1926/5)

Описание: Arthur de Greef plays Liszt's 'Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12,' recorded at Hayes on 24 March 1926 (side 1) and 17 November 1925 (side 2) and transferred by me from a solid stock Sydney pressing of HMV D 1093.

Recording a work at more than one session was, in those days, a potentially risky business. In this instance, the recording characteristics and volume levels were remarkably consistent, but the first side plays at 78 rpm whereas the second side pitches at 81 rpm. As The Gramophone Company had standardised recording speeds at 78 rpm in 1921, there was really no excuse for such an anomaly at the end of 1925. The jarring effect of an apparent key change is certainly obvious when the record is turned over! Here, of course, I have rectified the problem.

The piano tone is rather good for the period. In the circumstances, I have left the sound reasonably 'open-ended' although I have certainly tamed considerably the surface noise of the original.

From Wikipedia: Arthur De Greef (10 October 1862 – 29 August 1940) was a Belgian pianist and composer.

Born in Louvain, he won first prize in a local music competition at the age of 11 and subsequently enrolled at the Brussels Conservatoire. His main teacher there was Louis Brassin, a former pupil of Ignaz Moscheles, although he also took lessons from other staffers at the institution, including Joseph Dupont, François-Auguste Gevaert and Fernand Kufferath.

After graduating with high distinction from the Conservatoire at the age of 17, De Greef went to Weimar to complete his studies under Franz Liszt. He was a pupil of Liszt for two years.

Following the Weimar sojourn, De Greef embarked on a career as a concert pianist, travelling widely. He was a friend of Edvard Grieg, whose Piano Concerto he had played publicly in 1898, and who called him 'the best performer of my music I have met with.' In addition, he enjoyed the endorsement of Camille Saint-Saëns. British critic Jonathan Woolf has written: 'De Greef was, in all respects, an intensely musical, non-sensationalist, eloquent and impressive musician and whilst not being averse to some of the interventionist tactics of his contemporaries (retouching of the score) remained sympathetically self-effacing.'

De Greef composed a sizeable quantity of music, virtually all of which is now unknown. Among his works are two piano concertos. He was a devoted teacher, and taught piano at the Brussels Conservatoire for many years.