Gemm Stone

Béla Bartók - Bartók Plays Bartók, Bartók At The Piano 1929-1941 (1995) {Pearl GEMM CD 9166}
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© 1929-41, 1991 Pearl ‎| GEMM CD 9166
Classical / Early 20th Century / Modern / Piano

Hungarian composer Bela Bartok (born in Romania) was an innovative composer in his day and along with Gyorgy Ligeti is highly regarded as one of the greatest composers to come out of Hungary in the 20th century. While a majority of Bartok's works are timeless classics in modern Classical repertoire, recordings are Bartok performing his own music are extremely rare to find these days. This is what makes the "Bartok Plays Bartok" disc from Pearl Records such a treat to listen to. The recordings on this disc date from between 1929 and 1941 and display Bartok's gifts as a solid pianist in their fullest. His pianistic attack and full command of the instrument comes through in every piece included here.

Aaron Copland & Leonard Bernstein - The Composer As Performer (1997) {Pearl GEMM CD9279 rec 1933-1944}
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© 1933-44, 1997 Pavilion Records / Pearl | GEMM CD 9279
Classical / Early 20th Century / Historical / Piano

Copland never performed other people's piano music in public, but he was an excellent player of his own music. His 1935 78s of his own spiky, wonderful Piano Variations have never been surpassed. This CD collects most of Copland's prewar 78s, adds a piano transcription of Appalachian Spring (well played by someone, but the provenance seems dubious), and concludes with Leonard Bernstein's first recording. As a program it's a bit scattered, but the individual items are important. Some of the dubs are noisy, but the sound is good enough throughout so that we can enjoy a major document of American music.

Francis Poulenc - Poulenc d'après Poulenc (1988) {Pearl GEMM CD 9311}
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© 1988 Pearl | GEMM CD 9311
Classical / 20th Century / Chamber Music / Neo-Romantic / Piano / Historical

Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963) was a French composer almost as famous for his personal life as his music, including his Gloria and piano works. Born in Paris in 1899, Poulenc's mother was an amateur pianist who taught him to play. As a young composer, he was influenced by musicians like Debussy, Satie, and Stravinsky - he caught the latter's attention with his first surviving composition, Rapsodie Nègre, written in 1917.

Kurt Weill - Kurt Weill from Berlin to Broadway (1995) {2CD Set, Pearl GEMM CDS 9189}
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© 1995 Pearl | GEMM CDS 9189
Classical / Stage & Screen / Cabaret / Opera / Jazz

Did coming to America dull one of this century's most talented composers of music for the German theater? Nonsense. Kurt Weill simply turned into one of this century's most talented composers of music for the American theater. He arrived in America in 1935, and it took him only a few years until he was writing theater music for Broadway that was idiomatic and of the very highest quality. Therefore, if one finds fault with the American Kurt Weill, then one must find fault with American musical theater from the thirties and forties in general, because Weill was one of its best craftsmen.

Kurt Weill - From Berlin to Broadway Vol. II (1997) {2CD Set, Pearl GEMM CDS 9294}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 437 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 319 Mb
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© 1997 Pearl | GEMM CDS 9294
Classical / Stage & Screen / Cabaret / Opera / Jazz

Did coming to America dull one of this century's most talented composers of music for the German theater? Nonsense. Kurt Weill simply turned into one of this century's most talented composers of music for the American theater. He arrived in America in 1935, and it took him only a few years until he was writing theater music for Broadway that was idiomatic and of the very highest quality. Therefore, if one finds fault with the American Kurt Weill, then one must find fault with American musical theater from the thirties and forties in general, because Weill was one of its best craftsmen.

Zez Confrey - Keyboard Wizards Of The Gershwin Era - Volume IV (1921-1943) {Pearl GEMM CD 9204 rel 1998}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 213 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 165 Mb
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© 1921-43, 1998 Pearl | GEMM CD 9204
Jazz / Vocal / Traditional Jazz / Pop / Piano

This fourth volume in Pearl's series Keyboard Wizards of the Gershwin Era includes 26 tracks of piano-roll recordings by Zez Confrey, a gifted pianist with nimble fingers and a light touch. Barring the four versions of "Kitten on the Keys," the selections here – "Coaxin' the Piano," "Poor Buttermilk," "You Tell 'Em Ivories," "Mississippi Shivers," and "Charleston Chuckles" – will be unfamiliar to most. It's an enjoyable collection nevertheless, and a fascinating document from nearly a century ago.

Dana Suesse - Keyboard Wizards Of The Gershwin Era - Volume II (1940-1956) {Pearl GEMM CD 9202 rel 1996}
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© 1940-56, 1996 Pearl | GEMM CD 9202
Jazz / Classical / Pop / Piano

It is a crime that these pieces are not better known. They are extraordinary, of great depth, truly beautiful, and highly addictive. That's all I have to say. Great music performed with gusto. Classical training and virtuosity is self evident. I enjoyed this CD very much. Composer and lyricist Dana Suesse was a child prodigy, giving her first concert, a Rachmaninoff prelude, at the age of nine. At 16 she moved to New York and began composing songs.

Victor Arden & Phil Ohman - Keyboard Wizards Of The Gershwin Era - Volume III (1920-1935) {Pearl GEMM CD 9203 rel 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 302 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
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© 1920-35, 1996 Pearl | GEMM CD 9203
Jazz / Classical / Pop / Piano

Keyboard Wizards III- Arden and Ohman is my favorite disc so far. The other two I own are vols. I and V which are also good but lack the variety Arden and Ohman possess. Vol. III's salient quality is the diversity of ensembles. Piano alone, big band and vocals all are featured which give it an edge over the other great discs. The music and piano work is certainly dated, reflecting the whimsical and seemingly care-free times of the late 1920s. If you are a musicologist or simply a fan of American music history, this album may be for you, too.

Povla Frijsh - The Complete Recordings, 1926-1942 (1994) {2CD Set, Pearl GEMM CD 9095}
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© 1994 Pearl | GEMM CD 9095
Classical / Vocal / Opera / Historical

Published & Unpublished, plus Broadcast Performances, 1926-42; plus speech recordings, 1943-55. Elaborate 103pp. brochure features extensive biographies, reminiscences, Photos & Definitive Discography. Povla Frijsh (3 August 1881 - 10 July 1960) was a Danish classical soprano and voice teacher. She mainly sang in concerts and recitals; although she did make a few opera appearances at the Paris Opera and the Royal Danish Theatre. She was a champion of contemporary classical music, and was an important exponent of the works of Virgil Thomson, Randall Thompson, Francis Poulenc, Rebecca Clarke, and Samuel Barber. After a 49-year-long performance career, she retired from singing in 1947. Her notable pupils included Adele Addison, Jean Kraft, and Cornelius L. Reid.

George Gershwin plays George Gershwin (1991) {2CD Set, Pearl GEMM CDS 9483}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 455 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 280 Mb
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© 1991 Pearl | GEMM CDS 9483
Classical / Jazz / Early 20th Century / Piano / Historical

The first of these two discs gathers all Gershwin's commercially issued discs as a pianist, including the two abridged Rhapsody in Blue traversals, Gershwin accompanying the Astaire siblings, and twelve solo sides. Hearing the composer play his own music is like getting your ears cleaned out from 75 years of interpretive maulings. Gershwin's crisp touch, clear-cut and unsentimental phrasing, and rhythmic verve comes through more convincingly in these flat discs than in his much-vaunted piano rolls. Also included are the composer-supervised first recordings of An American in Paris and selections from Porgy & Bess, along with a flawed yet revelatory aircheck of Gershwin playing the finale of his concerto. No Gershwin lover should be without this important collection.