Eileen Joyce: The Complete Studio Recordings

 
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BERGMAN / DEBUSSY / LISZT / RACHMANINOV / STRAUSS / MOZART /etc
Eileen Joyce: The Complete Studio Recordings
Eileen Joyce (piano)

[ Decca Australian Eloquence / 10 CD Box Set ]

Release Date: Thursday 12 October 2017

Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 4 weeks.

'In every way the most transcendentally gifted young piano student I have heard in the last 25 years' was Percy Grainger's pronouncement of the young EILEEN JOYCE (1908-1991) when he first heard her play in 1926. From the goldfields in Western Australia, whose capital city is the most remote in the world, Joyce defied incongruous and humble beginnings to forge a career that took her to the international pinnacle of twentieth-century pianism. Now, for the first time, her complete studio recordings, made between 1933 and 1959, are issued collectively as a 10CD box with a lavishly illustrated and annotated booklet.

The Tasmanian-born pianist Eileen Joyce was still a student of the legendary pedagogue Tobias Matthay at the Royal Academy of Music in London when she made her first recording, at her own expense, in June 1933. This was of Liszt's concert study 'La leggierezza', and the Parlophone Company was sufficiently impressed by the recording to purchase it from her and request a side B. So began a 27-year-long recording career, stretching almost to her retirement in 1960. The many short pieces she recorded for Parlophone, documented on CDs 1-4 of this box, were not salon trifles but compact classics of piano literature, by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Rachmaninov, among others. They are distinguished by a precision and clarity of articulation which became known as the hallmark of her playing, as well as the flamboyance, strength and stamina that gave her so durable a career in concert.

More substantial works from those early years include piano trios by Arensky and then Haydn, recorded for Columbia once EMI had absorbed the Parlophone label. In 1942 she made her first complete concerto recordings, of the fine concerto by John Ireland and the First Concerto by the youthful Shostakovich. After the war she became a Decca artist, and continued to record a remarkably wide range of repertoire, from classics and rarely heard miniatures to contemporary music. In fact her first recording for the label was never issued: Tchaikovsky's Second Concerto, rarely encountered then as now. Shelved for mysterious 'technical reasons' it has been specially remastered for this set and shows Joyce at her best: a fearless performance, 'one of the finest I have heard,' according to the pianist Philip Fowke, 'a performance of sparkle, passion and bravura'.

The set's editorial content includes a personal memoir of the pianist from Bryce Morrison; a thoroughly researched and documented history of her early years by David Tunley; an account of her career by another Australian academic and historian of performing arts, Victoria Rogers; and the story of her career as a recording artist, by Cyrus Meher-Homji. For any pianophile, piano historian, or simply lover of superbly crafted piano playing, this box promises a treasure-trove of exciting discoveries.

'She played Mozart with real devotion. Even I could recognize that, though I couldn't figure out whence it came. It's funny, too, because I heard her very old recording […] of KV 576 just a few weeks ago on the radio, for the first time in perhaps twenty years, and it made me think again what an extraordinary pianist she really was.' Glenn Gould on Eileen Joyce (in conversation with Bruno Monsaingeon)

'Those of you on the look-out for a good piano recording … should most certainly get the Parlophone E11237 on which Eileen Joyce plays two Etudes, one by Liszt and the other by Schlözer … Never before have we heard such clarity and detail and absence of piano "twang" on a record … The result is certainly one of outstanding merit.' Gramophone, October 1933 (Joyce's first recording)

'extraordinary technical dexterity … a fine musical intelligence, subtle feeling for nuance… An inspired Press agent might christen her "The Feminine Horowitz" or "Menuhin of the Piano".' The Broadcaster, September 1936

'Listening to Eileen Joyce in the D major Sonata (No. 17) we learn how much subtler the Mozart rubato is than the Chopin. Miss Joyce is one of the few pianists who have its secret, and that is one of the reasons why her playing of this sonata feels so full of life beneath its calm exterior.' Musical Times, September 1941 (Mozart Sonata KV 576)

'Her Mendelssohn is the most outstanding performance here. She certainly tears into the first movement con fuoco, as marked, but equally striking is the crystalline delicacy she brings to other passages, and thee finale is a joy.' Gramophone, July 1998 (Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1)

Tracks:

Bach, J S: Fantasia & Fugue in A minor, BWV944

Paradies: Toccata in A

Mozart: Rondo for Piano & Orchestra in A major, K386

Mozart: Suite in C major, K399

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K545 'Facile'

Schubert: Andante in A major, D604

Schubert: Impromptu in E flat major, D899 No. 2

Schubert: Impromptu in A flat major, D899 No. 4

Chopin: Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2

Chopin: Nocturne No. 9 in B major, Op. 32 No. 1

Chopin: Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 66 'Fantaisie-Impromptu'

Chopin: Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57

Schumann: Novelette, Op. 21 No. 2 in D major

Schumann: Novelette, Op. 21 No. 6 in A major

Schumann: Bunte Blätter, Op. 99: Stücklein

Liszt: Liebestraum, S541 No. 3 (Nocturne in A flat major)

Liszt: Waldesrauschen, S145 No. 1

Liszt: Valse oubliée No. 1, S.215 / 1

Liszt: Au bord d'une source (Années de pèlerinage I, S. 160 No. 4)

