A catalogue of 78rpm Piano Recordings of Classical Pianists
Welcome
Welcome to APR - or Appian Publications & Recordings Ltd. to quote our full title, though we are invariably more familiarly known simply as "APR".
Within the relatively short time since APR was founded in 1986 it has won an enviable reputation as a quality label devoted predominantly - though not exclusively - to historic piano recordings. In particular APR has won countless laurels for the high standard of its 78rpm restoration work - "Transfers of genius" to quote one critic - as well as the detail and content of its booklets - "Presentation is, as always with APR, immaculate" - to cite another accolade. These features have been recognised by the award of numerous international honours, not least an unprecedented 9 Grand Prix by the Liszt Society of Budapest in recent years.
In September 2004, following the retirement of its founder, Bryan Crimp, APR changed hands, though the aspirations of the label remain unchanged. APR is now based in London, England and is owned and run by Michael Spring who previously spent many years at Hyperion Records.
New Releases
WILHELM BACKHAUS Complete acoustic and selected early electric recordings
3CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (75’26) acoustic recordings 1908–1913 (London)
1. RACHMANINOV Prelude in C sharp minor Op 3/2
2. LISZT Liebesträume No 3 S541/3
3. GRIEG Norwegian Bridal Procession Op 19/2
4. PAGANINI/LISZT La campanella S141/3
5. CHOPIN Prélude in C major Op 28/1
6. Étude in C major Op 10/1
7. HANDEL Variations 'The Harmonious Blacksmith'
8. WEBER ‘Perpetuum mobile’ from Op 24
9. CHOPIN Fantasy Impromptu Op 66
10. BACH Prelude & Fugue No 3 in C sharp major WTC1
12. CHOPIN Étude in G sharp minor Op 25/6
13. Étude in A flat major Op 25/1
14. Étude in D flat major Op 25/8
15. Étude in G flat major Op 25/9
16. Étude in G flat major Op 10/5
17. SEELING Concert Étude in E flat minor Op 10/12
18. GRIEG Piano Concerto in A minor Op 16 (heavily abridged)
LANDON RONALD / ROYAL ALBERT HALL ORCHESTRA
20. SCHUMANN Novellette in E major Op 21/7
21. CHOPIN Waltz in A flat major Op 42
22. Waltz in G flat major Op 70/1
23. Waltz in E minor Op posth.
24. SMETANA Polka in F major
25. SCARLATTI Sonata in F major K 525
26. Sonata in G major K 523
27. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 2
COMPACT DISC 2 (71’23) Acoustic recordings 1913 (London), 1916 (Berlin) & 1923 (London)
1. SCHUBERT Moment musical in F minor D780/3
2. SCHUBERT/LISZT ‘Hark, Hark the Lark’ S558/9
3. CHOPIN Étude in C major Op 10/7
4. Waltz in D flat major Op 64/1
5. Waltz in D flat major Op 64/1 (alternate recording)
6. Étude in A minor Op 10/2
7. Étude in F major Op 25/3
8. Étude in F minor Op 25/2
9. RUBINSTEIN Polka in G major Op 82/7
10. RUBINSTEIN Romance in E flat major Op 44
11. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 12
12. BRAHMS Variations on a theme by Paganini Op 35 (abridged)
13. CHOPIN Étude in A minor Op 25/11
14. CHOPIN Polonaise in A major Op 40/1
15. MOZART/BACKHAUS Sérénade de Don Juan
16. SCHUMANN/LISZT Widmung S566
17. DELIBES/DOHNÁNYI Naila Waltz
18. LISZT Liebesträume No 3 S541/3
19. CHOPIN Polonaise in A flat Op 53 (abridged)
20. CHOPIN Waltz in A flat major Op 42
21. SMETANA Polka in F major
22. MOSZKOWSKI Caprice espagnole Op 37
COMPACT DISC 3 (76’24) Acoustic recording 1924 (Track 1) & Electrical recordings 1925–1936 (London)
1. BRAHMS Variations on a theme by Paganini Op 35
2. CHOPIN Prélude in C major Op 28/1
3. Étude in C major Op 10/1
4. Étude in A minor Op 10/2
5. Étude in C minor Op 10/12
6. Étude in F major Op 25/3
7. Étude in C major Op 10/7
8. Étude in C major Op 10/1
9. Berceuse in D flat major Op 57
10. SCHUBERT Moment musical in F minor D780/3
11. Moment musical D780/3 in F minor (alternate recording)
12. Impromptu in B flat major D935/3
13. Menuetto from Sonata in G major D894
14. Moment musical in A flat major D780/6
15. GRIEG Piano Concerto in A minor Op 16
JOHN BARBIROLLI / NEW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
As one of the great pianists of the 20th century, WILHELM BACKHAUS (1884–1969) needs no introduction. He recorded almost continuously from 1908 until his death, but this set, focusing on his earliest recordings, completes APR’s coverage (see also APR 6026, APR 6027 and APR 5637) of all his solo and concerto output for The Gramophone Company/HMV, except the electrically recorded Brahms titles, which are available elsewhere. These early discs reveal Backhaus as an exciting young virtuoso, rather than the sober purveyor of German classics he was to become.
