Grete Sultan
Grete Sultan - Piano Seasons (4CD)
Format4CDLabelWergoGenreComposition
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Piano Seasons is a four-CD box devoted to the pianist Grete Sultan (1906-2005), an interpreter of classical and new music and a lifelong friend and collaborator of John Cage. It gathers recordings made in New York between 1969 and 2000, some issued here for the first time, of music from Bach to Cage and Toshi Ichiyanagi. In her playing, the label writes, the line between classical and modern seems to disappear.
Sultan was born in Berlin into a Jewish upper-class family and studied with Leonid Kreutzer and later Edwin Fischer. Banned from her profession and increasingly harassed, she left Germany at the last minute in 1941 and settled in New York, where she became an established pianist and taught at Vassar College, the 92nd Street Y and the Masters' School in Dobbs Ferry. Cage wrote his Etudes Australes (1974-75) for her, thirty-two pieces based on the star charts of the Atlas Australis. All the recordings in the box were produced by Heiner Stadler; the English notes are by Eric Salzman, and Ingo Schmidt-Lucas remastered the tapes for this Wergo edition.
The first disc holds Bach's Goldberg Variations, recorded in 1999 at Finch Junior College. The second and third, from a 1969 Town Hall recital, bring Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and Six Bagatelles op. 126, Schubert's Sonata in A minor D 845 and Schumann's Fantasie op. 17. The fourth disc is given to the twentieth century: Schoenberg's Fünf Klavierstücke op. 23, Copland's Piano Sonata, Ben Weber's Episodes, Stefan Wolpe's Form for Piano and Alan Hovhaness's Yenovk, recorded between 1969 and 1990, then Cage's The Perilous Night for prepared piano and Ichiyanagi's In Memory of John Cage, recorded in February 2000.
According to the Discogs notes, several of these recordings had appeared before, while the Schumann and Ichiyanagi are first releases. The programme follows the range of a career in which the label hears Sultan's warmth in Bach, Beethoven and Schumann carried over into the experimental works of Schoenberg and Cage, giving them a timeless and personal poetry.
4 CDs in slipcase, Wergo WER 4043 2, WERGO Colours series, released in 2013. Notes for CDs 1 and 2 in German, for CDs 3 and 4 in English.
Release notes
Recordings: CD 1: 1999, Finch Junior College, NY CD 2 and CD 3: 1969 Town Hall, New York City CD 4, 1-5: 1990 Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY CD 4, 6-8, 13-17: 1969 Town Hall, New York City CD 4, 9-11: 1986, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY CD 4, 12: 1972, Westbeth, Composers space, New York City CD 4, 18: 8. February 2000, Malcolm Addey Studios, New York City The recordings of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Copland, Weber, Wolpe and Hovhaness previously released on [r17297560] and [r16238260]. The…
| Goldberg-Variations, BMV 988 | |||
| 1-1 | Aria | ||
| 1-2 | Variatio 1, A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-3 | Variatio 2, A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-4 | Variatio 3, Canone All'Unisono A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-5 | Variatio 4, A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-6 | Variatio 5, A 1 O Vero 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-7 | Variatio 6, Canone Alla Seconda A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-8 | Variatio 7, A 1 O Vero 2 Clav. (Al Tempo di Giga) | ||
| 1-9 | Variatio 8, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-10 | Variatio 9, Canone Alla Terza A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-11 | Variatio 10, Fughetta. A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-12 | Variatio 11, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-13 | Variatio 12, A 1 Clav. Canone Alla Quarta | ||
| 1-14 | Variatio 13, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-15 | Variatio 14, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-16 | Variatio 15, Andante. Canone Alla Quinta A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-17 | Variatio 16, A 1 Clav. Ouverture | ||
