Friedman Vol.2

Great Pianists • Ignaz Friedman
Complete Recordings, Vol. 2

Ignaz Friedman was born, as was Josef Ho fm ann , in broadcast reg ularl y in Au strali a and New Zealand .
Podgorze, a suburb of Krakow , in Poland in 1882. His Partial paralys is of his left hand made him retire in
father was a mus ic ian who played in a local theatre 1943, when he was onl y just over sixty, and he died in
orchestra and after piano lessons with a local teacher , Sydney in January 1948 .
Flora Grzyw inska , Fried man left Krakow in 1900 to The first volume of this series of Ignaz Friedman ' s
study composition at the Le ipzig Conservatory with comp le te rec ording s (8 . 110684) e nd ed wi th hi s
Hugo Riemann . It was not until 1901 , when he was delightful encore Elle da11Se , No.5 of Ci11q Causeries,
already nineteen, that he decided to go to Vienna for Op.JO, and this second volume ope ns with the sa me disc
less on s w ith Theodore Leschetizky. A s with of this work (0 1558) , whi ch was originall y coupl ed
Moiseiwitsc h, Leschetizky was not enthusiastic when with the Scherzv in E minor by Mendelssohn. T hese
the young Friedman presented himself, but after three two ope nin g tra c k s, how eve r , are different
years of s tud y, during which he also became perfo rmanc es of the same works heard in the earli er
Lescheti zky' s teaching assistant , Friedman was ready to volume. This is because in the days of recording on
make his Vienn a debut in November 1904, playing the 78rpm d iscs before editing existed, the artist was often
D minor Co ncerto of Brahm s, Tchaikovsky' s First req uested to play the piece more than once, not on ly for
Concerto and Liszt' s Concerto in E flat. This debut their ow n satisfaction , but for that of the engi neer as
launched a touring career that began in 1905 , and for the well. Because of this, a work may be recorded many
next fort y years Friedman seemed to be perpetually on times: Friedman ' s Elle danse was first recorded twice
tour; he visited the United States twelve times, South o n 16 th Nov e mbe r 1925 ; he rej ec ted both th ese
Ameri ca seven times , and Europe every year, as well as recording s and played it for the micro phone another
Iceland , Turkey , Egypt, South Africa, Palestine, Japan , fo ur times o n 6th September 1926, approving the fo urth
Australi a and New Zealand. Although he did not often attempt. Perhaps he was not satisfied , however, as o n
perform chamber music in public, he collaborated with I st March 1927 he recorded th e wo rk twi ce more ,
the greates t ins trum e ntali sts of the da y , Casa ls, approvi ng the eighth attempt. As takes four and eig ht
Huberman , Fe uermann , Morini , Elman , Au er and were approved by the artist the record co mpany co uld
Ysaye, and performed und er the baton s of Dorati , issue them both. Hence a recordin g of a work co uld
Gabrilowitsc h, Mengelberg and Nikisch. appear in two different performances under the same
Until 191 4 Friedman li ved in Berlin but after the catalog ue number. It may be thought that th ere would
First Worl d War he se ttled in Copenhagen . Friedman 's be little or no difference betwee n record ings of the same
first visit to America was in 1920 and in April 1923 he work, but th ese particular takes of Elle danse were
made hi s first reco rds for th e American Columbia made six months apart and Friedman was not an artist to
Company . After ex tensive and exhaustive touring, the play a work the s'ame way every time. Of course, the
onset of the Second World War meant Friedman had to pe rfo rmances are similar, but most noticeable is the way
move aga in , as Scandinavia was not a safe home fo r in w hi ch he pl ays th e la st two chords of hi s ow n
him . The Australian Broadcasting Commission in vited compos iti o n differently,fortissimo in take fo ur , as
him for a tour and during the early 1940s he played and marked in the score , and piano for take eight. ln fac t, it
8.110686 2
is interest ing to see how inadequate th e sco re is in Fri edman ' s on ly publi shed conceno recordin g is
pre se ntin g Friedman' s intentions of s tyle and that of the Piano Concerto by Grieg made in Pari s
performance, intentions that can only be heard in hi s toward the end of 1927 with an unidenlified orchestra
recordin g. Alternate takes were also published of the conducled by Philippe Gaubert. II was nol , howeve r,
Mendel ssohn Scherzo and the third a nd fourth th e on ly concerto Friedman recorded. Ea rlier in th e
movements of Beethoven' s A1/oo11/ight Sonata, hence year, ove r two days in March 1927 he had recorded the
their inclusion here. Emperor Conce110 of Beethoven with the New Queen' s
The performance of the famous Polonaise in A flat H a ll Orche s tra and Henry Wood. Although lhi s
of Chopin recorded in March 1927 is typical Friedman , recording was rejected and probably no longer ex ists, it
w ith grand gestures , style, panache and personality , yet wo uld be fascinating to hear these two musicians in this
the recordin g of the last two movements of Chopin ' s particular work .
Sonata in B flat minor made at the same session was Three recording sessions of 8th-101h February 1928
apparently rejec ted by the pianist. One wonders why , as in London produced the remaining Chopin tracks heard
th ey co nt ain so me of Friedman's most unbridled here. These sess ions were not recorded in a recording
playing with the famou s Funeral lvlarch taken at a faster sludio but al Fyvie Hall in Regent Street , as is apparenl
tempo than usual and the last movement performed with from th e more reverberant acoust ic. It is al so
high drama , more a hurricane than a gen tl e w ind intere sting to hear Friedman on a different soundin g
rustlin g over a grave. These recordings, however, made piano , probably a Bllithner.
in London , were iss ued by Columbia only in Australia A lso from the se ses s ion s co mes anot he r of
and as a re sult are rare . It is possible that Friedman Friedman's composed encores. At one time the ' music
changed his mind and allowed the recordings to be box' had quite a vogue as an encore for piano recitals,
issued in Australia, as he was there in June 1927 where that of Liadov being the most well-known. Friedman ' s
he made two sides for Australian Columbia, one being ow n Tabatiere a musique is a marve l of fili gree and
his own composition A'larquis et A1arquise. Friedman delicacy and the o ne by Franz Mittler follows a similar
had alread y made twelve Concert Transcriptions of patte rn with the addition of a representation of th e
music from the eighteenth century by composers such winding-up of the box.
as Gluck , Rameau , Scarlatti , Dandrieu , and Grazioli and
this work fo llows a similar style. Again , this record ing
was issued only in Australia. © Jonathan Summers
8.110686 3
Ward Marston
In 1997 Ward Marston was nominated for the Best Historical Album Grammy Award for his produc tion work o n
BMG 's Fritz Kreisler collec tion. According to the Chicago Tribune, Marston 's name is 'sy non ymo us with te nder
lovi ng care to collec tors of historical CDs'. Opera New.1· call s his work ' revelatory', and Fanfare deems him
' mfracu lous' . In 1996 \Vard Marston received the Gramopho11e award for Historical Vocal Recording of the Year,
honouring his producti on and engineering work on Romophone's complete recordings of Lucrezia Bari. He also
served as re-recording engineer for the Franklin Mint 's A11Ltro Toscanini issue and BMG 's Sergey Rac hmaninov
recordings , both winners of the Best Hi stori cal Album Gramm y. Born blind in 1952 , Ward Marsto n has amassed
tens of thousands of opera classical record s over the past four decades. Following a stint in radio while a stud e nt
at Williams College, he became well -know n as a reiss ue producer in 1979, when he res tored the earliest kno wn
stereo recording mad e by the Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1932. In th e past, Ward Marston has produced reco rds
for a numbe r of major and speciali st record companies. Now he is bringing his distinctive soni c vision to bear o n
recordin gs re leased on the Naxos Hi storical label. Ultimately his goa l is to make the music he re mas te rs sound as
natural as possible and true to life by ' lifting th e vo ices' off his old 78rpm reco rdings. Hi s aim is to promote the
importance o f preserving o ld recordings and make avai lab le the works of great musicians who need to be hea rd.
4 8.110686
English Columbia Australian Columbia
Mendelssohn: Friedman:
l1l Scherzo in E minor !HJ Marquis et Marquise
Alternate Take; Recorded 1 March 1927 Recorded 3 June 1927
Matrix WA26 I0-9 (Catalogue D 1558) Matrix WTI54 (Catalogue 03504)
Friedman: French Columbia

