Artist: Wilhelm Kempff
Title: Complete Decca Recordings
Year Of Release: 2022
Label: Decca Eloquence
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Total Time: 12:47:59

Tracklist:
Vol. 1

01. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
02. J.S. Bach: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
03. J.S. Bach: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
04. J.S. Bach: Befiehl du deine Wege, nach BWV 727 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
05. J.S. Bach: Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903
06. IV. Air con variazioni
07. Minuet (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
08. 7. Le carillon de Cithére
09. 5. Le rappel des oiseaux (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
10. 7. Musette en Rondeau (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
11. Beethoven: Bagatelle in C Minor, WoO 52
12. Beethoven: Bagatelle No. 25 in A Minor, WoO 59 “Für Elise”
13. No. 3, Intermezzo in A-Flat Major

Vol. 2

01. J.S. Bach: Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903
02. J.S. Bach: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
03. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
04. J.S. Bach: Herzlich tut mich verlangen, BWV 727 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
05. J.S. Bach: In dulci jubilo, BWV 729 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
06. J.S. Bach: Nun freut euch, liebe Christen g’mein, BWV 734 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
07. II. Siciliano (Arr. Kempff for Piano)
08. J.S. Bach: Wachet auf! Ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 (Arr. Kempff for Piano)

Vol. 3

01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andantino
03. III. Rondeau. Presto
04. I. Allegro
05. II. (Andante)
06. III. Allegro

Vol. 4

01. I. Moderato
02. II. Andante, poco mosso
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Un poco più lento
04. IV. Rondo. Allegro vivace
05. I. Molto moderato
06. II. Andante sostenuto
07. III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace con delicatezza
08. IV. Allegro ma non troppo

Vol. 5

01. Introduction. Moderato
02. Schumann: Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18
03. I. Allegro affettuoso
04. II. Intermezzo. Andantino grazioso
05. III. Allegro vivace

Vol. 6

01. I. Grave – Doppio movimento
02. II. Scherzo – Più lento – Tempo I
03. III. Marche funèbre. Lento
04. IV. Finale. Presto
05. Chopin: Impromptu No. 1 in A-Flat Major, Op. 29
06. Chopin: Impromptu No. 2 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 36
07. Chopin: Impromptu No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Op. 51
08. Chopin: Fantaisie-impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66
09. Chopin: Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57
10. Chopin: Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op. 60
11. No. 3 in B Major: Allegretto
12. Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 39

Vol. 7

01. I. Allegro maestoso
02. II. Scherzo. Molto vivace
03. III. Largo
04. IV. Finale. Presto non tanto
05. Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A-Flat Major, Op. 47
06. Chopin: Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22
07. Chopin: Fantaisie in F Minor, Op. 49
08. Chopin: Polonaise-fantaisie, Op. 61

Vol. 8

01. 7. Eglogue
02. 2. Au lac de Wallenstadt
03. 4. Au bord d’une source
04. 2. Il Penseroso
05. 3. Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa
06. 1. Gondoliera
07. 1. St François d’Assise: La prédication aux oiseaux
08. 2. St François de Paule: Marchant sur les flots
09. 4. Sonetto 47 del Petrarca
10. 5. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
11. 6. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca

Vol. 9

01. I. Allegro maestoso
02. II. Quasi adagio
03. III. Allegretto vivace
04. IV. Allegro marziale animato
05. I. Adagio sostenuto assai – Allegro agitato assai
06. II. Allegro moderato
07. III. Allegro deciso – Marziale un poco meno allegro
08. IV. Allegro animato

Vol. 10

01. Brahms: Rhapsody in B Minor, Op. 79 No. 1
02. Brahms: Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79 No. 2
03. No. 1 in E-Flat Major
04. No. 2 in B-Flat Major
05. No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor
06. No. 1, Intermezzo in A Minor
07. No. 2, Intermezzo in A Major
08. No. 3, Ballade in G Minor
09. No. 4, Intermezzo in F Minor
10. No. 5, Romance in F Major
11. No. 6, Intermezzo in E-Flat Minor
12. No. 6, Intermezzo in E-Flat Minor (Alternate Take 1)
13. No. 6, Intermezzo in E-Flat Minor (Alternate Take 2)