APR7317
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to Stream
SHURA CHERKASSKY The complete 78rpm recordings 1923 -1950
3CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (63’05) Victor recordings, Camden, New Jersey 1923–1928
1. BEETHOVEN Ecossaises WoO 83 (acoustic version)
2. MENDELSSOHN Prelude Op 35/1 (acoustic)
3. MENDELSSOHN Scherzo Op 16/2 (acoustic)
4. SHURA CHERKASSKY Prelude Pathetique (acoustic)
5. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Hunting Song’ Op 19b/3
6. CHOPIN Waltz in E minor Op posth
7. RAMEAU/GODOWSKY Tambourin
8. MANNA-ZUCCA Prelude Op 73
9. BEETHOVEN Ecossaises WoO 83 (electric version)
10. MENDELSSOHN Prelude Op 35/1 (electric)
11. MENDELSSOHN Scherzo Op 16/2 (electric)
12. SHURA CHERKASSKY Prelude Pathetique (electric)
US Columbia recording, New York 1934/5
13. RACHMANINOV Cello Sonata in G minor Op 19 with MARCEL HUBERT cello
COMPACT DISC 2 (66’28) US Vox recordings 1946–1947
1. GLINKA Tarantella
2. REBIKOV Waltz Op 21/1
3. TCHAIKOVSKY October Op 37b/10
4. LIADOV A Musical Snuffbox Op 32
5. SCRIABIN Prelude for the left-hand Op 9/1
6. MEDTNER Skazka (Tale) Op 34/2
7. PROKOFIEV Suggestion diabolique Op 4/4
8. KHATCHATURIAN Toccata
9. SHOSTAKOVICH Prelude Op 34/10; Prelude Op 34/5
11. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos 5, 6, 11 & 15 S244
Swedish Cupol recordings 1949
15. LISZT Gnomenreigen S145/2
16. CHOPIN Polonaise Op 53
17. BEHR/RACHMANINOV Polka de W. R.
18. POULENC Toccata
19. MORTON GOULD Prelude and Toccata
21. MORTON GOULD Boogie Woogie Etude
COMPACT DISC 3 (65’32) Concert Hall Society recording 1946
1. TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No 2 Op 44
JACQUES RACHMILOVICH / SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
HMV recordings, Abbey Road studio 3, London 1950
4. CHOPIN Nocturne Op 72/1
5. CHOPIN Mazurka Op 33/2
6. CHOPIN Etude Op 10/4
7. CHOPIN Fantasy Op 49
8. SAINT-SAËNS Prélude and Fugue Op 52/3
10. LISZT Consolation No 3 S172/3
11. CHAMINADE Autrefois Op 87/4
In his later years, SHURA CHERKASSKY (1909–1995) was regarded as one of the last ‘Romantics’ – a throwback to the so-called ‘golden age’ of pianism in the first decades of the 20th century. As a pupil of Josef Hofmann, he had an impeccable pedigree, but we tend to forget his long career meant he was already playing and recording in that ‘golden age’. Here then are these early recordings, complete for the first time, starting in the acoustic era with the young prodigy’s 1923 Victor discs. Much of the repertoire is unique in his discography, including his only recording of chamber music – the Rachmaninov cello sonata. The Tchaikovsky 2nd Concerto, Cherkassky’s earliest concerto recording, has never previously been reissued and reveals the 36-year-old artist at his virtuoso peak.
