Parnassus is proud to present a new collection of first commercial releases of spectacular live performances from pianist Sviatoslav Richter. Taken from recordings made by audience members and live broadcast sources, and now remastered and restored by Gene Gaudette of Urlicht Audiovisual, Richter Supreme is a must-have collection for Richter fans. Devotees of Richter know that even he had those supreme moments in which he exceeded his extremely high standards. When producer Leslie Gerber listened to the centerpiece of this recording, a recital at Hunter College, New York in 1965, he was convinced that this performance qualified as "Richter Supreme". Throughout the performance of works by Schubert, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Prokofieff, and Rachmaninoff, the listener experiences Richter at the very height of his powers, technical prowess allied to the most penetrating musical interpretation. This concert may not introduce any new Richter repertoire, but gives us the opportunity to listen in on a master musician at the height of his powers. Completing the set are two further rarities: a 1988 Tokyo performance of Hindemith's ferocious Suite '1922', which shows Richter bringing out all the music's challenging qualities, and building the finale to an apocalyptic frenzy unlike his earlier studio recordings, and an early 1958 Budapest broadcast of the Bartok Second Piano Concerto with the Hungarian State Orchestra under Janos Ferencsik. A treasurable document of greatness.
Yehudi Menuhin was one of the 20th century's most celebrated violinists and conductors. This collection of early recordings from Parnassus highlights Menuhin's artistry in his younger years. Featuring works from Schumann, Brahms and Enescu this is a collection any violin enthusiast should have in their collection.
I had reached a kind of child prodigy status where my respect for older fellow cellists had become minimal. The sound associated with the cellists of the day made me annoyed, disturbed, and, at times, furious. One day around 1934 my mother took me to a concert. I couldn't believe it! Out came a man with a cello, sat down, and played it the way I heard in my dreams. It was Emanuel Feuermann (Janos Starker)
Recording these works today has become a rite of passage for singers aspiring to being accepted as mature interpreters, also true for violinists with the Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and for cellists, with the same composer's unaccompanied Suites. It was not always so. When Ms. Matthews taped her reading of these songs about 1953-4, there had been only a few 78 sets of each and another few on LP. These recordings differ from many others since they are usually performed by men as the protagonists are male. They are sung here by mezzo soprano Inez Matthews. Of women singers only soprano Lotte Lehmann had recorded them before her.
In 1935 Talich brought the Czech P.O to London, where he made legendary Dvorak recordings including this Eighth Symphony - in which he felt truly in touch with the composer. Stanislav Novak's violin solos are exquisite, the pacing of the traditionally shaped performance is flawless and the strings sliding up and down in the Scherzo are irresistible. In 1938, just after the Munich betrayal, conductor and orchestra were back at Abbey Road to record supple accounts of Dvorak's Sixth and Seventh symphonies and, (here..) their loveliest Talich recording, Suk's Serenade for Strings. Here everything is dewy-fresh and transparent, the solo playing (Alexander Plocek) is light as gossamer (Suk wrote the passage for solo strings at the end of the Adagio specially for Talich)." [Gramophone Awards 2005]
Ida Haendel & Josef Hassid - Polish-Jewish Violin Prodigies
PARNASSUS
CD · 1 disc
$12.93Apr 21, 2023
[Haendel]: "it is little short of scandalous that a violinist of such mastery should have made so few recordings over the years." (Gramophone) "with Haendel's incredibly assured tone and technical mastery, she could perform the instrumental equivalent of the singer's telephone book and still entrance listeners." (Classics Today) [Hassid]: "a peerless technique and an arresting and frequently original interpretative approach. His technical security and cleanness of attack are awesome, his tone at once vibrant, virile and indescribably pure and sweet." (Brian Crimp)
Parnassus Records presents an anthology of great musicians - some forgotten outside Ukraine, and others very well-known but not properly remembered as Ukrainian: Simon Barere, Felix Blumenfeld, Oscar Feltsman, Anatole Fistoulari, Emil Gilels, Reinhold Gliere, Boris Gmiria, Alexander Kipnis, Nina Koshetz, Kozlovsky, Kroyt, Salomea Kruszelnitzka, Maria Litvernko Volgemut, Mykola Lysenko, Nathan Milstein, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Alexander Mosolov, Antonina Nezhdanova, Klavdiya Novikova, David Oistrakh, Ivan Patorzhinsky, Gregor Piatigorsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Mark Reizen, Sviatoslav Richter, Natalia Zakharchenko The income after costs from this release will all go to the Ukrainian people's charity (https: www. Razomforukraine. org).
