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Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words on Disc · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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This is Jed Distler and welcome to The Piano
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Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
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You can subscribe to The Piano Maven through
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So do consider subscribing. I think you will
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really be glad that you did. A listener recently
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suggested that I talk about various recorded
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editions of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words.
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And there are quite a few complete cycles of
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these works out there. Felix Mendelssohn published
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his Songs Without Words in six groups of six
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pieces each. There were two other books of songs
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without words that had six pieces in each group,
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but those were published after Mendelssohn died.
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My late friend, the composer and pianist Friedrich
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Zhevsky, had a fascination with the songs without
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words, and he felt that all six books, the originally
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published books, had an intrinsic unity to them.
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And he was... fascinated to discover that the
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structure of his variations on The People United
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Will Never Be Defeated, which contains six sets
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of six variations, somehow related to Mendelssohn's
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six groups of six pieces game plan. And also
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Frederick explained to me at one time that he
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saw these symbolic aspects to the structure of
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the works and how these cycles of songs without
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words often begin with a spring song, which I
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guess in his mind symbolized birth, and they
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end with a Venetian gondola song, which symbolizes
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death. So I guess in this way, Mendelssohn depicts
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an entire life cycle within a book of six songs.
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But he only uses this format in the early books
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of the Songs Without Words. somehow breaks with
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the structure in the later books. For example,
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the sixth song in the sixth book is a happy spring
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song in the key of E major and I guess you could
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say this represents resurrection or a transition
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into the afterlife. or reincarnation. I mean,
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these notions, I have to admit, are kind of speculative,
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but they are plausible. So let's get to talking
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about recordings. But before I discuss complete
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cycles, I want to draw your attention to a series
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of nine Mendelssohn songs without words that
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were recorded in 1930 by Ignaz Friedman, one
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of the great romantic pianists. This is amazing,
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big, big piano playing that really exemplifies
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bel canto and the colors that Friedman gets out
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of his instrument and the way he shapes phrases
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and his most soaring legato touch. Guillemar
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Nováez recorded a selection of songs without
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words for the Vox label in the 1950s. These are
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totally opposite. to Ignaz Friedman's interpretations.
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They are intimately scaled and rather rarefied,
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and these really should be reissued. Walter Gieseking
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also recorded a selection of songs without words
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in the mid -50s. I think these are a little chaste
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and frankly a bit boring, if I can be so frank.
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More recently, we've had lovely songs without
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words. excerpts from Andra Schiff on Decca. And
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there was a recent disc with Igor Levitt that
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had a selection of songs without words, which
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is just exquisite. I highly recommend that disc.
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Also, Javier Parianes recorded 15 songs without
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words for a recent Mendelssohn disc on Harmonia
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Mundi. And these... And these are terrific. They
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showcase this pianist's full -bodied sonority
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and his wide dynamic range and wonderful palette
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of colors. This is a great disc. Of course, one
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would have to mention notable single versions
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of Songs Without Words. You know, everybody used
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to play the spring song. And then there's that
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dazzling Rachmaninoff recording of the spinning
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song where he adds an introductory vamp at the
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beginning. That's really a fantastic recording.
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And there's also The Shepherd's Complaint, which
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used to pop up a lot as an encore. There's a
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famous Vladimir Horowitz recording about that.
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What is The Shepherd's Complaint? You never take
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me anywhere. You never go anywhere. You never
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do this. You never do that. That's like The Shepherd's
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Kvetch. I think complaint means something completely
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different. Anyway, let's talk about complete
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songs without words cycles. The first complete
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edition. I believe was made in 1952 and 1953
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for the Westminster label, featuring the French
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pianist Jeannette Doyen. And I would love to
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see Universal Classics issue this because they
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control the Westminster catalog. She plays with
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great sensitivity and textural transparency with
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melodies and accompaniments. perfect balance,
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and you can find these recordings on YouTube.