GRAMOPHONE Editor's Choice, November 2023
APR7316
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to StreamMISCHA LEVITZKI The complete HMV recordings
2CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (78.58)
1-3. CHOPIN Préludes Op 28 Nos 1, 7 & 23
4. Waltz in G flat major Op 70 No 1
5. Waltz in A flat major Op 64 No 3
6. Ballade No 3 in A flat major Op 47
7. Nocturne in C minor Op 48 No 1
8. Nocturne in F sharp major Op 15 No 2
9. Scherzo No 3 in C sharp minor Op 39
10. Polonaise in A flat major Op 53
11. D SCARLATTI Sonata in A major Kk113
12. GLUCK/BRAHMS Gavotte from Iphigénie en Aulide
13. BEETHOVEN/D’ALBERT Ecossaises WoO 83
14. SCHUBERT/TAUSIG Marche militaire D733/1
15. RUBINSTEIN Étude in C major Op 23 No 2 ‘Staccato Étude’
16. MENDELSSOHN Rondo capriccioso Op 14
17-20. SCHUMANN Piano Sonata No 2 in G minor Op 22
COMPACT DISC 2 (74.45)
1-4. LISZT Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat major S124
LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / LANDON RONALD
5. J S BACH/LISZT Prelude & Fugue in A minor, S462/1
6. LISZT Étude de concert in D flat major ‘Un sospiro’ S144/3
7 & 8. PAGANINI/LISZT La campanella: Grandes Études de Paganini, S141/3 (two versions)
9. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 in D flat major S244/6
10. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 12 in C sharp minor S244/12
11. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No 13 in A minor S244/13
12. MOSZKOWSKI La Jongleuse Op 52 No 4
13. RACHMANINOV Prelude in G minor Op 23 No 5
14. LEVITZKI Valse in A major ‘Valse amour’ Op 2
MISCHA LEVITZKI (1898–1942) was born near Kiev to naturalized American parents who had returned to their homeland. He was a pupil of Michałowski, Stojowski and Dohnányi and quickly established himself as a major rising star in the 1920s. Indeed, had it not been for his early death he would surely have been seen as one of the major pianists of the century. The HMV recordings presented here (made between 1927 and 1933) form the most important part of his meagre recorded legacy.
This is the only transfer of Levitzki’s recordings currently available as a physical CD.
APR6043
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to StreamELLY NEY Brahms Concerto No 2 & Schubert Wanderer Fantasy
1CD (75'51)
Polydor recordings, Berlin
1-4 BRAHMS Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major Op 83
BERLIN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA / MAX FIEDLER conductor, 1940 session: uncredited conductor
Recorded on 1, 2 & 5 June 1939 & 29 April 1940
5-8 SCHUBERT: Grosse Fantasie ‘Wanderer’ D760 (Op 15)
Recorded on 21 May 1942
9. SCHUBERT ‘Aus Schubert’s Tänzen’ Suite of Dances arranged by Elly Ney
Deutsche Tänze, D783: No 1 – Deutsche Tänze, D783: No 7 – Deutsche Tänze, D783: No 10 – Grätzer Walzer, D924: No 6 – Valses sentimentales, D779: No 13 – Deutsche Tänze, D790: No 3 – Waltzes, D365: No 29 – Ländler, D734: No 14 – Waltzes, D365: No 36 – Waltzes, D365: No 33
Recorded on 21 May 1942
German pianist ELLY NEY’s posthumous reputation has, perhaps justifiably, been tarnished by her links to the Nazi regime, but 80 years on it’s easier to focus on her pianism and acknowledge she was one of the finest pianists of her generation. A previous APR release (APR7311) presented her interpreting a wide range of composers, but she came to be regarded as one of the great interpreters of the Austro-German repertoire and here she tackles two of the masterworks, including a monumental performance of the Brahms Second Piano Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the first version recorded by a woman. Brahms specialist, Max Fiedler, ostensibly conducts, though our booklet note proposes circumstantial evidence that Alois Melichar could be the uncredited conductor who completed the project after Fiedler’s sudden death and we have recently received new information that suggests this conductor could alternately have been her ex-husband Willem van Hoogstraten.
