William Kapell plays Chopin Sonata 3 (mv. 1) (audio)

[TomBarrister]

Like everything Mr. Kapell performed, this is unique. He never tried to imitate anybody else. The man was a hard worker, and besides practicing several hours a day, he sought out the best pianists in the world for help.

For those who don't know, Kapell was killed in a plain crash in 1953 at the relatively young age of 31.

[davecotuit]

america s greatest homegrown pianist. i also love the lipatti version but this is still my favorite,

although his tempo in the final movement is probably too fast it is so exciting i forgive him!!!! absolutely breathtaking and brilliant!

[fredericfranc]

...he alters the voicing so that the movement simultaneously "speaks to you" more directly than usual, and you like that, but also seems more mysterious than usual, because he obscured some of the voices you are "too familliar with" and you subconsciously wonder "where they went", and your ears/mind like that too...anyway, quite a pianistic conjuring-concealing act we got going here...

[MrTootler]

Im usually quite skeptical when someone says, "By far the best performance of this piece". But, this is far superior to Lang Lang, Ingrid Fliter, and even Horowitz and Rubenstein... In Kapells hands, this sonata doesnt even sound like the same piece.

Life changing.

[pingalaida]

This is the finest performance of this piece that I've heard on record, and I've heard a lot. Yes, I've heard Argerich - When Martha Argerich plays this piece I hear Martha Argerich. When Kapell plays it I hear Chopin. I've listened to Rubinstein, Bolet, Gilels, Cortot, Zak, Igumnov, Badura-Skoda, Hamlin, Lipatti, Neuhaus, Poli, Rosenthal, etc. etc. etc. Kapell's is still the best.

[thentheychopped]

kapell... there are no words.

[TJFNYC212]

gorgeous interpretation of the B minor Sonata. What a great pianist. I must say, however, the Martha Argerich's playing of this sonata, in particular, the first movement is definitive to date................... but this is great thanks so much for posting it.........................

[gouldian85]

Very impressive! Sad that he died so young, he had a great career ahead of him! :(

[seremerow]

聽過他詮釋Liszt的mephisto waltz後，

在聽他彈奏這首，真會有種期待落空的感覺。前半段實在不怎麼樣，­聽到後面一些也不覺得是有意鋪成!雖然在部分小型的段落有精采的­表現，但整體性力道還是不夠(蕭邦作曲的細膩讓他顯得草率)。有­人知道他對此曲有其他的錄音嗎?儘管如此，我還是認為他是個好鋼­琴家！

[thomaskoo]

@seremerow 可能只是錄音表現不到強弱等罷了

[musicy88]

indeed, one of the best recordings.. I think another is argerich's. unsurpassable!

[Kievest]

Moody, tempestuous, mercurial, and

Romantic with a capital R! Kapell's

playing is spontaneous and monu-

mental and infinitely satisfying!

Thank you for posting and to Paul

for sharing!

[paulostroff99]

Up there with the very best. IMO he and Lipatti would both have set the standards on very many pieces. Lipatti a touch higher as he may have become the best ever were it not for their untimely deaths.

[jackgibbonspiano]

Another remarkable pianist, easily in the same league as Lipatti, Kapell, Michelangeli, Horowitz, etc. (indeed someone I even prefer!) is David Edward Smith. Who???? Exactly! In case you haven't already spotted him his son has posted on youtube almost the only recordings that exist of him, and now a few more remarkable recordings (but with v. poor sound) have just surfaced on the internet that confirm my feelings. See "David Smith plays Chopin Sonata in B Minor Op. 58 I." or my favourites.

[raanan17]

Is this from the australian recordings recently discovered?

[ruthr87]

No, it isn't - it is from the RCA Kapell edition Volume 2. It was recorded in a number of studio sessions over 1951/2. Chopin's Sonata No. 2 Op.35 is also on this CD and this was recorded in Australia (to be precise on 22 October 2953, a week before Kapell was killed).

[ignisfatuus67]

I didn't know that version before. Thank you. You just made my day.....amazing performance

[cameraguy1019]

awesome my geat uncle awesome

hes a jew... FML

[GeorgeMaxwellDuPre]

Chopin wrote a repeat in the first movement that so few pianists observe. Why is that? It's such a different work without it.

[uhartchristian]

you are right, the repeat in chopins sonata first movement is to respect as it completes the classic sonata form and is part of this piece. Those who don t respect this (either for timing reasons in records or other) are wrong and don t understand the importance of equilibre in the sonata. when Chopin wanted it short he did !!!! See the second sonata 4th movement.... but even there its not without a strict form andd structure...

[Ankhsnammon]

Exquisite performance.the just touch for this strange work of chopin.strange...the melancholy can't go more forward...without destroy ourselves with its delightful poison..delightfula and terrible..

Love,absolute love...I canread this in every note...and more forward..more forward!!!

ankhsnammon

[GeorgeMaxwellDuPre]

Cool. Now say that so that it make sense---in English.

[Ankhsnammon]

My words make perfect sense.

If there are some mistakes,it is because of my very bad typing.

I ask for your forgiveness,distinguished Sir..

[GeorgeMaxwellDuPre]

Didn't mean to be so direct. I want to understand what you said. Can you send me an email apart and explain it to me. I know it's not always easy expressing yourself in another language. I'm currently studying this work.

[Trepper1940]

Deep musicality and an amazing technique. Bravo

[saltburner2]

This performance was new to me and it is most impressive: though it does not quite displace Dinu Lipatti's, which I have known and loved for 50 years. There is a wonderful limpidity in Kapell's playing, especially in the quieter passages: but in the louder sections there is a certain muddiness in the sound which may be due to over-pedalling - though it could just be the recording. Worth repeated hearing!

[go9zu]

Amazing!

[snaaptaker]

This performance was my "benchmark" for most of the 50-or-so years I've had the LP. I recently bought the CD (mainly to also have the 2nd Sonata). What a disappointment! Kapell sounded like a completely different pianist.

Thank God I still have the LP.

[Kapell1959]

Kapell is my favorite pianist as you can tell by my handle. However, if this is taken from the CD, and it sounds if it was, you must hear the LP record. Even better. Go to Ebay and get yourself a copy. It comes up with a pretty good frequency.

Now before we state Kapell was the best, has anyone here heard Percy Grainger on the Columbia 78s perform it?

Kapell1959

[brianCIM]

i own all grainger's recordings and his chopin sonata #3 is frightening. so demonic! i wish more people would listen to his recordings. amazing pianist

[paulostroff99]

One of the greatest piano performances that I have ever heard! Bravo! TY.

[nietzschemasterclass]

Kapell was really a superb pianist, extreme and high sensibility and a had perfect understanding about the spirit of each piece he played in his short but unvaluable career.

I haven't heard a better performance of this Sonata in my life. Beautiful!!!!

This is really a treasure, thank you a6282.

[billyguns2]

This is great playing; how he clarifies the classical structure of the sonata form! What a great composition! What a shame Kapell died so young; he would have been recognized as the greatest American pianist, and one of the all-time greats.

[cziffra1980]

This is great! This is very close to how I would have expected Horowitz to sound, had he had recorded this in the 40s.

[a6282]

The 3rd movement has also been loaded. You are exactly right about the clarity and structure in this performance. kapell's playing is divine. It was a pity that he passed away so young.

[redrothko]

thanks for posting! what a wonderful and interesting reading of these three movements (the 3rd movement is missing). my favorite has always been cortot for his color, poetry, and sense of romantic abandon if you will. but i love the rhythmic integrity, clarity, structure, and ordering of space here! would be great to have these qualities fused -)