Liszt: La leggierezza - Étude de concert No. 2, S144

Liszt: Gnomenreigen, S145 No. 2

Liszt: Prelude and Fugue in a minor, BWV 543 (J.S. Bach), S. 462 / 1

Liszt: Widmung S566 after Schumann (Liebeslied)

Liszt: Frühlingsnacht (after Schumann, Op. 39 No. 12), S568

Liszt: Spinnerlied aus Der fliegende Holländer S440

Liszt: Valse De L'opera Faust S407

Brahms: Romance in F major, Op. 118 No. 5

Brahms: Intermezzo in C major, Op. 119 No. 3

Brahms: Capriccio for Piano in D minor, Op. 116 No. 7

Brahms: Intermezzo in A major, Op. 76 No. 6

Brahms: Rhapsody in E flat major, Op. 119 No. 4

Brahms: Intermezzo in B flat minor, Op. 117 No. 2

Brahms: Ballade in G minor, Op. 118, No. 3

Hummel, J: Rondo for piano in E flat major, Op. 11

Henselt: Etude Op. 2 No. 6 'Si oiseau j`etais'

Schlözer: Etude in A flat major, Op. 1 No. 2

Moszkowski: Waltz in E major, Op. 34 No. 1

Moszkowski: Caprice espagnole, Op. 37 - abridged version

Albéniz: Tango (No. 2 from Espana, Op. 165)

Granados: Laments or the Maiden and the Nightingale

Sinding: Frühlingsrauschen (Rustle of Spring), Op. 32 No 3

Grieg: Scherzo-Impromptu, Op. 73 No. 2

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 43: No. 1 - Butterfly

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 47: No. 3 - Melody

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 43: No. 2 - Lonely Wanderer

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 62: No. 4 - Brooklet

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 43: No. 6 - To Spring

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 71: No. 2 - Summer's Eve

Sibelius: Romance in D flat major, Op. 24, No. 9

Stavenhagen: Menuetto scherzando

Palmgren: En route

Friedman, I: Viennese Dance No. 2 (after Eduard Gärtner)

Fauré: Impromptu No. 2 in F minor, Op. 31

Debussy: Reflets dans l'eau (No. 1 from Images pour piano - Book 1)

Debussy: Pour le Piano: Toccata

Turina: Rapsodia sinfonica, Op. 66

Arensky: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32

Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor

Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 23 No. 6 in E flat major

Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 23 No. 7 in C minor

Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 23 No. 8 in A flat minor

Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 32 No. 8 in A minor

Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 32 No. 13 in D flat major

Albert, E: Scherzo in F Sharp Major, Op. 16, No. 2

Strauss, R: Ständchen, Op. 17 No. 2

Dohnányi: Rhapsody No. 3 in C major, Op. 11 No. 3

Bergman, S: Polka Caprice, Op. 1 No. 3

Bergman, S: Himmelgesang, Op. 2 No. 1

Scott, C: Lotus Land, Op. 47 No. 1 (W183)

Scott, C: Danse nègre, Op.58 No.5 (W89)

Pick-Mangiagalli: La Danza di Olaf

Farjeon: Tarantella

Shostakovich: Fantastic Dances (3), Op. 5

Haydn: Piano Trio No. 39 in G major, Hob.XV:25 'Gypsy'

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major, K332

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 18 in D major, K576 'Hunt'

Mozart: Romance in A flat major, K Anh. 205

Mozart: Gigue in G Major, K574

Mozart: Minuet in D major, K355

Beethoven: Bagatelle in C major, Op 33 No. 2

Beethoven: Für Elise (Bagatelle in A minor, WoO59)

Chopin: Étude Op. 10 No. 3 in E major 'Tristesse'

Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47

Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso in E major, Op. 14

Grieg: Ballade in G minor, Op. 24

Scriabin: Prelude, Op. 11 No. 9 in E major

Scriabin: Prelude, Op. 11 No. 10 in C sharp minor

Ravel: Jeux d'eau

Ireland: Piano Concerto in E flat major

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor for piano, trumpet & strings, Op. 35

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 7 in C, K309

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 'Pathetique'

Beethoven: Bagatelle in E flat major, Op. 33 No. 1

Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2

Chopin: Waltz No. 10 in B minor, Op. 69 No. 2

Chopin: Waltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. post., KKIVa:15, B 56

Franck, C: Symphonic Variations for piano & orchestra, M46

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Bliss: Baraza (from Men of Two Worlds, 1945)

Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25

Bach, J S: Concerto for Three Keyboards in C major, BWV1064

Bach, J S: Concerto for Four Keyboards in A minor (after Vivaldi), BWV1065

Malcolm: Variations on a theme by Mozart for four harpsichords

Beethoven: Für Elise (Bagatelle in A minor, WoO59)

Schumann: Romance in F sharp major, Op. 28 No. 2

Liszt: Widmung S566 after Schumann (Liebeslied)

Liszt: Gnomenreigen, S145 No. 2

Liszt: Un Sospiro from 3 Concert Studies, S144 No. 3

Fauré: Impromptu No. 2 in F minor, Op. 31

Debussy: Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque)

Debussy: Préludes - Book 1: No. 10, La cathédrale engloutie

Granados: Laments or the Maiden and the Nightingale

Granados: Allegro de concierto, Op. 46

Dohnányi: Rhapsody No. 2 in C major, Op. 11 No. 1

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 54: No. 4 - Nocturne

Grieg: Lyric Pieces Op. 47: No. 3 - Melody

Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16