Edition Friedrich Gulda (The Early RIAS Recordings, Berlin 1950 - 1959) Friedrich Gulda

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 14,2:
• 1Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 14,2: I. Allegro05:45
• 2Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 14,2: II. Andante05:12
• 3Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 14,2: III. Scherzo. Allegro Assai03:10
• Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109 No. 30:
• 4Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109 No. 30: I. Vivace, ma non Troppo / Adagio Espressivo03:46
• 5Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109 No. 30: II. Prestissimo02:49
• 6Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109 No. 30: III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed Espressivo12:47
• Variations and Fugue for Piano in E-Flat Major, Eroica Variations, Op. 35:
• 7Variations and Fugue for Piano in E-Flat Major, Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Introduzione col Basso del Tema. Allegro Vivace03:10
• 8Variations and Fugue for Piano in E-Flat Major, Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Var. 1 - Var. 1514:10
• 9Variations and Fugue for Piano in E-Flat Major, Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Finale. Alla Fuga. Allegro con Brio.04:50
• 32 Variations in C Minor, WoO 80:
• 1032 Variations in C Minor, WoO 8009:41
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Suite: Pour Le Piano:
• 11Suite: Pour Le Piano: I. Prélude. Assez animé et très Rythmé04:02
• 12Suite: Pour Le Piano: II. Sarabande. Avec une élégance grave et Lente04:08
• 13Suite: Pour Le Piano: III. Toccata. Vif03:35
• Estampes:
• 14Estampes: II. La soirée dans Grenada. Mouvement de Habanera04:22
• Images (2ème Livre):
• 15Images (2ème Livre): III. Poissons d'or. Animé03:22
• Preludes (1er Livre):
• 16Preludes (1er Livre): VI. Des pas sur la neige. Triste et Lent.02:51
• 17Preludes (1er Livre): IX. La sérénade interrompue. Modérément animé - Quasi Guitarra.02:19
• Suite Bergamasque:
• 18Suite Bergamasque: I. Prélude. Moderato03:32
• 19Suite Bergamasque: II. Menuet. Andantino04:02
• 20Suite Bergamasque: III. Clair de Lune. Andante très Expressif04:42
• 21Suite Bergamasque: IV. Passepied. Allegretto ma non Troppo03:05
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Gaspard de la Nuit:
• 22Gaspard de la Nuit: I. Ondine. Lent05:33
• 23Gaspard de la Nuit: II. Le Gibet. Très Lent04:43
• 24Gaspard de la Nuit: III. Scarbo. Modéré08:30
• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): 24 Préludes, Op. 28:
• 2524 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 1 in C Major. Agitato00:45
• 2624 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 2 in A Minor. Lento02:13
• 2724 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 3 in G Major. Vivace01:03
• 2824 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 4 in E Minor. Largo01:54
• 2924 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 5 in D Major. Allegro Molto00:35
• 3024 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 6 in B Minor. Lento Assai01:45
• 3124 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 7 in A Major. Andantino00:46
• 3224 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 8 in F-Sharp Minor. Molto Agitato01:50
• 3324 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 9 in E Major. Largo01:26
• 3424 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 10 in C-Sharp Minor. Allegro Molto00:31
• 3524 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 11 in B Major. Vivace00:36
• 3624 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor. Presto01:10
• 3724 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 13 in F-Sharp Major. Lento04:00
• 3824 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 14 in E-Flat Minor. Allegro00:31
• 3924 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 15 in D-Flat Major "Raindrop". Sostenuto05:11
• 4024 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 16 in B-Flat Minor. Presto con Fuoco01:04
• 4124 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 17 in A-Flat Major. Allegretto02:46
• 4224 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 18 in F Minor. Allegro Molto00:55
• 4324 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 19 in E-Flat Major. Vivace01:13
• 4424 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 20 in C Minor. Largo01:45
• 4524 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 21 in B-Flat Major. Cantabile01:32
• 4624 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 22 in G Minor. Molto Agitato00:44
• 4724 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 23 in F Major. Moderato00:54
• 4824 Préludes, Op. 28: Prélude No. 24 in D Minor. Allegro Appassionato02:25
• Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48 No. 1:
• 49Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48 No. 105:56
• Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op. 60:
• 50Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op. 6009:04
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83:
• 51Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83: I. Allegro inquieto - Andantino08:10
• 52Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83: II. Andante Caloroso06:03
• 53Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83: III. Precipitato03:08
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) & Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 - 1837): Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K. 491:
• 54Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K. 491: I. Allegro (Cadenza by Johann Nepomuk Hummel) (Cadenza by Johann Nepomuk Hummel)13:33
• 55Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K. 491: II. Larghetto (Eingang by Johann Nepomuk Hummel) (Eingang by Johann Nepomuk Hummel)07:31
• 56Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K. 491: III. Allegretto (Eingang by Johann Nepomuk Hummel) (Eingang by Johann Nepomuk Hummel)08:27
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101:
• 57Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung. Allegretto ma non Troppo04:00
• 58Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: II. Lebhaft, marschmäßig. Vivace alla Marcia06:04
• 59Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll. Adagio ma non troppo con Affetto02:37
• 60Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit. Allegro07:26
• Total Runtime04:03:39