Volume One was warmly received by critics and pianophiles alike. Jacob Lateiner's reputation was massive in his lifetime but he did not make very many studio recordings. This release and it's previous volume correct that anomaly with great distinction. Noted as a Beethoven interpreter, this album combines the Greatest of his Beethoven interpretations with the most famous of works by Schumann, Ravel and Liszt.
With the possible exception of Casals, no one has had a greater impact on the world's perception and appreciation of the Cello as 20th Century solo instrument than Hungarian American Janos Starker (1924-2013). This album brings together his earliest recordings and show his artistry at it's most penetrating. Unavailable for many decades, their release now is revelatory.
Parnassus Records is pleased to release a follow-up to their acclaimed "Black Swans" anthology, which returned to international availability extraordinarily rare early recordings of African-American opera singers. The new release, "Black Swans at Mid-Century", contains over two hours of music and focuses on Black artists of the mid-twentieth century.
Mussorgsky, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt: Sviatoslav Richter in Sofia / Richter
PARNASSUS
CD · 1 disc
$12.99Jun 11, 2021
“made at public concerts, and involves applause between items, and some occasional coughs. The microphone picks up piano action noise, and the tone is not ideally free. BUT none of these faults mask for a moment the art of Richter, who, I am inclined to suspect, is the greatest interpreter of music (piano or otherwise) in the world” “Schubert he plays simply, lyrically, with perfectly judged articulation and rhythm ... Liszt: Valse oubliée: begins with a gentle, very affectionate, whimsical rubato that lifts, but never disturbs, the rhythm; and then suddenly away he goes with the repeated-note theme and you jump out of your skin at the precision and strength and musical control ... warm bass harmonies like the relaxing sun on a Mediterranean beach and the final recitative fades away with almost intolerable pathos. The second Valse oubliée merges into the muffled clatter of a barrel-organ (-a genius made it, and another is turning the handle). ... Transcendental studies: superior performances will only be heard in heaven. In Feux follets, an ethereal sensibility unmatched in my experience.” (Gramophone)
His playing presents a delicious paradox... individualistic almost to the point of recreation, while so utterly natural, so profoundly honest, you could hardly imagine the music otherwise. [Beethoven Variations[: tautness of playing, absolute rhythmic security, burbling pianissimos, knife-edged sforzandos, artful rubato and unremitting sense of purpose... delicate observations occur by the bar... [trans-criptions]: (Mendelssohn; Rimsky-Korsakov; Tchaikovsky): scintillating, full of musical interest. His reworking of Liebesleid is extremely beautiful. [his own music]... each sounds as if spontaneously improvised... The C sharp minor Prelude retains it's magic through perfect timing. That is perhaps where Rachmaninov remains most inimitable: it wasn't how he struck the keys that mattered, but when. (Gramophone)
"The performances on these discs have one thing in common: they are almost shockingly direct, so that one hears the mind of the composer Hindemith working behind every note. Anyone used to the readings of Mozart’s K.428 and Beethoven’s Op. 96 by, say, the Busch or Smetana Quartets may feel a lack of colour and nuance here. ..And yet, if the listener is patient, much will be gained by attending carefully to this no-frills approach." (Tully Potter)
In the early 1960s a lucky band of American flute players gathered in Brattleboro, Vermont to study with Marcel Moyse. We were all changed forever. I can only describe the experience as a kind of alchemy: when we walked into Mr. Moyse's studio we were one kind of player, and when we left we were another. We were richter, deeper. We were shaken, exhilarated, and illuminated.(Paula Robison)
An amazing revival of a lost area of African American cultural history: classical music performances from the early part of the 20th century. These souvenirs of the earliest such commercial recording ventures showcase forgotten examples of a great culture's accomplishments. The engineering and re-mastering, along with the exquisitely researched and annotated accompanying booklet are the joint labor of love of the Parnassus triumvirate team of Leslie Gerber, Tim Brooks, and Steve Smolian, making BLACK SWANS in my list, at least one of the top albums of the year.
A Follow up to Volume 1 (PACD 96063) which has been enthusiastically enjoyed by Richter aficionadoes, this volume includes two major items which Richter performed only once, the Debussy Fantasie and Stravinsky Capriccio, along with the Stravinsky Movements (1 other recording exists) and only recordings of brief pieces by Rachmaninov and Scriabin
Volume One of Two discs of both repertoire and recordings new to the Richter discography and therefore much sought after by collectors. Previously unreleased except private CD-R sold in Canada. Live concert recordings where the sound will not be hi-fi in any way but this is the only way collectors will hear his views on those works and we know they will love.