| 1-18 | Variatio 17, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-19 | Variatio 18, Canone Alla Sexta A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-20 | Variatio 19, A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-21 | Variatio 20, A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-22 | Variatio 21, Canone Alla Settima | ||
| 1-23 | Variatio 22, A 1 Clav. Alla Breve | ||
| 1-24 | Variatio 23, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-25 | Variatio 24, Canone All'Ottava. A 1 Clav. | ||
| 1-26 | Variatio 25, A 2 Clav. ("Adagio") | ||
| 1-27 | Variatio 26, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-28 | Variatio 27, Canone Alla Nona. A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-29 | Variatio 28, A 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-30 | Variatio 29, A 1 O Vero 2 Clav. | ||
| 1-31 | Variatio 30, A 1 Clav. Quodlibet | ||
| 1-32 | Aria Da Capo E Fine | ||
| Diabelli-Variationen, Op. 120 | |||
| 2-1 | Thema: Vivace | ||
| 2-2 | Variation I: Alla Marcia Maestoso | ||
| 2-3 | Variation II: Poco Allegro | ||
| 2-4 | Variation III: L’istesso Tempo | ||
| 2-5 | Variation IV: Un Poco Più Vivace | ||
| 2-6 | Variation V: Allegro Vivace | ||
| 2-7 | Variation VI: Allegro Ma Non Troppo E Serioso | ||
| 2-8 | Variation VII: Un Poco Più Allegro | ||
| 2-9 | Variation VIII: Poco Vivace | ||
| 2-10 | Variation IX: Allegro Pesante E Risoluto | ||
| 2-11 | Variation X: Presto | ||
| 2-12 | Variation XI: Allegretto | ||
| 2-13 | Variation XII: Un Poco Più Moto | ||
| 2-14 | Variation XIII: Vivace | ||
| 2-15 | Variation XIV: Grave E Maestoso | ||
| 2-16 | Variation XV: Presto Scherzando | ||
| 2-17 | Variation XVI: Allegro | ||
| 2-18 | Variation XVII | ||
| 2-19 | Variation XVIII: Poco Moderato | ||
| 2-20 | Variation XIX: Presto | ||
| 2-21 | Variation XX: Andante | ||
| 2-22 | Variation XXI: Allegro Con Brio – Meno Allegro – Tempo Primo | ||
| 2-23 | Variation XXII: Allegro Molto, Alla "Notte E Giorno Faticar" di Mozart | ||
| 2-24 | Variation XXIII: Allegro Assai | ||
| 2-25 | Variation XXIV: Fughetta. Andante | ||
| 2-26 | Variation XXV: Allegro | ||
| 2-27 | Variation XXVI: (Piacevole) | ||
| 2-28 | Variation XXVII: Vivace | ||
| 2-29 | Variation XXVIII: Allegro | ||
| 2-30 | Variation XXIX: Adagio Ma Non Troppo | ||
| 2-31 | Variation XXX: Andante, Sempre Cantabile | ||
| 2-32 | Variation XXXI: Largo, Molto Espressivo | ||
| 2-33 | Variation XXXII: Fuga. Allegro | ||
| 2-34 | Variation XXXIII: Tempo di Menuetto Moderato | ||
| Sechs Bagatellen (für das Pianoforte), Op. 126 | |||
| 2-35 | I. Andante Con Moto, Cantabile E Compiacevole | ||
| 2-36 | II. Allegro | ||
| 2-37 | III. Andante, Cantabile E Grazioso | ||
| 2-38 | IV. Presto | ||
| 2-39 | V. Quasi Allegretto | ||
| 2-40 | VI. Presto, Andante Amabile E Con Moto | ||
| Sonate in A-Moll (für das Pianoforte), Op. 42 (D 845) | |||
| 3-1 | I. Moderato | ||
| 3-2 | II. Andante Poco Mosso | ||
| 3-3 | III. Scherzo. Allegro Vivace - Trio. Un Poco Piu Lento | ||
| 3-4 | IV. Rondo. Allegro Vivace | ||
| Fantasie C-Dur, Op. 17 | |||
| 3-5 | I. Durchaus Fantastisch Und Leidenschaftlich Vorzutragen | ||
| 3-6 | II. Mäßig. Durchaus Energisch | ||
| 3-7 | III. Langsam-getragen. Durchweg Leise Zu Halten | ||
| Fünf Klavierstücke, Op. 23 | |||
| 4-1 | I. Sehr Langsam | ||
| 4-2 | II. Sehr Rasch | ||
| 4-3 | III. Langsam | ||
| 4-4 | IV. Schwungvoll | ||
| 4-5 | V. Walzer | ||
| Piano Sonata | |||
| 4-6 | I. Molto Moderato | ||
| 4-7 | II. Vivace | ||
| 4-8 | III. Andante Sostenuto | ||
| Episodes | |||
| 4-9 | Episode 1 - Interlude | ||
| 4-10 | Episode 2 | ||
| 4-11 | Episode 3 | ||
| 4-12 | Form For Piano | 3:26 | |
| Yenovk (Partita For Piano), Op. 176/2 | |||
| 4-13 | I. Fantasy | ||
| 4-14 | II. Gamelan | ||
| 4-15 | III. Canzona | ||
| 4-16 | IV. Pogh | ||
| 4-17 | The Perilous Night (for Prepared Piano) | 13:33 | |
| 4-18 | In Memory Of John Cage | 3:07 | |
- David Hancock
- Engineer [Sound Engineer] (1-1 to 1-32)
- John Sadler
- Engineer [Sound Engineer] (2-1 to 2-40, 3-1 to 3-7, 4-6 to 4-8, 4-13 to 4-17)
- Malcolm Addey
- Engineer [Sound Engineer] (4-18)
- Skip Brunner
- Engineer [Sound Engineer] (4-1 to 4-5)
- Eric Salzman
- Liner Notes [English]
- Moritz von Bredow
- Liner Notes [Translation (English)]
- Ingo Schmidt-Lucas
- Mastered By [CD Mastering For This Wergo Reissue]
- Grete Sultan
- Piano
- Heiner Stadler
- Producer [All Recordings Produced By]
