Bach: 14 Canons & Orchestral Suites Nos. 2 & 3

Schubert & Beethoven: Piano Trios

Beethoven: Piano Trios, Opp. 97 & 11

Mozart: Sinfonia concertante, K. 364 & Violin Concerto No. 5

The Catalan cellist Pablo Casals (1876-1973) was first to bring to wider notice the works that open this set, J.S. Bach's solo cello suites. Thereafter we hear his celebrated partnership with Horszowski in Beethoven and the groundbreaking piano trio formed with Thibaud and Cortot in Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn. From the symphonic repertoire come the concertos by Dvořák (with George Szell) and Elgar (Adrian Boult). Finally, an enchanting disc of encores and - with Casals's own street-band or cobla - seven examples of the sardana, the national dance of the great artist's beloved homeland.

His exceptional touch and sense of phrasing, his deep and personal understanding of the most varied repertoires, or even the legendary trio he formed together with Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals, made Alfred Cortot the greatest pianist of his time. Master of many disciples, notably the brilliant Dinu Lipatti, Samson François and Clara Haskil, Cortot also had a lasting influence on the Russian piano school through Samuil Feinberg and Heinrich Neuhaus, the latter himself being the revered teacher of Sviatoslav Richter.

All of the recordings in this set had undergone careful sound restoration in 2012, in order to respect as closely as possible the original sound. The remastering was carried out under the expert control of Mr. Guthrie Luke, a former disciple of Alfred Cortot who attended many recording sessions by Cortot. These recordings do not represent a "complete" edition: the many rolls engraved by the artist for Duo-Art, Aeolian and Pleyela labels have not been reproduced here, most of them doubling the 78-RPM repertoire. The first recordings are acoustic; and the ones with an electric microphone appeared as early as 1926.

"We can start with the celestial heights of Casals and Serkin. These discs were made at the Prades Festival concerts in 1952 and 1953, and now and then you will hear the great man Casals grunt as he attacks a phrase. Casals was 76 in 1952, and his bow arm was in less than perfect control but this performance is classic."
-– Herbert Russcol, WQXR, 1969

"Humane and wonderfully wise…a revelation of warm, human, profound interpretation."
-– Edward Sackville-West (1901–1965), novelist and music critic

"Excellent both tonally and in matters of balance. Two perfectly matched musicians operate here. For every bold stroke of the Casals bow there is an equivalently authoritative gesture from Serkin."
-– Harold Schoenberg, (1915 – 2003) author and New York Times music critic