Wanda Landowska’s 80th anniversary
Posted in Music, The End of the Monsoon on December 5th, 2010 by admin – Be the first to comment
of her recording of the Goldberg Variations
Landowska’s first recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which was not only the first recorded on a harpsichord but the very first recording of the piece ever made, is variously listed as made in 1931, 1933 and 1935; I’m going with the earlier date. I first listened to it on an LP about 1980. It made an indelible impression. She was trained in the classical and romantic repertory, and I’ve read that she played Chopin on the piano all her life, but clearly her heart–or at least a significant part of her heart–was with Bach. She was also a serious musicologist and researcher with the interest and the languages and the cultural background to do original research, and the luck to be active at a time when you could still collect original manuscripts and instruments–before the the looting of Leipzig, the fire bombing of Bremen and the destruction of Berlin and much of western Europe.
Many reviewers describe her Bach as romantic, at least one as Gothic. read more »