Vol. 11

01. No. 1 in D Minor
02. No. 2 in D Major
03. No. 3 in B Minor
04. No. 4 in B Major
05. No. 1, Capriccio in F-Sharp Minor
06. No. 2, Capriccio in B Minor
07. No. 3, Intermezzo in A-Flat Major
08. No. 4, Intermezzo in B-Flat Major
09. No. 5, Capriccio in C-Sharp Minor
10. No. 6, Intermezzo in A Major
11. No. 7, Intermezzo in A Minor
12. No. 8, Capriccio in C Major
13. Brahms: Rhapsody in B Minor, Op. 79 No. 1
14. Brahms: Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79 No. 2
15. No. 1 in E-Flat Major
16. No. 2 in B-Flat Minor
17. No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor

Vol. 12

01. No. 1, Capriccio in D Minor
02. No. 2, Intermezzo in A Minor
03. No. 3, Capriccio in G Minor
04. No. 4, Intermezzo in E Major
05. No. 5, Intermezzo in E Minor
06. No. 6, Intermezzo in E Major
07. No. 7, Capriccio in D Minor
08. No. 1, Intermezzo in B Minor
09. No. 2, Intermezzo in E Minor
10. No. 3, Intermezzo in C Major
11. No. 4, Rhapsody in E-Flat Major

Vol. 13

01. I. Adagio sostenuto – Allegro – Adagio – Presto (Live)
02. II. Rondo. Allegro vivace (Live)
03. I. Allegro ma non tanto
04. II. Scherzo. Allegro molto
05. III. Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace
06. IV. Allegro vivace
07. I. Adagio sostenuto – Presto
08. II. Andante con variazioni
09. III. Presto

The Decca legacy of WILHELM KEMPFF, one of the last century’s greatest keyboard poets.

Wilhelm Kempff is known, with good reason, as a Beethoven interpreter of sublime simplicity, with several cycles of the concertos and sonatas to his credit, all of them recorded for DG. However, he began recording as early as 1918 and made records for Polydor before the war, as well as for Decca during the 1950s. While his DG recordings have rarely been out of the catalogue, his legacy on other labels has never been so comprehensively documented as it is on this newly remastered set from Eloquence.

Offered as a ‘historical’ appendix are Kempff’s Polydor recordings of Beethoven sonatas with like-minded and recreative partners including the violinist Georg Kulenkampff (the ‘Kreutzer’) and the cellists Pablo Casals (Cello Sonata Op. 5 No. 1) and Paul Grümmer (Cello Sonata Op. 69), better known as a long-standing member of the Busch Quartet. These pre-war and mid-war recordings, newly remastered, add significantly to our understanding of Kempff as an artist of extraordinarily wide sympathies and imagination.

The same could be said of his Decca legacy, which in its complete form should dispel the tenacious myth that he was first and foremost a Beethoven pianist. In 1950 he began recording the solo music of Brahms in the 78 era, with repertoire which he then recorded again in 1953 for LP. In the 1953 sessions he also recorded the composer’s late piano music, which is touched with an elusive grace that very few pianists find as surely as Kempff. Of interest to many will be previously unpublished material (Rameau, Brahms) as well as Kempff’s first – and extremely rare – recordings for Decca of music by J.S. Bach, receiving their first release on CD.

In the booklet essay for the box, Alfred Brendel explains how he particularly esteems Kempff’s Decca recordings, for the piano sound captured at the company’s studios in West Hampstead in London, and also how he prizes the pianist’s recordings of Liszt above all: ‘truly legendary’. He recalls seeing Kempff play Schubert’s Sonatas D.845, which Decca also captured, as an inspiration for his own subsequent dedication to the composer’s piano sonatas. A pair of Mozart concertos, KV 271 and KV 450, finds Kempff’s phrasing at its most limpid and apparently effortless. His Decca discography concluded in fine style in 1958 with sessions which yielded three LP albums of Chopin.

Several of these recordings have previously appeared in previous sets dedicated to Kempff but this is the first complete survey of his Decca legacy. Combined with the rare pre-war recordings, new remasterings and detailed editorial support (including a discographical essay by Michael Gray and one by the late Michael Steinberg), this set of Wilhelm Kempff will attract the attention of all pianophiles. ‘When he is at his best, he plays more beautifully than any of us.’ (Alfred Brendel)