Make sure youre not drinking your coffee while listening to this! Born in 1848 (yes, as in, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt were alive and well, Brahms was still a teenager, Tchaikovsky was still a slip of a boy) VLADIMIR DE PACHMANN (1848-1933) was one of the earliest pianists to make gramophone recordings. He was renowned for his refined interpretations of Chopin, but just as well-known for his bizarre antics on the stage. He once ordered a latecomer to “shut up and sit down. During a performance, when he was pleased with the way he was playing, he would mutter, Ah, that is perfection. Nobody but Pachmann could have done it half so well..... It is indeed a miracle for any man to play so well. His eccentricities led James Huneker to christen him, the Chopinzee. His recordings prove that he was not such a mannered pianist as one would imagine - he was a master miniaturist, with the most delicious jeu perlé, refined sense of rubato, and a fluid, singing tone. In this recording, de Pachmann plays Chopins Waltz Op. 64 No. 1 in D-flat (Minute) with his own - uh, personal - introduction. He explains that he will play it 1) as it is written 2) slower than usual 3) staccato, imitating Paganini 4) à la Chopin, aristocratiquement. Dont miss the applause he gives himself at the very end.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 11:02:17 +0000
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