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I've posted a link in the episode description.
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A couple of years later, Anja Dorfman recorded
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the complete Songs Without Words for RCA Victor.
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This also is in mono. These are elegant, old
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-school kind of readings, and the sound is a
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bit on the dry side, but still decent enough.
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And these came out in the Sony BMG box set of
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Anja Dorfman's complete RCA Victor recordings,
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which I wrote the notes for. And you can also
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get excellent transfers by Mark Oberthorn, affected
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from mint copies of the LPs. And these are available
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from Andrew Rose's pristine audio label. One
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of the first stereo sets of the complete Songs
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Without Words came from the French pianist Rina
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Kiriakou. I hope I'm pronouncing her name right.
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This was on the Vox label. These are lovingly
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cultivated performances. And the sound is a little
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dry, and sometimes you get... some fuzziness
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on high notes that I remembered from my old LP
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pressings, but maybe it's a master tape defect
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because I hear it on the CDs. But I like this
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set a lot. Kyaryaku favors leisurely tempos,
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and she spins out legato lines with very subtle
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shadings that even make... You know, the famous
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pieces like the spring song and the hunting song
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sound really fresh. And she brings wonderful
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timbral differentiation between melodies and
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accompaniments in many of the pieces, too. I
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have always liked the Songs Without Words cycle
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by Ilse von Alpenheim, recorded for Philips.
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These are really enjoyable and sensitive performances,
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and there's a real nice ebb and flow to the legato
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phrasing. It always holds my attention. And similar
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qualities, I think, distinguish Livia Rev's Songs
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Without Words cycle for Hyperion. And this is
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one you should check out as well. But if you
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want... extra scintillation and more dynamic
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range. There's a really terrific Songs Without
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Words cycle by the Israeli pianist Daniel Adni.
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I think this was recorded in 1973, somewhere
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around there. And it was for EMI. And EMI brought
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these out. very briefly as a twofer, meaning
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two CDs for the price of one. It's been out of
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print on physical disc for some time, but I would
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really love to see it reissued. He also did a
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very fine cycle of the Greek lyric pieces for
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EMI that was on a twofer reissue, by the way.
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There are several wonderful Mendelssohn songs
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without word cycles that are part of larger cycles
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that encompass Mendelssohn's complete solo piano
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works. I don't know if the songs without words
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groups from these cycles were compiled as standalone
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songs without words. words releases, but maybe
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they should be. I'm talking about the cycles
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by Benjamin Frith on Noxus, Howard Shelley on
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Hyperion, and... Possibly best of all of these
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is the one with Roberto Proceda on Decca. Now,
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Roberto is a great friend of mine, so I'm admittedly
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prejudiced. But I love his songs without words.
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I mean, I love all of his Mendelssohn, but his
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songs without words are very distinctive because
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his tempos are all spot on. His attention to
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dynamics and articulation. bring a kind of period
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performance sensibility to the modern concert
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grand, but without any mannerisms or exaggerations.
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This is really, really world -class playing.
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One excellent cycle of songs without words that
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may not be so easy to source on physical CD,
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but you can find it as a download or by streaming,
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comes from another Israeli pianist, Daniel Gortler,
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and he really plays beautifully. He has a warm
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and singing sonority, he's a tasteful musician,
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and his finger work has great fluency and definition.
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There's some real favorites of mine in this cycle.
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I'm thinking of the E -flat major piece, Op.
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30 No. 1. What gorgeous legato control and a
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beautifully sonorous organ -like accompaniment
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in the left hand. And that F -sharp minor. piece,
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Op. 19 No. 5, has gorgeous, swirling passage
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work. It's a terrific cycle. I reviewed this
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for Classics Today back in 2009, and I'm really
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glad that I've held on to this cycle. There's
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an interesting cycle from the pianist Michael
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Korstik on the CPO label. Sometimes he can be
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a little heavy -handed, and sometimes he can
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be overly aggressive and muscular. I'm thinking
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like the E flat major piece, Op. 53 No. 2. But
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he is less cautious than most modern pianists
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in the spinning song. You know, he takes something
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not quite at the Rachmaninoff tempo, but it does
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have a real roguish brio to it that I really
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like. I enjoy dipping into this cycle every now
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and then. I can't say it's my... absolute favorite,
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but the best parts of it really intrigued me,
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so I'm happy to have it here. I also should...
