Description

LEONID KREUTZER (ST. PETERSBURG, 13 MARCH, 1884 – TOKYO, 30 OCTOBER, 1953)

 

 

 

 

Kreutzer was born in St. Petersburg into a Jewish family. He studied composition under Alexander Glazunov and piano under Anna Yesipova. He was a highly influential piano teacher at the Berlin Academy of Music (Berliner Hochschule für Musik), together with Egon Petri. Amongst Kreutzer’s students were Władysław Szpilman, Hans-Erich Riebensahm, Vladimir Horbowski, Karl-Ulrich Schnabel, Franz Osborn, Boris Berlin, Ignace Strasfogel, Franz Reizenstein and Grete Sultan. Leonid Kreutzer also gave musically and technically demanding solo recitals, mostly dedicated to specific composers or themes. At some of these, notably in June 1925, he performed works of contemporaries or modern, avant-garde composers of his time or of the recent past such as César Franck, Claude Debussy, Paul Hindemith and Paul Juon. The Nazis targeted him prominently as a cultural enemy: Together with Frieda Loebenstein he is the one of two pianists whose name appears in a list of “tidy-up tasks” (“Aufräumungsarbeiten”) compiled by Rosenberg’s “Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur” (Battle-Union for German Culture). He emigrated in 1933 to Tokyo, Japan. He is also known as editor of Chopin’s works at the Ullstein-Verlag. He wrote one of the first works on systematic use of the piano pedal (“Das normale Klavierpedal vom akustischen und ästhetischen Standpunkt”, 1915). One of his students was the deaf pianist Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming. There are pianos which are built under his name in Japan. Kreutzer married one of his pupils; his daughter is the soprano Ryoko Kreutzer.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

060 DUO-ART CHOPIN – Mazurka, Op. 30, No. 4, c#

0298 DUO-ART SCHUMANN -”Faschingsschwank aus Wien”, Op. 26 Romance; Scherzino Leonid Kreutzer

0336 DUO-ART BACH-ZADORA – Siciliano from the First Sonata, Eb

7728 WELTE-MIGNON CHOPIN – Etude, Op. 10, No. 12, c “Revolutionary”

 

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, op. 24

Leonid Kreutzer (1884-1953), piano

Recorded in Osaka, Japan

1951-52

 

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Piano Sonata No. 12 in A♭ major, Op. 26

Andante con variazioni

Scherzo

Maestoso andante, marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroe

Allegro

Leonid Kreutzer (1884-1953), piano

Recorded in Japan in 1938

 

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Pictures at an Exhibition

Leonid Kreutzer (1884-1953), piano

Recorded in 1952

 

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Moderato

Adagio sostenuto

III. Allegro scherzando

NHK Symphony Orchestra (cond) Kurt Woss

April 17/18, 1952 NHK Symphony Orchestra 336th Regular Concert Live
ATRAS8310 (1984/3)

 

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, “Moonlight” Op. 27 No. 2

Adagio sostenuto

Allegretto

III. Presto agitato

Columbia J5355-5356, M38672-38675

 

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110

Moderato cantabile molto espressivo

Scherzo: Allegro molto

Adagio ma non troppo. Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo

Polydor: 5038-5040, 4477BF, 4479-4483BF

 

Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, “Spring” Op. 24

Alexander Moguilewsky (violin)

Polydor: 5027-5029, 4469, 4470BF 4473-4476BF

 

A-moll-Konzert für 4 klaviere und Streichorchester (Vivaldi-Bach) Dritter Satz with Georg Bertram, Bruno Eisner & Franz Osborn Telefunken SK 1318 18865

A-moll-Konzert für 4 klaviere und Streichorchester (Vivaldi-Bach) Erster Satz with Georg Bertram, Bruno Eisner & Franz Osborn Telefunken SK 1317 18863

A-moll-Konzert für 4 klaviere und Streichorchester (Vivaldi-Bach) Zweiter Satz with Georg Bertram, Bruno Eisner & Franz Osborn Telefunken SK 1317 18864

Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 (Chopin) Polydor 95179 485bil, 486bil

Etude Op. 10 No. 12 Revolutionary (Chopin) Welte-Mignon 7728

Faschingschwank aus Wien 2. Romanza 3. Scherzino (Schumann) Duo-Art 0298

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 in E major (Liszt) Columbia J5628 JTW170-2, 171-2

La Campanella (Liszt) Columbia S 1007 55169 B

Liebestraum (Liszt) Columbia W 241 551 55

Mazurka No. 25, Op. 33, No. 4, B minor (Chopin) Polydor 90034 B 7087

Mazurka No. 29, Op. 41, No. 4, C sharp minor (Chopin) Polydor 90035 B 7089

Romance, Scherzo. Faschingsschwank Aus Wien Op. 26 (Schumann) Duo-Art 0298

Siciliana BWV1031 (J. S. Bach-Zadora) Duo-Art 0336

Sonate, a-dur Fortsetzung und Marcia alla turca, II. Teil (Mozart) Grammophon 95178 B 27305

Sonate, a-dur Tema mit Variationen; I. Teil (Mozart) Grammophon 95178 B 27304

Waltz in E minor (Chopin) Polydor 90034 674bhl

Waltz No. 8, Op. 64, No. 3, A flat major (Chopin) Polydor 90035 B 7088