Dinu Dinu Lipatti

This final recital has been previously released on Naxos Historical (review) and elsewhere, but the edition presented here uses tape from the original 1950 French Radio Broadcasting (R.T.F.). At this time of the performance Dinu Lipatti was very ill with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma from which he had been suffering since 1943, but cortisone treatment provided temporary relief, during which he was able to give two public performances: Mozart’s Concerto in C Major K.467 with Herbert von Karajan at the Lucerne Festival on August 23, and this solo recital at the 3rd Besançon International Music Festival on September 16.

This final recital has been previously released on Naxos Historical (review) and elsewhere, but the edition presented here uses tape from the original 1950 French Radio Broadcasting (R.T.F.). At this time of the performance Dinu Lipatti was very ill with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma from which he had been suffering since 1943, but cortisone treatment provided temporary relief, during which he was able to give two public performances: Mozart’s Concerto in C Major K.467 with Herbert von Karajan at the Lucerne Festival on August 23, and this solo recital at the 3rd Besançon International Music Festival on September 16.

Dinu Lipatti- the Master Pianist plays Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Grieg, Schumann, Bartok and Schubert on this seven CD set. Dinu Lipatti (1917- 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was tragically cut short by his death from Hodgkin's disease at age 33. Despite his short career and a relatively small recorded legacy, Lipatti is considered one of the finest pianists of the 20th century.

The magnificent series of recordings Dinu Lipatti made for Columbia in 1947-8 needs no introduction. They contain some of the most highly regarded performances ever committed to album and have remained in the catalogue almost continuously since their first issue on 78s. What makes the current set unique is the inclusion of five test albums made with the cellist Antonio Janigro, only two of which have appeared previously, and new masterings which reveal more of the original recordings than before. For the 1947 London recordings (originally released in 1999) APR had access to vinyl pressings from the original 78rpm masters and these have been further enhanced. For the newly transferred 1948 sessions, the original 78s were used rather that the subsequent LP issue (itself derived from the 78rpm masters) which appears to have been used in all other transfers. These turned out to have a much brighter sound and more ambience than the rather dull and filtered LP. We strongly believe the Schumann Concerto has never sounded so good!

Notes from the Booklet: ….. Lipatti's star still shines on us today, and its light is brighter than ever. The reasons are not all strictly musical. "The greatness of the early genius", "the Saint amongst pianists", and other adulatory haloes are still uttered today, obscuring the truth more than anything else. Such misunderstandings emanate from his very limited discography, which led some critics to conclude that Lipatti had learned and mastered but two piano concertos and one recital. The truth is rather different, however: Lipatti performed in public 23 different works for piano and orchestra, and his repertoire contined six complete piano recital programmes. A separate list in this booklet show how extensive his repertoire really was….." [lines by Marc Gertsch/Werner Unger and translated by Mark Ainley]

Dinu Lipatti- the Master Pianist plays Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Grieg, Schumann, Bartok and Schubert on this seven CD set. Dinu Lipatti (1917- 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was tragically cut short by his death from Hodgkin's disease at age 33. Despite his short career and a relatively small recorded legacy, Lipatti is considered one of the finest pianists of the 20th century.

Dinu Lipatti is one of those almost mythical figures of the piano cosmos. His star shone briefly, but with incredible intensity and its lingering aura threatened at times to obscure the view of his playing. Conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) was repeatedly quoted: It was no longer piano playing, it was music, released from all earthly weight, music in its purest form, in a harmony that can be imparted only by one who was no longer of this world.

Dinu Lipatti- the Master Pianist plays Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Grieg, Schumann, Bartok and Schubert on this seven CD set. Dinu Lipatti (1917- 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was tragically cut short by his death from Hodgkin's disease at age 33. Despite his short career and a relatively small recorded legacy, Lipatti is considered one of the finest pianists of the 20th century.

To mark the forthcoming publication by Actes Sud of André Tubeuf’s new book on the Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti, La quatorzième valse (The Fourteenth Waltz), EMI Classics is re-releasing all the recordings by this artist of genius in a single 7CD box, each one freshly and sympathetically re-mastered using 24-bit technology. Falling victim to leukaemia at an early age and at the height of his powers, Dinu Lipatti naturally left behind only a small discography, but one of truly exceptional diversity and quality, and this collection is rounded off by his famous last recital, at Besançon in September 1950. This recital, which he halted after thirteen waltzes (hence the title of André Tubeuf’s book), having completely exhausted his ailing body, has become legendary, a last, powerfully moving expression of a life cut short in its prime barely three months later.

Boléro, composed by Maurice Ravel in 1928, has always captured the world’s attention. Repetitive, mesmeric, colourful and thrilling, it has also proved a seminal work, influencing composers over the past century. Now it lends its name to a film inspired by the life of Ravel: directed by Anne Fontaine and starring Raphaël Personnaz.