Ruth Slenczynska - Complete American Decca Recordings [CD]

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A debut on CD for the American Decca legacy of Ruth Slenczynska, a prodigious Romantic-age keyboard lioness.\r
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The biography for her Wigmore Hall recital in March 1957 claimed that the 32-year-old Ruth Slenczynska had given 1600 concerts. Scarcely believably, perhaps, but no less so than other elements of her extraordinary life story \u2013 making her public debut at the age of four, under the instruction of a tyrannical and abusive father, playing a Mozart concerto at the Salle Pleyel in Paris just three years later, attracting the admiration and tutelage of Cortot and Rachmaninov, apparently burnt out before adulthood. \r
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A first marriage and highlights such as playing for (and duets with) Harry Truman followed. Touring with Arthur Fiedler and Boston Pops in the mid-50s taught Slenczynska how to work an audience and to draw strength from their attention, but she readily understood the imperatives of the microphone.\r
The year before her Wigmore Hall date she began recording for the American Brunswick division of Decca at the label\u2019s New York studios, and once their sales were boosted by the publication of her painfully honest autobiography in 1957, her albums won acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. She has continued to perform and to teach well into her 90s, but this box is the first comprehensive tribute to her artistry. \r
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Born in California to Polish parents, Slenczynska was a Chopin pianist by nature and nurture, with a temperament and background that tended towards the extremes of the Romantic style, abounding in rubato and timbral nuance. The facility and security of her technique were shown to best advantage by the \xc9tudes (1956), then the Scherzos (1957), followed by a selection of waltzes (1959), the Ballades and Polish songs arranged by Liszt (1960) and the Preludes (1962). A Liszt album from 1958 tests her bullet-proof technique with the exigent demands of the Rhapsodie espagnole, Feux follets and the most gravity-defying versions of the Grandes Etudes de Paganini. A mixed recital from 1957 marks the silver jubilee of her debut at New York City Hall. The Brunswick discography is rounded off with a disc of encores (1959) and a pair of concertos, Saint-Saens\u2019 Second (1959) and Liszt\u2019s First (1963). \r
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By the time of these recordings, Slenczynska had thrown off the prodigy tag and her musicianship had matured accordingly from machine-tooled virtuosity to lyrical fantasy. The pianism presented here is extraordinary, and shows no trace of a performer who had learned her craft through the harshest discipline and punishment. The first release of these albums on CD is celebrated in style by Eloquence with an \u2018original covers\u2019 box and a booklet full of hitherto unpublished photographs and memorabilia as well as a new survey of Slenczynska\u2019s life and studio career by Stephen Siek. \r
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\u2018Ruth Slenczynska has technique to burn, has it under complete control, and uses it with masculine vigour and shrewd musicianship.\u2019 High Fidelity, May 1957 (Chopin, Etudes)\r
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\u2018Still in her early 30s, Slenczynska gives a breathtaking display of prestidigitation, accurate, effortless, with pleasant tone and musical sympathy thrown in for good measure.\u2019 The Times, July 1958 (Chopin, Etudes)\r
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\u2018Her interpretation of the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue is thoughtful and clearly articulated, as is her handling of the Scarlatti sonata... The encore album comes off with equal success.\u2019 High Fidelity, April 1959 (25th Anniversary Album, Encores)\r
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\u2018Her pianism sounds notably more cohesive and forthright than in the past... Miss Slenczynska sweeps through [the A flat Polonaise] with exciting bravura and propulsion.\u2019 High Fidelity, April 1959 (Chopin, Preludes etc.)

FREDERIC CHOPIN: 12 Etudes, Op. 10

FREDERIC CHOPIN: 12 Etudes, Op. 25

FREDERIC CHOPIN: Scherzo No. 1 In B Minor, Op. 20

FREDERIC CHOPIN: Grande Valse Brillante In E Flat Major, Op. 18

FREDERIC CHOPIN: 24 Preludes, Op. 28

FREDERIC CHOPIN: Ballade No. 1 In G Minor, Op. 23

FRANZ LISZT: Rhapsodie Espagnole, S.254

JS BACH: Chromatic Fantasia And Fugue In D Minor, BWV 903

JS BACH: Prelude In E Major, BWV 937

FRANZ LISZT: Piano Concerto No. 1 In E Flat Major, S. 124

Scherzo No. 2 In B Flat Minor, Op. 31

Three Waltzes, Op. 34

Ballade No. 2 In F Major, Op. 38

Feux Follets (No. 5 Of 12 Etudes D\u2019execution Transcendante)

FREDERIC CHOPIN: Nocturne In B Flat Minor, Op. 9 No. 1

FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Spinning Song, Op. 67 No. 1

Scherzo No. 3 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 39

Ballade No. 3 In A Flat Major, Op. 47

Six Grandes Etudes De Paganini, S.141

FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Rondo Capriccioso In E Major, Op. 14

FRANZ SCHUBERT: Moment Musical In F Minor, Op. 94 No. 3

Scherzo No. 4 In E Major, Op. 54

Ballade No. 4 In F Minor, Op. 52

SERGEI RACHMANINOV: Prelude In C Sharp Minor, Op. 3 No. 2

SERGEI PROKOFIEV: Suggestion Diabolique

Waltz In A Flat Major, Op. 42 \u2018Grande Valse\u2019

FRANZ LISZT: Six Chants Polonaise De Frederic Chopin, S.480

DOMINICO SCARLATTI: Sonata In G Major, Kk 455

FRANZ LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12

CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2 In G Minor, Op. 22

Three Waltzes, Op. 64

BELA BARTOK Six Romanian Folk Dances, BB 68 (Sz.56)

SERGEI RACHMANINOV: Prelude In A Minor, Op. 23 No. 6

MODEST MUSSORGSKY: Hopak (Sorochintsy Fair)

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Der Kontrabandiste (arr. Tausig)

Two Waltzes, Op. 69

CLAUDE DEBUSSY: Clair De Lune (Suite Bergamasque)

HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS: Moreninha (Prole Do Bebe)

Three Waltzes, Op. Posth. 70

FREDERIC CHOPIN: Polonaise No. 6 In A Flat Major, Op. 53

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Liebeslied (Widmung), S.566 (arr. Liszt)

Impromptu No. 1 In A Flat Major, Op. 29

Impromptu No. 3 In G Flat Major, Op. 51

Claude Debussy: La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin (Preludes: Book I)

Impromptu No. 2 In F Sharp Major, Op. 36

Impromptu No. 4 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 66 \u2018Fantaisie-Impromptu\u2019

Waltz In E Flat Major, Op. Posth.

FRANZ LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15

Waltz In E Major, Op. Posth.

Waltz In E Minor, Op. Posth.

Polonaise In A Flat Major, Op. 53