Reading ｜ The romance of music is actually a derivative of free mood.
An unrepeatable moment: a tour of classical music listening
By He Qiufan
Guangxi Normal University Press published in October 2022.
The musicians mentioned in this book are all over the world, and there are many famous artists who are rarely recommended in China. Based on the musician’s life, the author introduces his style, important works, and his position and role in the inheritance of related music schools, focusing on the evaluation and comparison of various record versions, providing a rich music guide for philharmonic lovers.
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Flying stones, lightning in the palm of your hand(excerpt)
In 1934, Simon barrell (1896-1951), who had just arrived in London, presented a left-handed etude written by his teacher Felix Blumenfeld at a cocktail party, but unexpectedly attracted the dissatisfaction of the blind jazz pianist Alec templeton, who believed that the performance he had just heard could not be done with one hand, and even regarded the applause as a tease for the blind. In order to prove that he had no disrespect, barrell led him to the piano: "Please hold my right hand and I will play it for you again." At the end of the song, templeton was excited and convinced …
The sorrow of keyboard
Barrell was first known through a series of piano master’s "history" of unknown origin. In that 40-disc suit, basically one pianist occupies a space, but there are also several pianists who mix and match. In the one where barrell appeared, there are Friedman, Mojsevic, Levitchi, Brylov, Aschbach, "how many heroes at one time". Barrell’s three pieces are Chopin’s Scherzo No.3, Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody and Lightness, which were recorded in 1930s. Because the recording was old, I didn’t pay much attention to it at that time, but I didn’t know that in the first half of the 20th century, his skill was once unique, and his fingering was like lightning, which was considered to be under a spell.
Simon barrell was born into a big Jewish family in Odessa in 1896. When he was a child, he studied under Anna Yesipova and Blumenfeld in St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music, and became the younger brother of Negoz and the elder brother of Holovitz. Since he was a student, he has been famous for his extraordinary playing speed and finger flexibility. Dean Glazunov said that he has Liszt’s left hand and anton rubinstein’s right hand, and he was taken care of in many ways in the anti-Semitism wave in the Russian era. After graduation, barrell got a teaching position in Kiev Conservatory of Music. In 1928, he fled to Berlin via Riga, but the situation in Germany forced him to find another way to make a living. Later, he collaborated with Sir Beacham in a series of performances in England, which created conditions for him to emigrate to the United States. On November 9, 1936, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall and became famous in one fell swoop.
Boris, barrell’s son, recalled: "The house was always full of guests. It is strange that my father always complained that practicing the piano would make him play worse. He is a genius. In my impression, he only practiced some passages of Liszt’s Fantasia of Don Juan (that is, Memories of Don Juan) and Balakirev’s Islam. Life was embarrassing in Berlin, and my father went to the cinema to accompany silent films. One year after we moved to Sweden, he didn’t even touch the piano. After arriving in the United States, he once saved artur rubinstein’s life, and he didn’t even touch the piano for two months before. His last performance, when I was backstage, he said to Ormandi,’ This is our first cooperation, I hope it’s not the last time’, but a few minutes later … "On April 2, 1951, while performing Grieg’s piano concerto with Philadelphia Orchestra, barrell died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at Carnegie Hall.
Barrell’s legacy is unexpectedly scarce. Judging from the current CD (compact disc) distribution, the recordings of his performances were concentrated in the two-disc album "The Complete Recordings of barrell in HMV 1934-1936" (the transformation of APR Company), and the essence of it was concentrated in an album of Pearl Company. Barrell’s performance in Carnegie Hall in the middle and late 1940s was distributed in a set of five by APR, but it was hard to find in the market. These recordings were made at the request of his son Boris, and the recording studio in the concert hall negotiated the price and charge, but it is a pity that Boris asked people, "Because there is no stage in the recording room, the beginning part is often missing when recording, and these master tapes are always moving around on the turntable, so many of them are lost inexplicably."
