A circle of friends in Paris
The piano works of these composers, who met in the 1920s, reflect a stylistically diverse period.
A producer once told me that he would no longer make project CDs with works by several composers - they would simply get lost in the mass of music that is thrown onto the market every month and would at best end up under "miscellaneous" even in specialist shops. Understandable, but unfortunately not in line with reality. For at all times, so-called collector's editions or joint works were created, in which several composers participated with mostly short pieces. And it is often precisely these editions that say more about a period, a style or a school than some great works.
This is also shown by Gabrielle Beck-Lipsi's complete recordings of the Treize Danses (1929). Performed as intelligently as it is brilliantly and wittily, it is a first-rate group portrait. It is complemented by seven more extensive works by Conrad Beck, Tibor Harsányi, Bohuslav Martinů, Alexandre Tansman and Alexander Tscherepnin, all of whom belonged to the "École de Paris" - a circle of friends of foreign composers in the 1930s, with whom the pianist also has a family connection. In this way, far more resonates in the anything but dry interpretation than the mere notes are able to reveal, which makes the recording itself a document that is also captured acoustically in an outstanding way.
This makes it all the more incomprehensible that production outside Switzerland (especially in the age of cross-border "click and buy") is not only difficult to find, but also inconvenient to obtain.
CD 1: "Ecole de Paris"
Alexander Cherepnin (1899-1977): Bagatelles, op. 5 & 5 Concert Etudes, op.52
Conrad Beck (1901-1989): Two Dance Pieces & 1st Sonatina
Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959): Trois Esquisses
Alexander Tansman (1897-1986): Sonatine transatlantique
Tibor Harsanyi (1898-1954): Blues
CD 2: "Treize Danses"
Conrad Beck (1901-1989): Danse
Marcel Delannoy (1898-1962): Rigaudon
Pierre-Octave Ferroud (1900-1936): The Bacchante, Blues
Tibor Harsanyi (1898-1954): Fox-Trot
Jacques Larmanjat (1878-1952): Valse
Nikolai Lopatnikoff (1903-1976): Gavotte
Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959): La Danse
Georges Migot (1891-1076): La Sègue
Marcel Mihalovici (1898-1985): Chindia
Manuel Rosenthal (1904-2003): Valse des Pêcheurs à la Ligne
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942): Boston
Alexander Tansman (1897-1986): Burlesque
Jean Wiéner (1896-1982): Rêve
Müller & Schade 5080 (2 CDs)