Info for Edition Friedrich Gulda (The Early RIAS Recordings, Berlin 1950 - 1959)

Friedrich Gulda’s hitherto unreleased recordings for the RIAS Berlin, made between 1950 and 1959, reveal the pianist as a “complete musician” whose interpretations of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Ravel and Prokofiev are on the highest pianistic level and display an unmistakable pathos of objectivity.

The public image of Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) is divided: for some, he is one of the most important Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century, whereas others perceive him as an enfant terrible whose battle against the cultural establishment and the constraints of the music business, which limited his multifaceted artistic interests and talents, became legendary. As ever, such generalisations are both true and false.

This compilation of hitherto unreleased recordings made by Gulda for the RIAS Berlin between 1950 and 1959 enables us to experience the pianist and musician Gulda in a more differentiated and unprejudiced manner. For even here, the “complete musician” – as Gulda saw himself throughout his career – comes into view. The spectrum of recordings which, given the almost frightening concert and recording activities Gulda tackled during this decade, only represents the tip of the iceberg, speaks for itself: it stretches from Mozart to Prokofiev and shows Gulda to be a universal artist who, from the beginning, sought to combine the highest possible degree of objectivity and authenticity with the greatest intensity of music-making. Gulda’s musical and pianistic foundations had been laid in Vienna by his teacher Bruno Seidlhofer, who had formed nearly all the important pianists of the “Viennese School”; the quality of Gulda’s training was confirmed by his being awarded the first prize at the Geneva Piano Competition in 1946 which Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli had won before him. Gulda looked for role models who displayed a spontaneous and at the same time controlled intensity in their playing, and he found them in American Jazz, whose inexorable rise in post-war Europe was to fascinate him throughout his career. Thus, an inimitable synthesis of a “pathos of objectivity” came into being, which can be heard in these recordings.

This is true not only of the early Mozart and Beethoven recordings, made in 1950, which demonstrate Gulda’s phenomenal analytical understanding of compositional structures and his unerring sense of rhythm and touch. His Chopin and Ravel recordings are sensational: on the highest pianistic level, Chopin’s Prélude op. 28 and Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit are presented in a rare, incisive manner on both a musical and dramatic level. With his interpretation of two important early works by Debussy, the Suite pour le Piano and the Suite bergamasque, as well as a selection of the Préludes, Gulda also proves to be one of the few non-French pianists who found a decidedly modern and yet authentic access to these masterworks. The programme closes with single pieces by Chopin (Nocturne in C minor, op. 48 No. 1 and Berceuse op. 60), demonstrating Gulda’s intensive exploration of romantic works, as well as a spectacular recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7 op. 83, made in 1950. Prokofiev’s music, whose wildness in the end proved incompatible with Gulda, did not remain in his repertoire for long; he did, however, pass on important impulses to his most famous pupil, Martha Argerich.

RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester
Igor Markevitch, Dirigent

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