Blumenfeld: Preludes & Impromptus

Editorial Reviews
From ClassicsToday.com
Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931) was best known as a teacher whose

pupils included Simon Barere, Maria Yudina, his nephew Heinrich

Neuhaus (himself an important teacher), and the young Vladimir

Horowitz, yet his original compositions for piano are virtually

forgotten. Not anymore. Ivory Classics has enlisted Philip Thomson to

record Blumenfeld's complete preludes and impromptus. Pianophiles will

adore this stuff. The music is hardly profound, but more substance

than you might suspect lurks underneath its charming

surface. Blumenfeld's keyboard writing recalls (anticipates, actually)

the swirling serpentine patterns favored by the young Scriabin and

Rachmaninov, replete with ear-tickling harmonic invention.

The disc commences with its centerpiece, the 24 Preludes Op. 17, which

bear traces of Chopin's better known cycle. The E minor prelude's left

hand runs, for instance, mirror the same gestures in Chopin's D minor

piece. If Tchaikovsky had rewritten Chopin's E major prelude for Swan

Lake, the result might have sounded like Blumenfeld's own prelude in

that key. His E-flat Prelude transforms Wagner's Liebestod from

love-death to love-in. If we filtered Philip Thomson's sparkling,

effortless, idiomatic playing through an equalizer, and added fake

shellac noise, pops, and crackle, you'd swear these were long lost

Hofmann, Friedman, or Lhevinne recordings. On the other hand, the

old-timers would have enjoyed the benefits of Ivory Classics'

modern-day engineering. A pussycat of a disc.

International Piano Quarterly, Spring 2000
Thomson's playing throughout balances musical sensibility with unshowy virtuosity of a type which reflects to perfection Felix Blumenfeld.

Album Description
Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931) was the quintessential Romantic – a gifted pianist, composer and conductor whose mentoring influenced and inspired a whole generation of exceptional musicians, including Vladimir Horowitz, Heinrich Neuhaus, Simon Barere and Dmitry Tiomkin. For posterity he left a treasure trove of piano compositions, full of virtuosity, passion, and elegance. In this World Premiere, 24-bit HDCD encoded recording of his Complete Preludes and Impromptus, Canadian pianist, Philip Thomson brings to life in all their glory, the soaring and rich piano canvasses of one of Russia’s greatest musical spirits.

Blumenfeld: Preludes & Impromptus

Blumenfeld: Preludes & Impromptus, Music, Felix Blumenfeld, Philip Thomson, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Keyboard, Music for Keyboard

Average customer rating:

An amazing repertoire discovery

Another Historic Disc by Thomson!

Blumenfeld: Preludes & Impromptus

Manufacturer: Ivory Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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Blumenfeld: Complete Piano Etudes

24 Pieces

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ASIN: B00004SDTU
Release Date: 2000-07-04

Tracks:

Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: I. in C (Andante Religioso)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: II. in a (Allegro Agitato)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: III. in g (Allegretto)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: IV. in e (Andante)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: V. in D (Allegretto)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: VI. in b (Allegro Molto)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: VII. in A (Allegro Vivo)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: VIII. in f# (Allegro Vivo)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: IX. in E (Maestoso)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: X. in c# (Andante)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XI. in B (Andante Con Moto)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XII. in g# (Presto)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XIII. in f# (Andantino)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XIV. in e flat (Andante Maestoso E Lugubre)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XV. in D flat (Allegro Non Tanto)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XVI. in b flat (Adagio)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XVII. in A flat (Allegro)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XVIII. in f ('Memento Mori') (Andante)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XIX. in E flat (Andante)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XX. in c (Allegro Furioso)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XXI. in B flat (Andante Tranquillo)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XXII. in g (Allegro)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XXIII. in F (Allegro)
Twenty-Four Prlds, Op.17: XXIV. in d (Presto)
Impromptus, Op.13: I. in A flat (Allegro)
Impromptus, Op.13: II. in G flat (Andante, Molto Espressivo E Legato)
Impromptu in B, Op.28: Allegro Non Tanto
Four Prlds, Op.12: I. in G (Allegro)
Four Prlds, Op.12: II. in E (Andantino)
Four Prlds, Op.12: III. in c# (Allegretto)
Four Prlds, Op.12: IV. in D (Moderato)
Two Impromptus, Op.45: I. in f# (Allegretto)
Two Impromptus, Op.45: II. in A flat (Allegro)
Valse-Impromptu in A flat, Op.16: Vivo - Tempo Di Valsero

