When Idil Biret went to France in 1949 she generated as much excitement as she had earlier done in Turkey. In the fall of that year the French Radio RTF made an interview with Idil and recorded her performing works by Bach, Couperin, Beethoven and Debussy. Later, in February 1953 the RTF made a second series of recordings with Idil following her performance of Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with Wilhelm Kempff. Both of these are preserved in Idil Biret’s archive and are available in this set. These were her first recordings. She would go on to make professional recordings of nearly every major composer in her recording career that has lasted more than half a century and is still going strong. All of these studio recordings, including some that were never before released commercially, are included in this edition.

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REVIEW:

Biret grasps the size of Beethoven’s style. The polyphony is laid out in a relaxed way with little indulgence in point making. She keeps the big line and yet is thankfully sparing in her use of fortissimos. The piano is sumptuous. Biret’s gentle and almost sensuous sonorities are really captivating.

– Gramophone