Clifford Curzon Edition: Complete Recordings [23 CD/DVD Combo]

Clifford Curzon Edition: Complete Recordings [23 CD/DVD Combo]

It is 30 years since legendary British pianist Clifford Curzon died. Over the course of his career, during a long and almost exclusive association with Decca, Clifford Curzon established a per-eminence unrivaled by any other British pianist of his generation.<br><br>Although nervous of the recording process and bound by his own incredibly high standards, he left a legacy of recordings cherished for its regal bearing and sensitivity to the music, a legacy admired as much by his fellow musicians as by the wider public.<br><br>Curzon was particularly admired for his interpretations of works by four musical giants: Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms and these composers dominated his concert career as well as his recorded legacy.<br><br>For the first time this collection brings together absolutely every recording he ever made for Decca which has survived [in the days of fragile 78rpm shellac discs one or two items were given to the artist as unique-copy test-pressings and these have not survived], including several which have never been published on CD (or even LP) by Decca Falla Noches en los jardines de Espana (recorded in September 1945) Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No.1 and Liebestraum No.3 recorded in September 1947, Liszt Sonetto 104 del Petrarca recorded in1942.<br><br>Published for the first-time ever in any format are 8 pieces including a Medtner Fairy Tale, Chopin C sharp minor nocturne, Beethovens Rage over a lost penny, and 5 pieces by Brahms. These recordings survived as 78rpm test-pressings in Clifford Curzons private collection and have been made available for publication through his family.<br><br>Also herewith alongside 23 CDs is a famous DVD program made by the BBC and licensed globally for issue here. It includes Curzon performing solo works by Schumann and Brahms [filmed in 1959, black & white] and Schubert including a complete performance of the Piano Sonata in B flat, D960, filmed in 1968.