Album Description

Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931) was the quintessential Romantic - a gifted pianist, composer and conductor whose mentoring influenced and inspired a whole generation of exceptional musicians, including Vladimir Horowitz, Heinrich Neuhaus, Simon Barere and Dmitry Tiomkin. For posterity he left a treasure trove of piano compositions, full of virtuosity, passion, and elegance. In this World Premiere, 24-bit HDCD encoded recording of his Complete Preludes and Impromptus, Canadian pianist, Philip Thomson brings to life in all their glory, the soaring and rich piano canvasses of one of Russia's greatest musical spirits.

Customer Reviews:

An amazing repertoire discovery.......2006-06-10

If you are a performing pianist, or an amateur of above-average attainments looking for something new to stick in your piano bench, the music of Felix Blumenfeld is waiting for you. And until you find the scores, (Musica Obscura publishes the main ones, and pdf files are all over the Internet) it is absolutely IMPERATIVE that you seek out and buy this CD.

It would be a moot point to quibble about Philip Thomson's most capable playing, as this is a "world premiere" recording, and therefore unavailable anywhere else. At least until Naxos jumps on the Blumenfeld bandwagon. (And as I look into my crystal ball I see a lesser pianist struggling with newly learned music and without the sumptuous sound provided here. So that should resolve that issue.) Some have complained about the sound of certain Ivory Classics releases; this one does not have the muddy sound of some issues. Beautiful recorded sound, displaying Thomson's ample tonal palette to advantage.

Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931, Russia) is known to most pianists for two reasons: he was the teacher of Vladimir Horowitz, and he wrote one of the very few pieces for left hand alone that is attempted by pianists with the use of both. That Etude is not on this CD, but no fear. One who seeks can find Simon Barere and Leon Fleisher in that piece.

Like Chopin, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Stephen Heller, and god knows who else, Blumenfeld wrote a set of preludes in all the major and minor keys. This set, op. 17, is reminiscent of Scriabin's op. 11 set, but on a much larger scale (printed score runs to over 80 pages) and more difficult technically. If one glances at the score, or gives a listen to, the first prelude in C major, one may be tempted to stop there. It is probably the "least original" of the entire set. If you are bored, skip this track. You won't be sorry. These seem to bridge the gap between Scriabin and Rachmaninoff, and a performing pianist will soon be choosing favorites to form a recital group.

I simply cannot recommend this disc too highly. Find it and buy it, period. If late nineteenth-century Russian piano music intrigues you, you NEED this CD.

Rick Robertson

Another Historic Disc by Thomson!.......2005-03-13

Philip Thomson, who is a graduate of Juilliard, winner of their Franz Liszt Piano Concerto Competition, studied with Swiss legend Pierre Souvairan and then with the inimitable and incredible Abbey Simon, two of the top 10 pianists of the 20th Century, is a credit to his teachers and emulates their masterful and emotional performances with his own unique blend of technical mastery and emotional wizardry. He is a Lizst specialist who becomes one with the insturment, they are an inseperable unit, and the mesmerizing energy experienced when witnessing his live performance is lessened, but not in any real sense lost in his recordings.

Thomson discovered these lost treasures of Blumenfeld, who was the teacher of the famed pianist Vladimar Horowitz and Simon Barere. These works resurfaced after 100 years lost and their is no better performer to breath life back into them than Thomson, who has been compared by reviewers to the legendary Lhevine, Hoffman and Friedman. The performances are technically perfect, emotionally riveting and the music is Chopinesque and the epitome of romantic beauty and finesse.

Enjoy one of the best kept secrets of the pianistic world. I urge you to Listen to all of Thomson's recordings on Ivory Classics, Naxos and Hungaroton.