Description

JOSEPH-ÉDOUARD RISLER (BADEN-BADEN, 23 FEBRUARY 1873 – PARIS, 22 JULY 1929)

Risler was born in Baden-Baden (Germany) of a German mother and an Alsatian father. He studied under Louis Diémer, Théodore Dubois and Émile Decombes at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1883 to 1890. He was recorded by Theo Wangemann at the 1889 Paris Expo, one of the first musical recordings. In 1891 he became a good friend of Emmanuel Chabrier and visited and corresponded with the older composer. He then completed his studies in Germany with Klindworth, d’Albert and Stavenhagen. He was the répétiteur at the Festpielhaus, Bayreuth in 1896. He soon made a mark on the music world as one of the important French pianists of his time, open to the music of his time as well as the romantic German repertoire. He gave several major cycles: the 32 sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven from October to December 1905, at the Salle Pleyel, the complete works of Frédéric Chopin and The Well-Tempered Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach. From 1906, Risler devoted much time to teaching and became professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1923. He married Émilie Girette, an amateur singer for whom Gabriel Fauré had written several of his songs. He corresponded regularly with Reynaldo Hahn and played in the première of the Sonatine in C major of Hahn in April 1908, at the Salle Érard. He died in Paris in 1929. Emmanuel Chabrier dedicated his Bourrée fantasque to him, and Enrique Granados the Coloquio en la reja, extract of Goyescas. Risler made a piano transcription of Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.

TRACKLIST

1. Le rappel des oiseaux (Rameau) (5816) 9529 Pathé, Paris 1917
2. Tambourin (Rameau) (5816) 9529 Pathé, Paris 1917
3. Premier livre de pieces de clavecin, Suite No. 3: No. 15. Le Coucou (Daquin) (5817) 9529 Pathé, Paris 1917
4. Pieces de clavecin, Book 3, 18th Ordre in F Minor-major: Le tic-toc-choc, ou Les maillotins(Couperin) (5817) 9529 Pathé, Paris 1917
5. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3, “La Chasse”: II. Scherzo: Allegretto vivace (Beethoven) (5824) 9532 Pathé, Paris 1917
6. Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-Flat Major, Op. 26: IV. Allegro (Beethoven) (5815) 9528 Pathé, Paris 1917
7. Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58: II. Andante con moto (arr. E. Risler) (Beethoven) (5818)9528 Pathé, Paris 1917
8. 3 Fantaisies ou caprices, Op. 16: II. Scherzo in E Minor (Mendelssohn) (5823) 9532 Pathé, Paris 1917
9. Waltz No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2 (Chopin) (5819) 9530 Pathé, Paris 1917
10. Nocturne No. 5 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2 (Chopin) (5820) 9530 Pathé, Paris 1917
11. Mazurka No. 13 in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4 (Chopin)(5821) 9531 Pathé, Paris 1917
12. Etude No. 5 in G-Flat Major, Op. 10, No. 5, “Black Keys” (Chopin) (5822) 9531 Pathé, Paris 1917
13. Aufforderung zum Tanze (Invitation to the Dance), Op. 65, J. 260 (Weber) (5825-5826) 9534 Pathé, Paris 1917
14. 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244/R106: No. 11 in A Minor(Liszt) (5827-5828) 9535 Pathé, Paris 1917
15. Valse nonchalante in D-Flat Major, Op. 110 (Saint-Saëns) (5829) 9533 Pathé, Paris 1917
16. 10 Pieces pittoresques: No. 6. Idylle (Chabrier) (5830) 9533 Pathé, Paris 1917
17. 12 Danzas espanolas (Spanish Dances), Op. 37, DLR I:2: No. 10. Melancolica (Granados) (5831) 9536 Pathé, Paris 1917
18. Mazurka No. 2, Op.54 (Godard) (5832) 9536 Pathé, Paris 1917