Lili Kraus plays Chopin Impromptu no. 2 in F# major opus 36
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 12 апр 2012
- The Hungarian-born pianist Lili Kraus (1903-1986) plays Chopin's Second Impromptu in F sharp major, opus 36.
This recording was originally made for Parlophone in 1938. 
Видеоклипы
What beautiful tone. And a living-breathing-flexible kind of pacing and phrasing. Thanks so much for the posting.
Very nice....I was particularly impressed from the return of the main theme to the end......
Some sources give 1903, others give 1905...! Yes, she had a wonderful touch.
Interesting, thanks!
Sometimes I am glad, that I don't know quite as much as some of the commentators here on that page. Because ~ all I did was ~ listen. And all I know is ~ that I liked it ;o)
I think there is beauty and great clarity in this playing, and also a strong intellect and insight, which is no wonder if you look at the list of great men she studied with.
However I can understand your feeling of "something missing" here... her playing is quite "strict" and maybe lacks rubato at some places. From 4:03 it would have been nice if she'd stressed the left hand melody more. Overall, maybe she felt more at home in the great Classical pieces of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
Played with a beautiful tone, intelligent musicality, and great clarity of fingerwork but, yes, the manner is maybe just a little bit too matter-of-in fact for the Polish master!
James Vaughan, I forgot to write your name!
Being unsophisticated, I enjoy this piece mainly for the madkrazy part starting at 2:00. I like Perhaia's the best so far but will now listen to Benno. I hope that Horowitz or Richter ripped into this at some point and that I can find it....it's all about 2:00...What was going through Chopin's mind there? Military?
I've long been fond of Kraus...she could be inimitable, strong personality & lots of colour. Before hearing this I thought, it won't sound "Chopinesque" in her hands, & it didn't (quite). Can't help it though, my model for this piece will forever be Novaes--I also have a soft spot for Cortot's (& any Chopin by him). This piece can sound too sectional--I think it sounds a bit that way here, and some notes a bit rushed (e.g. quavers, mm 7 &14). Only Chopin I've ever heard from her! Not bad, tho.
I agree with every word you did wrot about madam Lili. The little notes should be played slower, like a singer making vocalise. It is impossible a woman sing the way she plays. I have a CD with Guiomar playing it in L.A in 1968. Is the best playing I have ever heard. Better than her in LP. My english is like your "portugues".
José, Novaes' F-sharp Impromptu is simply THE BEST. And I heard her play it in her 1968 NY recital at Philharmonic Hall. Robert Sherman, who reviewed her concert in the NY Times the next day, gave her a glowing notice, referring to her "artistic understatement", and singling out the Impromptu as an example of especially beautiful playing, saying "the piano sound was absolutely radiant". I was elated to see that FaceMusicBrasil has uploaded the radio broadcast of Novaes' performance of the Beethoven Fourth with André Previn, from the Carnegie Hall concert a few weeks before the recital I heard. But sadly, the Novaes-Cluytens 1957 Schumann Concerto (the best I have ever heard - it even surpasses Lipatti's great recordings IMO) has just been removed. But I think Novaes' reputation is at present more golden than ever before, because now everybody can hear so many examples of her incomparable artistry on the internet. I have just begun to upload a few things on my channel, and I intend to focus on the recordings of Guiomar Novaes as much as possible in the future.
James Vaughan Personally, James, I don't think there is such thing as "the best"...there are many, many wonderful recordings of this piece made by pianists who are/were as great as Novaes, and it's all a question of personal taste & preferences which one appeals most to you and does most justice to Chopin. I can understand you have very special memories for this particular pianist though!
pianopera Of course, I agree with you, Erwin, in a rational sense there really is no "best". Though clearly some performances will stand out from others, and many of us have a special affection (or partiality) for certain performers. As for which pianists do the "most justice to Chopin", I think Chopin himself really would have adored Novaes!
I wasn't impressed with central section....sounded like she just performed the Pathetique and
become stuck in that idiom......but the rest of it is great, especially from 3.15 to the end,where lightness,delicacy and beauty reign supreme..