Moritz Moszkowski

Artist: Moritz Moszkowski

LP: 15 Virtuoso Études, Op. 72
Pianist: Ilana Vered

Song: "Étude - Op. 72, No. 15 in B"

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I've started taking piano lessons again, and you know what that means! (It means I'm learning how to play the piano.) After attending a piano class about Robert Schumann last Saturday where a number of his pieces were performed, I realized how much I've missed listening to classical piano music. I headed down to Silver Platters to pick some up, since they've got one of the best selections in town. After finding a nice collection of Schumann pieces recorded on CD by Murray Perahia and a CD featuring piano pieces by Brahms, I nearly hollered out loud when I suddenly came across this used copy of Moszkowski's piano Etudes from Opus 72 that I've been trying to find for nearly a decade. Born in what's now the Polish city of Wroclaw in 1854, Moszkowski's Romantic-era compositions enjoyed immense popularity toward the end of the 19th century, but that quickly dissipated in the early 1900s as the fickle public began embracing the works of more modern composers like Scriabin, Debussy, and Satie. Moszkowski's 15 Virtuoso Études, Opus 72 were written in 1903, but the entire set had never been recorded until Israeli pianist Ilana Vered sat down to work on them for this 1970 LP release. (I can actually play Moszkowski's Étude No. 15 in B, but whereas Ilana's fluid version runs a mere 2:04, my rendition is more pensive, melancholy even, and clocks in at around 13:47.) You can read about Ilana Vered here, read about the life and career of Moritz Moszkowski here and in the liner notes below, and click here to find a list of Moszkoski's compositions.

[ Moritz Moszkowski: August 23, 1854 — March 4, 1925 ]

Les Baxter

Artist: Les Baxter

LP: Moog Rock: Greatest Classical Hits

Song: "Chopin: Etude in E"

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Listed on the LP as "Chopin: Prelude in E," this popular piece by the famous Polish composer is actually one of his etudes. I was looking forward to hearing how Les would handle the song's difficult middle section on the Moog—but he had no problem with it at all. He just skipped it entirely! Les Baxter is one of my favorite musicians, not only for his wonderful music, but also because he's one of those artists who, just when you think you've surely seen all of his LPs in various dollar bins and at thrift stores, you suddenly come across a dozen more! As Les himself once said about his career, "I never turn anything down." You can read more about Les Baxter and see his discography here, and find the liner notes from his 1968 "Moog Rock" LP here:

 [ Les Baxter: March 14, 1922 — January 15, 1996 ]

Oscar Levant

Artist: Oscar Levant

LP: Levant's Favorites

Song: Manuel de Falla's "Fire Dance" (No. 7 from "El Amor Brujo")

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Just to be clear, that is not Oscar Levant on the LP cover—but perhaps she's another one of his favorites? Here's a picture of Oscar taken from the back of the record: 

I first became a fan of Oscar Levant when he appeared as John Garfield's piano-playing sidekick in what became one of my all-time favorite movies, HUMORESQUE—a Joan Crawford vehicle from 1946. His talent on the piano is well showcased there, just as it is in the breezy musical comedy film debut of Doris Day, ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS (1948), and, of course, in the classic 1951 Gene Kelly musical, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. On the internet today I learned that Levant wrote (or maybe co-wrote) the song "Blame It On My Youth," that he was known for making offhand cutting remarks ("he was always good for a bright response edged with acid"), and that Levant's radio shows were frequently yanked off the air because of his dirty/funny wisecracks about things like Mae West's sex life or for saying this about Marilyn Monroe's conversion to Judaism: "Now that Marilyn Monroe is kosher, Arthur Miller can eat her." Click here to read more of Oscar Levant's brilliant quotes, to get further details about his life and career and to see a list of the films he appeared in throughout the 1940s and '50s. Notes from the back of Columbia Records' 1958 "Levant's Favorites" LP are included below, and if you're interested in learning a little about Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, click here.

 

  

[ Oscar Levant: December 27, 1906 — August 14, 1972 ]