Chopin (Dead Or Alive) - The Welte Mignon Mystery Vol. IV [2006]
Chopin (Dead Or Alive) - The Welte Mignon Mystery Vol. IV [2006]
又名: 肖邦_练习曲_大师纸卷录音
表演者: Frederic Chopin
介质: Audio CD
发行时间: 2006
唱片数: 1
出版者: Tacet
条形码: 4009850014003
专辑简介
artist: Fr d ric Chopin (Dead or Alive)
album: The Welte Mignon Mystery Vol. IV
label: TACET 140
genre: Classical
type: Album
album year: 2006
rip date: 04.04.2008
streetdate: 00.00.0000
tracks: 29
size: 79,4 MB
language: English
bitrate: avg.Kbps / 44,1kHz / Joint-Stereo
source: CDDA
ripper/sup: me /me
grabb/enco: EAC /Lame 3.97
url: n/a
RELEASE INFORMATION
"This is the latest continuation of "The Welte-Mignon
Mystery" - from Germany?s Tacet label - Volume IV to be
exact. We?ve reviewed in the past here several different CDs
made from the amazing Welte piano rolls. (Put Welte in our
site search engine.) I don?t believe the earlier volumes of
this new series carried the statement on the jewel box that
the results are so "right" that "it need not fear comparison
with a living pianist." That is the point of the Dead or
Alive title of this CD
To summarize, the Rube Goldbergish pneumatic-based
Welte-Mignon recording system, originally perfected in the
1890s!, was far ahead of all other piano roll approaches in
fidelity to the original performances, and 100% better than
the scratchy gramophone and cylinder records of the period
The "registration" (recording) equipment for the rolls
which had been set up in Leipzig, Freiburg and New York
City, is long gone. But when the few remaining "vorsetzer"
mechanisms - with their 88 little mechanical fingers - are
perfectly adjusted and rolled up to the keyboard of a modern
Steinway grand, the resulting performance can be recorded in
modern stereo and it is extremely close to that of a live
performer at the keyboard. But not quite, at least to my
ears. But first, the unique idea behind this particular
collection of Welte rolls: In going thru the approximately
4500 selections which exist in the Welte catalog, producer
and Tacet CEO Andreas Spreer discovered many Welte
recordists had chosen to register one of the Chopin Etudes
In fact, only five were missing to complete both opus
numbers of the Etudes. He engaged pianist Peer Orth to
record those five on the same Steinway used with the Welte
vorsetzer to reproduce all the long-dead pianists? rolls
The same digital recording equipment was used to record both
the "alive" and the "dead" selections
Some of the past pianists represented are forgotten today
but a couple whose style is identifiable do sound like the
standard recordings they also made. The one Etude performed
by Horowitz sounds exactly like his precise and virtuoso
style. The job of making a comparison between the alive and
dead would have been easier if just one single Etude
on a Welte roll had also been performed by Orth. But I
tackled the listening comparison , moving from track to
track to see if the five alive tracks stood out in any way
from the dead tracks. My summary of the distinctions comes
down to two qualities: First, there is still a somewhat
too-perfectly precise rhythm and phrasing on the rolls - the
live performances having a more human flow and very slight
departures from strict time. Secondly, there is the more
easily heard difference in dynamics - especially the attack
on notes at highest volume level. The Welte rolls sound
rolled off in this regard at both ends of the dynamic range
Extremely soft ppp passages seem to be upgraded to pp
passages, and at the other end, there are simply no really
loud piano climaxes - they sound compressed compared to what
is heard from live pianist Orth. For example, the Welte roll
of Chopin?s Revolutionary Etude, by pianist Galston lacks
the fortissimo climaxes that make this work so compelling
It is true, as the note booklet states, that most of the
previous Welte reissues were faulty in some regard and
failed to portray the accurate sound possible with the
system. Along these lines, Tacet?s CD has almost no noise
from the mechanism - as do most of the previous reissues
However, about eight years ago Telarc released "A Window in
Time" - two CDs of Welte rolls cut by Rachmaninoff. (We have
them on our 1998 and 99 Best of the Year Lists in the
Archives.) But instead of using the original mechanical
system, the information on the piano rolls was transferred
to digital computer files and eventually fed into a
B sendorfer 290E Reproducing Piano to be recorded. The
quality of these three dozen tracks is quite similar to the
Tacet CD, though I hear less of the "too-perfect" quality
But compare the final track of the series - Rachmaninoff
playing Chopin?s Scherzo in B-flat minor - with the
Revolutionary Etude on the Tacet disc. The big climaxes are
twice as loud and strong on the transfer using the
B sendorfer and digital technology, and I believe would
stand up better compared to a live pianist?s new recording
of the piece. The unusual Tacet CD remains fascinating
listening nevertheless."