Voice of stone
Even from these limited records, barrell’s repertoire arrangement in different time periods has been repeated. Liszt’s Fantasia of Don Juan and Balakirev’s Islam are repeated, while Schumann’s Tokata has two recorded versions on October 10 and 15, 1935 in the album The Complete Recordings of barrell in HMV from 1934 to 1936. Barrell’s few repertoire, to some extent, is also mutually causal with his few recordings.
Barrell inherits the romantic style of the Russian school, specializes in the late romantic songs, and strives to win applause on the stage. His dazzling and exciting playing method is most suitable for Liszt. The above-mentioned album in 1930s included two editions of Don Juan Fantasia on January 31st, 1934 and the same day in 1936. This song was adapted by Liszt from Mozart’s opera Don Juan in 1841. Because it was too difficult, there were few performers. In 1877, Liszt changed it to a double piano version. In the 20th century record history, there were only a few people who recorded this song except barrell, such as Holovitz. Barrell’s 1934 version took 15 minutes and 25 seconds, and the 1936 version was 10 seconds shorter, both of which were breathtaking performances. His strength lies mainly in the fact that the quick passage can show the graininess of the piano as usual, and even if the transition is fast, there is no ambiguity. According to the speed, I can’t imagine how the most difficult part of the right hand marching in a minor chromatic scale with the left hand accompanied by the symbol point, and how the whole keyboard is crossed by two hands in an endless stream. What’s even more surprising is that in such a crazy operation, he can still make the melody adapted from Don Juan and Selena’s aria "We Hand in Hand" sing simply and sincerely, flying sand and stones, leading to a clear spring, which is really incredible.
Another example of how to keep the joy of falling pearls and jade plates in advance, which is fleeting and both in form and spirit, is barrell’s three concert etudes by Liszt, one is Lightness, the other is Dance of Dwarfs, and the other is Forgotten Waltz. Barrell made up his mind to show off his skills in the end, and his palm was full of thunder and lightning, and he really had few followers. However, he also has another side that is poetic and confusing. The Petrarch Sonnet No.104, recorded in Liszt’s Travel Years on January 30, 1934, relies entirely on the carefully carved timbre combination to sing a deep and vibrant ancient tune. The metallic luster of its color blocks is fascinating, which is the only one he played in Liszt’s works-Holovitz in his early years, which can be matched by his kung fu, timbre and strength.
Balakirev himself can’t play "Islam Latin America". When it comes to barrell’s hands, it is famous for its flying skills. The transition from andantino in the middle section to the sharp board in the end section has the lethality of emptying and rolling over. In the same record, there were two recordings of him on October 15th, 1935 and January 31st, 1936. The former took 8 minutes and 19 seconds, and the latter took 8 minutes and 2 seconds. The latter was officially released that year. However, in the horizontal comparison, Holovitz left a recording of 6 minutes and 47 seconds, and the timbre forging was even worse. Alau was slow, and he also left a version of 8 minutes and 10 seconds. The fast-paced Zifra left four versions of the recording, all between 8 minutes and 30 seconds and 9 minutes and 30 seconds. Of course, music can’t just talk about speed. Pletnev’s performance in Carnegie Hall for 8 minutes and 30 seconds, excluding the recording factor, showed the fullness beyond his predecessors with the strictness of the overall structure and the conciseness of emotions.
Blumenfeld’s left-handed etude was recorded in barrell in October 1935. The surprise at the beginning of this article can be verified by readers, but it seems to be his unique secret book, and no one else has recorded it. Schumann’s "Tokata", his two versions of the recording are too speed-seeking, although those difficult two-tone and octave clips retain excellent graininess. Regarding this song, Boris recalled: "The record producer complained that it could not be recorded on one SP (coarse-grained record, each side can be recorded for about five minutes). Levine and Holovitz both recorded two copies, and my father swore that he could record on one side … He later said to me,’ Can you believe it? My hands are simply exhausted.’ " There are two etudes by scriabin (Op.2-1 and Op.8-12) worth mentioning in the album "The Complete Recordings of barrell in HMV 1934-1936", which are the two songs that Holovitz often plays. barrell’s version is probably poor in sound effect and has lost a lot of charm.
Author: He Qiufan
Editor: Zhou Yiqian
Editor in charge: Zhu Zifen
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