Vladimir de Pachmann (1848-1933): Brahms- Capriccio in C#min

Vladimir de Pachmann was one of the unique figures of 19th century pianism. He was born in the Ukraine and spent a long time in study in Europe before he began concerting before the public properly in 1882. From then until the 1920s he was regarded as one of the top half-dozen pianists in the world, and he has become known primarily as one of the greatest exponents of Chopin ever (though he was more than capable of performing much else besides).

His style belongs to no particular school and he produced no pupils to speak of. He was comparecd to Liszt, in so far as his approach was of his own and stood unique.

However, his approach to Chopin in particular was informed by a great deal of thought and study: similarities exist between his playing and that of Rosenthal, both of whom represent different branchs of an "authentic" Chopin tradition (where Rosenthal studied with Chopin's pupuil Mikuli, Pachmann studied with Chopin's last teaching-assistant Vera Kologrivoff Rubio). It is noteworthy that Rosenthal approached Pachmann for some guidance on Chopin performance.

In his last years, Pachmann developed a reputation as something of a performing clown in his concerts, with a penchant for babbling commentaries through his performances. This reputation is however undeserved: he began recording in the very early days of the grammophone, and his playing, even late in life, could display extreme sensitivity and undertanding. It by no means possible to assume all Pachmann recordings are going to be wonderful, but those that capture him properly can be moving and beautiful beyond almost all others. And his interpretations are refreshingly and utterly distinctive.

Pachmann was not exactly what we might today think of as a Brahms player. This recording was made in 1916. It is Brahms's Capriccio in C sharp minor op.76 no.5.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Vladiomir
• de
• pachmann
• brahms
• capriccio
• C#
• minor
• op.76
• no.5

[aardvaark069]

I never trust these very old recordings for dynamics. The player had to stay above a certain volume for the recording to 'take'. Thi severely limited the [layers freedom of expression. They must have hated the process and probably, in many cases played arbitrarily because thy wanted the money.

[d60944]

I am not sure whether this gripe applies equally to the also-rans and the great pianists. If you'd like an example of Pachmann clearly not allowing the demands of the recording to make him play louder, listen to his recording lof the Chopin Eb nocture, also posted! I am not sure that artists of such integrity and quality would have recorded at all if they felt they were compromising their art. Even the first decade of the century saw pianists often making several "takes" of a work - whyso.....?

[marcxopoco]

@penacP, you are lucky you don't know him. He poisoned music for a several decades.

[penacP]

@marcxopoco If Harold exists, I don't know him… Sorry for the mistake…

[marcxopoco]

Clueless @penacP doesn't know the difference between pathetic music 'critic' Harold Shonberg and composer Arnold Shonberg.

[penacP]

@marcxopoco

His first name was Arnold :-) He was able to create very beautiful things among a lot of crappy ones ! ;-)

[marcxopoco]

Harold Schonberg was poisonous and incompetent.

What a pompous pig.

[wistaphil]

This is great: the tempo relationship between the duple and triple sections (bar equals bar) is a contrast to the Kempff (eighth equals eighth) in this deP makes a distinction between expressive, improvisatory feeling and a structural feature...

[aardvaark069]

Yes it is a gripe which I think is legitimate with many of these very old recordings. That being said, I am a huge fan of Pachmann's playing. Harold Schoenbergs demolition job in 'the Great Pianists' I believe is largely responsible for Pachmann's poor reputation. What a trgedy for piano lovers who have believed it and not bothered to listen. I think what ishould have said is that I just don't think that this Brahms is very good performance.