The Concert Hall is a venue for classic or unusual performances, primarily from the first half of the twentieth century. The program will change regularly, as some pieces are added and others deleted.

Here you will find symphonies, concerti, chamber music and solo work featuring legendary performers and in some instances, the composer. You are not likely to find reissues of these recordings, so this site offers a unique opportunity for you to hear the masters. Click on the button to play the music.

All recordings are in RealAudio® 3.0 format to accommodate as wide an audience as possible.

Program

Rachmaninoff!
and more

In 1891 Rachmaninoff was awarded highest honors as a pianist, and the next year he was given the gold medal of honor for his one-act opera Aleko. Immediately after leaving the conservatory in 1892, Rachmaninoff traveled as a concert pianist, later devoting himself almost exclusively to composing.

The early part of the twentieth century found him busily engaged both as a concert pianist and composer, amazing audiences everywhere with his breath-taking technique and style as a virtuoso, and gaining fame for the melodious beauty of his contributions to musical literature.

Rachmaninoff’s first American appearance was at Smith College at Northampton, Massachusetts in 1904, where he gave a recital. Subsequently he played with the Boston Orchestra. In 1918 he left Russia with his wife and daughters, moving permanently to the USA.

The Rhapsodie (or Rhapsody) received its premiere in 1934 with Rachmaninoff at the piano and Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in a concert given in Baltimore, Maryland. This recording is from a 6-record set, and since the work is a single movement, the recording studio used the fade-out/fade-in method to transition between sides. For this reason it was quite a challenge for me to make the breaks unnoticeable. You will no doubt notice a slight pitch change at either end of one of the sides, which was apparently recorded slightly off-speed, so the pitch is slightly lowered for that side. I don’t have highly sophisticated computer equipment, so was unable to correct this defect. This minor technical problem aside, I think you will find the recording a joy to listen to, and will gain some insight into the composer’s conception of the performance of this work.

Rhapsodie for Piano and Orchestra on a Theme of Paganini

Theme and Twenty-Four Variations

Note: If you would like a copy of the Rhapsody in mp3 format, click here. The mp3 file is over 10 Mb, so if you have a dial-up modem, it will take about an hour to download (at 28.8).

More Legendary Keyboard Artists

Danse Macabre - Saint-Saëns/Liszt/Horowitz

Vladimir Horowitz, piano
Recorded early 1940s, after his five year “sabbatical” in Switzerland.
The playing in this example is absolutely incredible. Technically brilliant, clean, expressive. I’ve heard some of the best, but I do believe that Horowitz’s playing is unsurpassed.

Goldberg Variations - J.S. Bach

Wanda Landowska, harpsichord
The complete set runs about 50 minutes; this recording is an excerpt: the aria and two of the variations. Recorded 1945

Piéce Heroïque - Franck

Marcel Dupré, organ
Recorded at Queen's Hall, London (date not determined)

Choral No. 1 in E Major - Franck

Albert Schweitzer, organ
Recorded at Ste. Aurelie, Strasbourg. Date unknown, but probably just before the outbreak of World War II. Schweitzer recorded Bach there in 1936, but the label on this (English) Columbia disk is trademarked 1937.

Polonaise No. 6 in A-flat, Opus 53 - Chopin

Artur Rubinstein, piano
Recorded 1964

Piano Concerto in a minor, Opus 16 - Grieg

Dinu Lipatti, piano
The Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera, conductor
First movement; recorded 1948