12] Elle danse, Op. IO
Alternate Take; Recorded I March 1927 Grieg:
Matrix WA2594-8 (Catalogue 01558) Concerto in A minor for Piano and Orchestra ,
Op. 16, conducted by Philippe Gaubert
Beethoven: l!l!I Allegro molto moderato
Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2
"Moonlight" [I] Adagio
~ Allegretto
t12l Allegro moderato molto e marcato
l!!l Presto agitato Recorded late 1927
Alternate Takes; Recorded 1 March 1927 WLX261-2 , 262-2, 263-3, 264-3, 268-2, 269-3,
Matrices WAX1879-6 , 1880-4 (Catalogue Ll819) 270, 271 (Catalogues D 11033/36)
Chopin: English Columbia

[QI Polonaise in A flat , Op. 53
Recorded 1 and 2 March , 1927 Chopin:
Matrices W AX187 l-4 and 1872-4 ~ Mazurka in B flat , Op. 7, No. 1
(Catalogue LI 990) Recorded 9 February 1928
Matrix W A6942-2 (Catalogue D 1615)
Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35
[QI Marche Funebre IMI Berceuse , Op. 57
Recorded 9 February 1928
IZl Presto Matrix W AX3243-4 (Catalogue L2260)
Recorded I and 2 March , 1927
Matrices W AX247 l-l and 2472-1 ~ Etude in G flat , Op. 25 (Butterfly)
(Catalogue 04007) Recorded I0 February 1928
Matrix WA6946-2 (Catalogue 01615)
Friedman:
[l!J Tabatiere e musique IIBI Etude in G flat, Op. IO (Black Keys)
Recorded 2 March 1927 Recorded IO February 1928
Matrix W A4968 (Catalogue D 1651) Matrix WA6946-2 (Catalogue D1615)
8.110686 5
Rubinstein: Franz Mittler:
1111 Romance in E flat, Op.44, No. I ~ 19. Music Box for the Little Nana, Op. 2, No . 2
Recorded 2 March 1928 Recorded 9 February 1928 ·
Matrix WA7039-2 (Catalogue 01636) Matrix W A6944- l (Catalogue D 1640)
Suk: Tracks 6, 7 and 9 issued only in Australia.

lrnl Minuet , from Suite , Op. 21
Recorded 2 March 1928 Discographic information taken from Ignaz
Matrix W AX3340-2 (Catalogue L2260) Friedman: A Discography, Part 1, compiled by
D.H. Mason and Gregor Benko.
The Naxos historical label aims to make available the greatest recordings in the history of recorded music , in the best
and truest sound that contemporary technology can provide. To achieve this aim , Naxos has engaged a number of
respected restorers who have the dedication, ski ll and experience to produce restoration s that have set new standards
in the field of historical recordings.
8.110686 6

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Great Pianists • Ignaz Friedman

Complete Recordings, Vol. 2

Friedman: French Columbia

Chopin: English Columbia

Suk: Tracks 6, 7 and 9 issued only in Australia.

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