Edition Geza Anda - Vol. 4

Saturday, February 23rd 2008

With this double CD Audite opens a four-part series of recordings of the Hungarian pianist Géza Anda (1921-1976) from the archives of the West German Radio Cologne. These are both studio- and live-recordings from 1952 until 1957 which have until now remained unpublished or are premiere CD recordings. It is the aim of this edition to display a representative cross section of Anda’s diverse repertoire and also to close a delicate gap in his discography. Anda can be heard with works by Bartók, disclosing him as one of the most important pianists of the second half of the century. Far more than a great virtuoso and a sensitive musician, Anda contained in his playing the tension between spontaneity and reflection as an expressive ideal, and thus created exemplary interpretations of the great works for piano.

The historical publications at audite are based, without exception, on the original tapes from broadcasting archives. In general these are the original analogue tapes, which attain an astonishingly high quality, even measured by today‘s standards, with their tape speed of up to 76 cm/sec. The remastering – professionally competent and sensitively applied – also uncovers previously hidden details of the interpretations. Thus, a sound of superior quality results. CD publications based on private recordings from broadcasts cannot be compared with these.

CD1
Piano Concerto No. 1, Sz 83
Geza Anda, piano
WDR Sinfonie Orchester
Michael Gielen, conductor
29 April 1957

Piano Concerto No. 3, Sz 119
Geza Anda, piano
WDR Sinfonie Orchester
Ferenc Fricsay, conductor
27 June 1952

CD2
Contrasts
Geza Anda, piano
Tibor Varga, violin
Paul Blecher, clarinet
8 January 1953

Suite for Piano, Op. 14
Geza Anda, piano
22 July 1955

Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion
Geza Anda, piano
Geoorg Solti, piano
Ludwig Porth, percussion
Karl Peinkofer, percussion
9 January 1953