If you enjoyed this REC, BUY IT! otherwise delete it please
because the Artist deserves your support!
TRACK LISTING
01. tudes op.10 - op.10/1 P.Orth 02:25
02. tudes op.10 - op.10/2 P.Orth 01:44
03. tudes op.10 - op.10/3 I.J.Paderewski 05:13
04. tudes op.10 - op.10/4 R.Serkin 02:01
05. tudes op.10 - op.10/5 A.Schnabel 01:43
06. tudes op.10 - op.10/6 R.Ganz 03:43
07. tudes op.10 - op.10/7 A.Essipova 01:40
08. tudes op.10 - op.10/8 V.Horowitz 02:27
09. tudes op.10 - op.10/9 P.Orth 02:21
10. tudes op.10 - op.10/10 E.Schelling 02:34
11. tudes op.10 - op.10/11 T.Lambrino 02:59
12. tudes op.10 - op.10/12 G.Galston 02:51
13. tudes op.25 - op.25/1 A.Cionca 03:16
14. tudes op.25 - op.25/2 A.Schnabel 01:21
15. tudes op.25 - op.25/3 E.Schelling 01:53
16. tudes op.25 - op.25/4 P.Orth 02:08
17. tudes op.25 - op.25/5 P.Orth 03:54
18. tudes op.25 - op.25/6 A.Cory 02:11
19. tudes op.25 - op.25/7 E.Ney 05:15
20. tudes op.25 - op.25/8 T.Lambrino 01:15
21. tudes op.25 - op.25/9 E.von Sauer 00:56
22. tudes op.25 - op.25/10 J.Lh vinne 03:18
23. tudes op.25 - op.25/11 R.Serkin 04:01
24. tudes op.25 - op.25/12 J.Lh vinne 02:43
25.Anhang - op.10/3 Adam-Benard 04:25
26.Anhang - op.10/5 Horowitz 01:38
27.Anhang - op.25/2 Pachmann 01:37
28.Anhang - op.25/2 Serkin 01:32
29.Anhang - op.25/9 Paderewski 01:11
TOTAL: 74:15 mins
曲目
01. tudes op.10 - op.10/1 P.Orth 02:25
02. tudes op.10 - op.10/2 P.Orth 01:44
03. tudes op.10 - op.10/3 I.J.Paderewski 05:13
04. tudes op.10 - op.10/4 R.Serkin 02:01
05. tudes op.10 - op.10/5 A.Schnabel 01:43
06. tudes op.10 - op.10/6 R.Ganz 03:43
07. tudes op.10 - op.10/7 A.Essipova 01:40
08. tudes op.10 - op.10/8 V.Horowitz 02:27
09. tudes op.10 - op.10/9 P.Orth 02:21
10. tudes op.10 - op.10/10 E.Schelling 02:34
11. tudes op.10 - op.10/11 T.Lambrino 02:59
12. tudes op.10 - op.10/12 G.Galston 02:51
13. tudes op.25 - op.25/1 A.Cionca 03:16
14. tudes op.25 - op.25/2 A.Schnabel 01:21
15. tudes op.25 - op.25/3 E.Schelling 01:53
16. tudes op.25 - op.25/4 P.Orth 02:08
17. tudes op.25 - op.25/5 P.Orth 03:54
18. tudes op.25 - op.25/6 A.Cory 02:11
19. tudes op.25 - op.25/7 E.Ney 05:15
20. tudes op.25 - op.25/8 T.Lambrino 01:15
21. tudes op.25 - op.25/9 E.von Sauer 00:56
22. tudes op.25 - op.25/10 J.Lh vinne 03:18
23. tudes op.25 - op.25/11 R.Serkin 04:01
24. tudes op.25 - op.25/12 J.Lh vinne 02:43
25.Anhang - op.10/3 Adam-Benard 04:25
26.Anhang - op.10/5 Horowitz 01:38
27.Anhang - op.25/2 Pachmann 01:37
28.Anhang - op.25/2 Serkin 01:32
29.Anhang - op.25/9 Paderewski 01:11
TOTAL: 74:15 mins