THE PIANO G&Ts Vol.4: Diemer, Eibenschutz, Hofmann, Backhaus

APR5534
LOUIS DIEMER Paris 1904
Diémer Grande valse de concert; Diémer Chant du Nautonier; Godard Valse chromatique; Mendelssohn Song without words, Op.67/4; Chopin Nocturne Op.27/2
Paris 1906: Diémer Grande valse de concert; Diémer Chant du Nautonier

ILONA EIBENSCHUTZ London 16.12.1903
Scarlatti Sonata in E, K20; Sonata in in G, K14; Brahms Ballade in G minor, Op.118/3
London 22.12.1903: Brahms Waltz in E major, Op.39/2; Brahms Waltz in A flat, Op.39/15

JOSEF HOFMANN Berlin November 1903
Mendelssohn Song without words Op.19/3 (Hunting Song); Mendelssohn Song without words Op.62/6 (Spring Song); Chopin Polonaise in A, Op.40/1; Schubert/Tausig Marche Militaire; Schubert/Liszt Der Erlkönig

WILHELM BACKHAUS London 29.9.1908 & 19.10.1908
Handel Suite No.5 in E: Air & variations (The Harmonious Blacksmith); Weber Sonata No.1 in C: Presto (Perpetuum-mobile); Chopin Prelude Op.28/1; Chopin Etude Op.10/1; Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu Op.66; Liszt Liebestraume No.3; Liszt Paganini Etude No.3 (La Campanella); Grieg Norwegian Bridal Procession Op.19/2; Rachmaninov Prelude in C sharp minor, Op.3/2

The Gramophone & Typewriter company (which was the forerunner of HMV and EMI) was the first recording company to recognise that the newly invented Gramophone was more than just a novelty item and that it could preserve performances of serious musical worth. Through the first few years of the last century it set out to record many of the most famous performers of the day, leaving us a priceless legacy of performances which open a window to another era. These recordings are now incredibly rare, some only known to exist in one copy, and this collection and its three companion volumes are amongst the most important archival items in the APR catalogue, much of the material having never been available elsewhere. Here we can hear the great French pianist and teacher Louis Diémer, dedicatee of Saint-Saens 5th and Tchaikovsky’s 3rd concertos, Ilona Eibenschütz, who premiered some of Brahms’ late pieces, and the earliest recordings made by Josef Hofmann and Wilhelm Backhaus.

APR5534