Rudolf Firkušný
Rudolf Firkušný was a Czech-born pianist, one of the leading keyboard artists of the twentieth century. He was especially admired for Czech repertory, Mozart, Beethoven and Janáček.
In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Beethoven, Brahms, Franck, Poulenc and Janáček, with conductors including Rafael Kubelík, Charles Munch and others.
Firkušný’s playing combined elegance, clarity and a deep Czech musical inheritance, with a nat...
BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4 and 5
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1; Alto Rhapsody
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21
HAYDN Symphony No. 93
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4
VIVALDI L'Estro Armonico: Concerto Grosso No. 11 in D minor, RV565 (1955 and 1956 performances)
RAVEL Pavane pour une infante défunte
FALLA El Sombrero des Tres Picos, Suite No. 2
PISTON Toccata
COPLAND El Salón México
R. STRAUSS Don Juan
CRESTON Dance Overture
WAGNER Parsifal – Good Friday Spell
VERDI Te Deum
MONTEVERDI Magnificat (arr. Ghedini)
HANDEL Xerxes – Largo
HINDEMITH Concert Music for Strings and Brass
Six live CBS broadcast concerts, Carnegie Hall, New York, 6 March 1955–8 April 1956
Total duration: 7:06:07, including radio commentary by Jim Fassett
New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Guido Cantelli
Walter Gieseking, piano (Mozart No. 21; Beethoven No. 5)
Rudolf Firkušný, piano (Beethoven No. 3; Brahms No. 1)
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano (Beethoven No. 4)
Martha Lipton, alto
Westminster Choir, directed by John Finley Williamson