This is the second release in an important new APR series devoted to the French Piano School. For around 150 years France has nurtured a distinctive style of pianism centred on the teaching of the Paris Conservatoire. The heyday of the school was probably the first fifty years of the 20th century and this series of recordings aims to explore in depth the often-forgotten recordings made at this time. Victor Staub (1872-1953) and Lazare-Lévy (1882-1964) were both students of Louis Diémer at the Paris Conservatoire in the latter part of the 19th century and both were to follow in his footsteps as great teachers in that institution and elsewhere. Indeed, their list of pupils reads as a roll call of 20th century French pianists. However, they were also extremely fine pianists and this set presents, for the first time, their complete studio recordings. The Staub titles are almost forgotten and none have every been reissued before. Also all but unknown, is the 7” Crown LP Lazare-Lévy recorded on the ‘Siena pianoforte’ in Israel in 1951. As one would expect, clarity, brilliance and reï¬nement are much to the fore in these exemplars of the French School.
APR6028 Available on Compact Disc, as a Digital Download and to Stream