Bulgarian born, he was one of the legendary performers of the
twentieth century. He was taught to play the piano by his mother and, as
several members of her family were Vienna Conservatory-trained musicians, he
grew up in an intensely musical environment. Weissenberg went on to study with
the Bulgarian composer, Pancho Vladigerov, at whose house Weissenberg heard
Dinu Lipatti perform.
Weissenberg gave his first recital at the age of ten which
included a composition of his own. Unfortunately, soon after this recital, whilst
trying to flee to Turkey to escape the fascists, he and his mother were caught
and sent to a concentration camp. They were saved because of an accordion he
had been given as a gift by an aunt. A German guard let Weissenberg play and
after three months put the Weissenbergs on a train to Istanbul. Of this time
terrible time Weissenberg recalled ‘…only three elements remained - constant
silence, singing, and crying.’
In 1945 they moved to Palestine, where Weissenberg studied with
Leo Kestenberg at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. That year he also made his
first appearance as a soloist with an orchestra, later performing with the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein.
Weissenberg left Palestine for the USA in 1946 and enrolled
at the Juilliard School of Music, studying with Olga Samaroff, Artur Schnabel
and Wanda Landowska. He also met Vladimir Horowitz, who encouraged him to enter
the Leventritt Award competition. Weissenberg entered and won the award in 1947
thus launching his career.
Weissenberg’s USA debut came in 1947, playing Rachmaninov’s
Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under George Szell. After
touring extensively in the USA and Europe, in 1956, Weissenberg moved to Paris,
eventually becoming a French citizen.
Around the time of his move to Paris he stopped performing
for nearly a decade in order to work on his keyboard technique and to teach. In
1966 he resumed his career by giving a recital in Paris. That same year he also
gave a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in Berlin under
Herbert von Karajan, who called him “one of the best pianists of our time”. Subsequently
he toured and gave master classes all over the world.
As a timely memorial to Weissenberg’s recorded legacy, EMI have
issued a ten CD box set of his recordings made by them between 1966 and 1983.
All are stereo recordings and are never less than acceptable with most being
good to excellent. www.emiclassics.com
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| 10CD 6 79086 2 |
There is fire and granite in this performance and such is
the power and authority of Weisennberg’s playing that all the tempi, slower
than usual at times, seem just right. There is the occasional vocal
contribution form the pianist but it does not distract. This for me is the
recording of this work to have despite the great recordings form the likes of
Nelson Freire and Emil Gilels.
Weissenberg has been called wilful and at times he can make
sudden mood changes in his playing but again such is his authority that this
merely makes for a more riveting experience. Nowhere is this more evident that
in the recordings here of Mozart’s Piano Concertos 9 and 21 where the playing
is at times elegant, strongly emotional, and scintillating.
His Chopin piano concerto recordings are idiosyncratic and
certainly not a first choice but they grip the attention not only because of
their sometimes exaggerated tempi, but because of the superb playing.
In his recordings with Karajan there is a big boned and
broadly conceived performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, perhaps a
little short on poetry but with some formidable playing particularly in the
last movement where Weissenberg shows all his power, authority and personality.
There is a beautifully paced Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto where the music
is allowed to unfold naturally, Weissenberg never pushing the music forward
unduly.
Where else are you likely to get Bernstein conducting
Rachmaninov as in this performance of the Third Piano Concerto conducted
without undue sentiment. Weisennberg gives a broad authoritative performance
and is formidable in the climaxes. What I like particularly is the terrific pacing
so that there is clarity to the musical line.
Prokofiev’s Third Concerto with Seiji Ozawa is a fabulous
performance, spiky, rhythmic and supercharged. Ozawa also accompanies
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue which seems rather restrained and Variations on ‘I
Got Rhythm’ where there is more freedom and panache. Ravel’s G minor concerto
gets all the spontaneity you could wish and, at times, it seems as though
Weissenberg is improvising.
Mussorsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ suits Weissenberg’s
temperament perfectly allowing for sudden changes in expression and personality
and making for a great performance.
Weissenberg is unexpectedly passionate in his Bach with a formidable
Bach/Busoni Chaconne and, in the two Schumann discs, displays playing that is
remarkable for its spontaneity and range of mood. Just listen to his Fantasia
in C Op.17 with such perfectly judged layering of the musical lines for each
hand adding to the emotional pull of the music.
The tenth disc in this set contains encores yet there is
still much to be admired in his Chopin Etudes, Liszt’s Valse-Impromptu and
Scriabin Nocturne O9. No.2. and Etude Op.8 No.11. The final work on the last
disc is a short piece called ‘Improvisation’ by his old teacher Pancho
Vladigerov, a lovely tribute which takes us full circle back to his young days.
If you admire great pianism then don’t miss this special set
which can be obtained from Amazon for as little as £21.90. An unmissable
bargain.
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