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In his own words, Raymond Lewenthal was an “octave thrower, long-distance arpeggioer and general producer of volcanic rumbles”. This hugely talented, extroverted pianist was also a key figure in the revival of a great deal of 19th-century piano music, most of all that of Charles-Valentin Alkan. Sony Classical’s new 6-CD collection of Lewenthal’s complete recordings for RCA and Columbia Masterworks celebrates this maverick pianist’s recorded legacy, with three LPs of material specially remastered from the analogue tapes. Its release comes thirty years after Lewenthal’s death in November 1988. Both a showman and a scholar, Lewenthal was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1923, working as a child movie actor in Hollywood before beginning formal piano study at the age of 15. His teachers included Olga Samaroff and Alfred Cortot. Though his early career in the US flourished after a debut with Dmitri Mitropoulos and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1948, he withdrew from public performance a few years later after being attacked in Central Park. By the time he returned to concertizing in the 1960s, he had become a champion of Alkan’s, much of whose music he edited for publication. His enthusiasm for obscure Romantic repertoire was not limited to Alkan. He revived Adolf von Henselt’s little-known Piano Concerto in F minor, a spectacularly difficult work, recording it with Sir Charles Mackerras and the LSO alongside his own version of Liszt’s Totentanz. “The sheer virtuoso bravura of it all is dazzling”, wrote Gramophone. With the same orchestra and conductor Eleazar de Carvalho, he also recorded Anton Rubinstein’s Fourth Piano Concerto in D minor, and the dazzling finale to Franz Xaver Scharwenka’s Second Concerto in C minor. Two albums of Alkan’s solo piano music are a fitting tribute to Lewenthal’s obsession; they include his Symphonie, Grande Sonatine and many studies and miniatures. “Raymond Lewenthal measures up to Alkan’s fearsome demands with expressive gusto”, wrote BBC Music Magazine – one visionary eccentric pianist channeling the spirit of another. Lewenthal also recorded the Hexaméron, a work written collaboratively by five pianists and put together by Liszt, and – now receiving its first CD release – Liszt’s Réminiscences de Norma ( “a revelation” – Gramophone). One final CD shows another, no less significant side to Lewenthal: several recordings of him discussing works collected here at the keyboard, again never before released on disc. This vital, vivacious communicator – “a kind of Romantic idol”, The New York Times remarked – still has a lot to say to us today, about a repertoire that continues to benefit from his passionate advocacy. Raymond Lewenthal - The Complete RCA and Columbia Album Collection

Product Identifiers

Record LabelSony Masterworks, Synx

UPC0190758536422

eBay Product ID (ePID)12070877526

Product Key Features

FormatCD

Release Year2019

GenreClassical Artists

ArtistRaymond Lewenthal

Release TitleComplete RCA & Columbia Album Collection

Dimensions

Item Height0.88 in

Item Weight0.52 lb

Item Length4.94 in

Item Width4.89 in

Additional Product Features

Number of Discs1

Number of Tracks30

Country/Region of ManufactureUnited States

TracksAlkan: Etudes in All the Minor Keys Op. 39, Alkan: Barcarolle Op. 65 No. 6, Alkan: Grande Sonate Op. 33, Alkan: Symphonie, Liszt: Hexaméron S 392, Liszt: Réminiscences de Norma S 394, Von Henselt: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in F minor Op. 16, Liszt-Lewenthal: Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra, Rubinstein: Concerto for Piano No. 4 in D minor (Remastered), Scharwenka: Finale to Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Alkan: Sonatine for Piano Op. 61, Alkan: Petit Conte Ica 46, Alkan: Le Tambour Bat Aux Champs Ica 75, Alkan: Esquisses Op. 63 No. 1: La Vision, Alkan: Marcia Funèbre Sulla Morte D'un Pappagallo Ica 35, Alkan: Esquisses Op. 63 No. 45: Les Diablotins, Alkan: Etude in A-Flat, Alkan: Esquisses Op. 63 No. 47: Scherzetto, Alkan: Les Mois Op. 74 No. 10: Gros Temps, Alkan: Esquisses Op. 63 No. 11: Les Soupirs, Alkan: Esquisses Op. 63 No. 12: Barcarollette, Alkan: Esquisses Op. 63 No. 39: Heraclite Et Democrite, Alkan: Esquisses Op. 63 No. 7: Le Frisson, Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage I S. 160, Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage II S. 161, Narration: Lewenthal Discusses and Illustrates at the Keyboard the Henselt Piano Concerto, Narration: Lewenthal Discusses and Illustrates at the Keyboard Liszt's Totentanz, Narration: Lewenthal Discusses and Illustrates at the Keyboard Rubinstein's Piano Concerto No. 4, Narration: Lewenthal Discusses and Illustrates at the Keyboard Scharwenka's Finale from Piano Concerto No. 2, Narration: Lewenthal Discusses and Illustrates at the Keyboard the Music of Charles-Valentin Alkan

NotesIn his own words, Raymond Lewenthal was an "octave thrower, long-distance arpeggioer and general producer of volcanic rumbles". This hugely talented, extroverted pianist was also a key figure in the revival of a great deal of 19th-century piano music, most of all that of Charles-Valentin Alkan. Sony Classical's new 6-CD collection of Lewenthal's complete recordings for RCA and Columbia Masterworks celebrates this maverick pianist's recorded legacy, with three LPs of material specially remastered from the analogue tapes. It's release comes thirty years after Lewenthal's death in November 1988. Both a showman and a scholar, Lewenthal was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1923, working as a child movie actor in Hollywood before beginning formal piano study at the age of 15. His teachers included Olga Samaroff and Alfred Cortot. Though his early career in the US flourished after a debut with Dmitri Mitropoulos and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1948, he withdrew from public performance a few years later after being attacked in Central Park. By the time he returned to concertizing in the 1960s, he had become a champion of Alkan's, much of whose music he edited for publication. His enthusiasm for obscure Romantic repertoire was not limited to Alkan. He revived Adolf von Henselt's little-known Piano Concerto in F minor, a spectacularly difficult work, recording it with Sir Charles Mackerras and the LSO alongside his own version of Liszt's Totentanz. "The sheer virtuoso bravura of it all is dazzling", wrote Gramophone. With the same orchestra and conductor Eleazar de Carvalho, he also recorded Anton Rubinstein's Fourth Piano Concerto in D minor, and the dazzling finale to Franz Xaver Scharwenka's Second Concerto in C minor. Two albums of Alkan's solo piano music are a fitting tribute to Lewenthal's obsession; they include his Symphonie, Grande Sonatine and many studies and miniatures. "Raymond Lewenthal measures up to Alkan's fearsome demands with expressive gusto", wrote BBC Music Magazine - one visionary eccentric pianist channeling the spirit of another. Lewenthal also recorded the Hexaméron, a work written collaboratively by five pianists and put together by Liszt, and - now receiving it's first CD release - Liszt's Réminiscences de Norma ("a revelation" - Gramophone). One final CD shows another, no less significant side to Lewenthal: several recordings of him discussing works collected here at the keyboard, again never before released on disc. This vital, vivacious communicator - "a kind of Romantic idol", The New York Times remarked - still has a lot to say to us today, about a repertoire that continues to benefit from his passionate advocacy.