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Geza Anda's Live Tchaikovsky and Brahms Concertos · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

• 0:00
  This is Jed Dissler and welcome to the Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
• 0:15
  I wanted to talk about the Hungarian pianist Géza Andá, who lived from 1914 until 1976.
• 0:24
  He made many, many outstanding studio recordings, primarily for the EMI label in the early 1950s,
• 0:33
  and his studio recordings continued throughout the 1960s for Deutsche Grammophon.
• 0:40
  He did a few things in the 70s as well, but his recording activity really dropped in the 70s.
• 0:47
  He was the first pianist to record Mozart's complete piano concertos conducting from the piano,
• 0:56
  and his cycle of the Bartok concertos conducted by Ferenc Frickshoy was a long-time version of reference.
• 1:06
  This was on Deutsche Grammophon.
• 1:08
  His Bartok concertos, I think, were only superseded later on by the Zoltán Kosz's versions,
• 1:16
  but the Andá versions are still really quite wonderful.
• 1:19
  To my ears, Géza Andá was primarily a pianist who was more about details and nuances than the big overall picture,
• 1:32
  but this could work to his advantage in many works, and in particular this works in two concertos
• 1:42
  where the orchestra is actually in the forefront, the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 and the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1.
• 1:52
  Now, I know that you might be surprised to hear me say that the Tchaikovsky concerto has the orchestra in the forefront,
• 2:00
  because the piano part has so many huge opportunities for virtuoso display,
• 2:08
  those big unaccompanied sequences and the tumultuous octave passages and so on and so forth,
• 2:16
  but the orchestra does carry a lot of thematic importance in the Tchaikovsky,
• 2:22
  and you have lots of important first-desk solos too.
• 2:26
  Also, the music's balletic nature, especially in the central movement's prestissimo,
• 2:34
  that depends very heavily on the conductor's tempo choice,
• 2:39
  and here the piano flourishes as brilliant as they are, basically serves as window dressing to the orchestral melodies.
• 2:48
  The Brahms Second Piano Concerto is so symphonic in its nature and structure
• 2:54
  that it's crucial to have both an excellent soloist and an excellent conductor and orchestra involved.
• 3:03
  And, of course, you need an excellent cello soloist for the slow movement,
• 3:08
  and you need a great first-desk horn soloist for the concerto's very opening.
• 3:14
  So, what does all this have to do with Géza Andá?
• 3:18
  Well, although he did make studio recordings of the Brahms and Tchaikovsky concertos,
• 3:25
  the ICA Classics label issued live broadcast performances with Géza Andá
• 3:33
  and the West German Radio Orchestra of Cologne in both the Tchaikovsky First and the Brahms Second.
• 3:40
  And I personally think that these performances are far more dynamic and exciting and emotionally involved
• 3:49
  than their studio counterparts.
• 3:51
  The Tchaikovsky Concerto performance dates from June 2, 1958.
• 3:58
  Yeah, I'm looking at my disc here, I'm looking at the booklet notes.
• 4:02
  Yes, June 2, 1958.
• 4:05
  And George Schulte is conducting.
• 4:08
  Maybe you know Schulte's really excellent recording of the Tchaikovsky Concerto from around the same time
• 4:16
  when he was supporting the piano soloist Clifford Curzon.
• 4:20
  I think that was with the Vienna Philharmonic on DECA.
• 4:24
  Also, Schulte recorded the Tchaikovsky again in the 1980s in Chicago with András Schiff at the piano.
• 4:33
  That's a less convincing, although very interesting recording.
• 4:38
  However, the rhythmic precision and physicality that typified Schulte's work as a concerto accompanist in the 1950s
• 4:48
  is really palpable here in this Tchaikovsky Concerto with Gesa Andá.
• 4:54
  I would say that he lights a big fire under Gesa Andá throughout the concerto.
• 5:00
  And the pianist really lets go and he really tears into the virtuoso writing.
• 5:07
  But he also shapes the lyrical passages with appropriate eloquence and repose.
• 5:13
  You can say the same about Gesa Andá in the Brahms' second concerto.
• 5:19
  He makes this very craggy and thick piano writing sound easy,
• 5:25
  but without any compromise in forcefulness or forward momentum.
• 5:31
  And if you listen to this ICA recording, you will notice the lightness and the delicacy
• 5:39
  and the pointed humor that he brings to the finale.
• 5:42
  I think it's his most convincing performance of this movement.
• 5:46
  This performance from April 5, 1954, shows the conductor Otto Klemperer at the start of his so-called Indian summer.
• 5:57
  This was around the time when he began recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London,
• 6:03
  embarking on this amazing series of orchestral recordings that, you know, that's a whole other topic.
• 6:12
  And with Klemperer, you get his firm tempos, you get well thought out tempo relationships,
• 6:21
  and you get woodwinds very much in the foreground and the balance.
• 6:27
  But he is an absolute firebrand here, and he's faster than you would expect.
• 6:36
  You know, we usually think of Otto Klemperer as a slow and granitic and monumental conductor,
• 6:44
  but he could often surprise you, and especially in the early 1950s.
• 6:50
  In fact, each movement in this performance times out slightly less than in the Geza-Anda-Ferink-Frickschoi recording of this work.
• 7:03
  For example, here, the first movement times out to 16 minutes and 19 seconds,
• 7:10
  but in the Frickschoi-Deutsche Grammophon recording, it's 18 minutes and 42 seconds.
• 7:16
  And actually, Geza-Anda's remake with Herbert von Karajan, also on Deutsche Grammophon,
• 7:22
  was 17 minutes and 35 seconds, kind of splitting the difference.
• 7:28
  For me, the highlight of this live Klemperer, Geza-Anda-Brahms second, is the scherzo movement, the second movement.
• 7:37
  And you really hear the soloist and conductor interact in a combative way,
• 7:44
  and you do have these moments of lyrical respite, but it's really, really a battle, and it's quite exciting.
• 7:54
  Now, the sound quality is not as good as in either of the Geza-Anda Studio Brahms seconds for Deutsche Grammophon,
• 8:04
  but the sense of occasion and the elemental intensity that come through with Klemperer at the podium,
• 8:12
  I think add up to a more gratifying listening and artistic experience, at least for me.
• 8:19
  So if you are interested in Geza-Anda, and if you are a piano maven, you really should be interested in Geza-Anda,
• 8:27
  definitely check out this ICA disc with the Tchaikovsky first and Brahms second concertos.
• 8:35
  This is Jed Disler, and thank you for listening to The Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
• 8:45
  Until next time, stay well and stay safe.