APR5639
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to StreamOLGA SAMAROFF & FRANK LA FORGE Complete solo recordings
2CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (69.17)
OLGA SAMAROFF Victor Company, USA: acoustic recordings, 1921–1924
1. BEETHOVEN/RUBINSTEIN Turkish March from ‘Ruins of Athens’
2. CHOPIN Nocturne in E flat major Op 9/2
3. CHOPIN Ballade No 3 in A flat major Op 47
4. CHOPIN Finale: Presto non tanto from Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor, Op 58
5. MENDELSSOHN Song Without Words ‘Spring Song’ Op 62/6
6. SCHUMANN Aufschwung from Fantasiestücke, Op 12
7. SCHUMANN Romance in F sharp major Op 28/2
8. BRAHMS Intermezzo in E flat major Op 117/1
9. PAGANINI/LISZT La Campanella S141/3
10. LISZT Liebesträume No 3 S541/3
11. LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody in C sharp minor S244/12
12. WAGNER/ERNEST HUTCHESON Ride of the Valkyries
13. GRIEG Nocturne Op 54/4
14. MOSZKOWSKI Étincelles Op 36/6
15. DEBUSSY Clair de lune, Suite bergamasque, No 3
16. JUON Najaden im Quell Op 18/1
COMPACT DISC 2 (78.54)
OLGA SAMAROFF Victor Company, USA: electric recordings, 1930
1. J S BACH/SAMAROFF Fugue in G minor BWV578
2. DEBUSSY La cathédrale engloutie, Préludes Book 1, No 10
3. GRIFFES The White Peacock Op 7/1
4. ERNESTO LECUONA Malagueña from Andalucía
FRANK LA FORGE Victor Company, USA: acoustic recordings, 1907-1913; electrical recordings 1925 (tracks 21 & 22)
5. MACDOWELL Étude de concert in F minor Op 36
6. BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 5 ‘Emperor’ Op 73; II. Adagio un poco moto
Victor Orchestra, conductor unknown
7. CHOPIN Nocturne in D flat major Op 27/2
8. Berceuse in D flat major Op 57
9. GRIEG Butterfly Op 43/1
10. Piano Concerto in A minor Op 16; II. Adagio (slightly abridged)
Victor Orchestra, Walter Rogers conductor
11. LISZT Liebesträume No 3 S541/3
12. LISZT Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Themes S123 (vivace only)
Victor Orchestra, conductor unknown
13. GOTTSCHALK Pasquinade ‘Caprice’ Op 59 RO189
14. CHAMINADE La Lisonjera Op 50
15. CHAMINADE Les Sylvains Op 60
16. CHAMINADE Pas des Écharpes
17. CHAMINADE Danse créole Op 94
18. CALIXA LAVALLÉE Le Papillon ‘Étude de Concert’ Op 18
19. LA FORGE Gavotte
20. LA FORGE Souvenir de Vienne
21. LA FORGE Romance
22. LA FORGE Valse de concert
OLGA SAMAROFF (1880–1948) and FRANK LA FORGE (1879–1953) were amongst the earliest pianists to record for the US Victor label, both making most of their discs in the acoustic era before 1925. Though American, both went to Europe to study – Samaroff to the Paris Conservatoire and La Forge to Leschetizky in Vienna.
Samaroff was the greater virtuoso, as can be heard in her famous recording of Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’, but after a fall, in 1926 she retired to an equally successful teaching career at the Juilliard School, her pupils including William Kapell, Raymond Lewenthal and Rosalyn Tureck amongst many others.
La Forge gravitated towards accompanying and went on to record hundreds of discs for Victor in that capacity. His discs as soloist include some of the earliest attempts to record concerted works.
APR6044
Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to Stream