Disc Number:
Chesky Records CD 13, ADD
Contents:
The Art of The Transcription
Artists:
Earl Wild piano
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Anatole Fistoulari conductor
New Philharmonia Orchestra*
Christoph von Dohnanyi conductor*
Recorded Date:
Originally released 1962, reissued 1988
Producer:
Charles Gerhardt
Engineer:
Kenneth Wilkinson
This 1962 recording of the Tchaikovsky 1st Piano Concerto proves Earl Wild is second to none of his confreres in idiomatic, expressive mastery of Romantic music. The intensity of his impassioned playing almost took my breath away. With enough technique to qualify as a super-virtuoso, Wild’s control is exemplary, his color range kaleidoscopic, and he reveals an insightful musical intellect. In the Dohnanyi Variations, Wild again exhibits a similar blend of digital wizardry and sensitive artistry.
Bernard Soll, Stereophile, January 1989.
I doubt whether there has ever been a finer version of Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Song than this one. This is stunningly well-recorded and offers a level of virtuosity and characterization from all concerned that quite takes the breath away. When one considers that the coupling is one of the finest Tchaikovsky Firsts ever made and that a blinding performance of Dohnanyi’s solo piano Capriccio in f minor Op. 28 is thrown in for good measure, the claims on the collector are quite simply irresistible.
Julian Haylock, CD Review, February 1991.