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talk about Peter Donohoe's complete songs without
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words, which are part of an ongoing Mendelssohn
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cycle for Chandos, I believe. In any event, volumes
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one and two are available on separate releases,
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and I reviewed the second volume for Gramophone
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a few years ago. Now, Peter Donohoe does not
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play the pieces in sequence in terms of opus
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number, but he mixes and matches the pieces between
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opus. numbers for maximum contrast of mood and
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tempo and tonality. And I'm looking at my review
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now, and I wrote that Peter Donohoe in these
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works has a straightforward temperament and a
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respect for the text that emphasizes truth over
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surface charm. Okay, I guess that's sort of true.
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Now, there is a fascinating document that has
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not been officially released, but it's a performance
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that you should know about. I think it was in
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2008 when Frederick Shefsky played the entire
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cycle of the first six Songs Without Words books
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in concert. He generally takes fast tempos, and
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there's an intensity and a feeling of... of a
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long arc throughout the performance. And he gave
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me a copy from the concert. I can't remember
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where the concert took place, but I've had this
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for a long time and I've shared it with friends
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of mine. I would love to see this made available
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on an official release. Maybe the family can
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authorize its release, but we should try to figure
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that out. However, the pianist Bobby Mitchell,
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who, like me, was a great friend of Frederick
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Shefsky, was encouraged by his mentor to take
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up the Songs Without Words. And for his recent
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recording on the Gallo label, Bobby Mitchell
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reorders the 36 pieces of the first six books.
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much in the same way that Peter Donohoe reordered
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the eight books. And Bobby Mitchell's ordering
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of the six published books creates much more
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of a large scale and perhaps more unified trajectory.
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And like Frederick, his tempos tend to be on
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the brisk side, but there's a freedom and flexibility
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and a sense of dynamism that... elevates this
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music from the intimate salon to more of a public
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arena and i'd like to give a heads up for several
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complete mendelssohn songs without word cycles
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that are scheduled for release and you can sample
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them by going to prestomusic .com one is with
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the pianist jacopo salvatore from the company
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on classical this is a download only release
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and then there's another by Angelo Martino on
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the Halodon label, and that's another digital
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release. So keep your eyes out for these two.
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I have not heard them yet. However, for an admittedly
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mainstream recommendation, which is to say safe
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recommendation, and I mean safe in a good way.
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Also, I'm recommending this because these recordings
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have had a longstanding critical consensus as
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a reference version. And I think you know where
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I'm going with this. I'm talking about the recordings
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that Daniel Barenboim made for Deutsche Grammophon
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in 1973. His interpretations have a naturalness
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to them in every respect. Tempos, I think, are
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governed by musical character rather than athletic
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considerations. His sound is full -bodied and
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always singing, and he really conveys affinity
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and a genuine love for this repertoire. Maybe
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it's hyperbole. for me to claim that Daniel Barenboim
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never made a better piano recording than in these
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Mendelssohn songs without words. Or maybe it
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is his best piano recording. I'm definitely opening
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up a can of worms here. But I'd be curious to
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know what you think is the best integral Mendelssohn
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songs without words cycle on disc. I'm always
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learning from Piano Maven subscribers about recordings
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that... I either didn't know about or recordings
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I've forgotten about, your feedback always keeps
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me honest, so don't hesitate to chime in. This
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is Jed Disler, and you've been listening to The
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Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano
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recordings, and I look forward to being with
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you for our next episode. Take good care.