Description

AUGUSTE DE RADWAN (WARSAW, POLAND, 1867 – PARIS, FRANCE, DECEMBER 22, 1957)

 

 

 

 

Auguste de Radwan was a Polish concert pianist, music educator, and authority on the music of Frédéric Chopin. Born in Warsaw, he studied piano with the celebrated pedagogue Theodor Leschetizky between 1889 and 1894. He subsequently established himself in Paris, where he pursued an international career as a concert pianist and performed at prominent European musical venues. His repertoire focused particularly on the Romantic composers, especially Chopin, whose piano concertos, sonatas, études, preludes, mazurkas, and waltzes featured prominently in his programmes. He also performed works by Brahms, Liszt, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and other composers. During the 1930s, de Radwan made recordings for the French Ultraphone label, preserving his interpretations of Chopin and other piano works. In addition to his concert activities, he worked as a piano examiner and wrote about music, including an article on Chopin published in 1949. He moved in influential artistic and aristocratic circles and maintained professional relationships with prominent musicians of his time. Auguste de Radwan died in Paris on December 22, 1957, aged 90. His surviving recordings and correspondence, now documented in historical archives, provide valuable insight into his career and the musical life of early twentieth-century Europe.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

The recording you are referring to is a live historical radio broadcast from February 6, 1952, featuring the Polish pianist Auguste de Radwan performing the second and third movements of Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11.

Attribute Details

Pianist  Auguste de Radwan

Second Pianist   Henri Gautier (providing the orchestral accompaniment on a second piano)

Announcer Charles Oulmont

Date of Recording February 6, 1952

Location Les Baux-Sainte-Croix, France

Content Movements 2 (Romance – Larghetto) and 3 (Rondo – Vivace) only

Arrangement Double steel adaptation version (two-piano arrangement)

Preservation Status Highly flawed audio with significant recording defects, preserved primarily for its immense historical and archival value rather than high-fidelity entertainment.