Content area
Full Text
Gary A Galo
The prolific Ward Marston continues the fine series of reissues on his Marston label,beginning with one of the most remarkable piano collections I have ever heard.
Ernst Levy -- Forgotten Genius
documents the unique musical and intellectual gifts of this pianist, featuring Beethoven's
Hammerklavier
and Op. 111 sonatas, Liszt's Sonata in B Minor,
Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude
,
Sposalizio
and the Twelfth
Hungarian Rhapsody
, as well as five of Levy's own
Pieces for Piano
(52007-2, 2CDs). Levy was born in Switzerland in 1895, and though he began early piano studies with Egon Petri and Raoul Pugno, he took a serious interest in composition and conducting as well. Between 1921 and the mid-1930s, Levy made a living in Paris as a pianist, teacher and choral conductor, giving the Paris premieres of Brahms'
Ein Deutsches Requiem
and Liszt's
Christus
in the latter capacity. His ethnic background forced him to leave Europe in the late 1930s, and as was the case with Schoenberg, Hindemith and numerous other musicians, the ignorance and intolerance of Nazi Germany was America's gain. Levy's career in the United States brought him to the New England Conservatory, Bennington College, the
p.243
University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brooklyn College. Upon his retirement from teaching in 1966, Levy returned to his native Switzerland, dying there in 1981.
It was during his tenure at MIT that most of the recordings in this collection were made. The Beethoven Hammerklavier was recorded for Kapp in 1958; Op. 111, as well as the Liszt Sonata and Bénédiction were recorded for Unicorn in 1956, and engineered by Peter Bartók. Sposalizio is from a rare Sonabel 78 rpm disc made around 1929, the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody is from a live 1954 recital, and the Levy works are unissued American Columbia items also recorded in 1954. Levy's playing was highly individual, even personalized, though his musical decisions were never arbitrary. These recordings reveal a probing musical intellect, one able to illuminate the architecture of the most demanding works. Levy possessed an abundance of keyboard technique -- his pianism is often staggering -- yet, this musician of utmost honesty and integrity appears to have had no interest in technique beyond its necessity to convey...