William Kapell, Vol. 1: Rachmaninov & Khachaturian

Monumental Performance!

The recording quality of the both concertos are very poor compared to best recording quality of the era(1945-48), but not as bad as Kapell's worst broadcast recordings. Despite the constant background noise and unfocussed sound, the delicacy and brilliance of the performances still come through. The performances themselves are a monument to the greatness of human spirit and ability. Rach3 is Kapell's only surviving document of the concerto, and what a superb concerto player he was. Khataturian concerto matches the famous RCA recording with Koussevitzky in intensity and verve. No doubt he is one of the greatest concerto players alongside Simon Barere, Horowitz, Rubinstein, and Sviatoslav Richter.
September 21, 2007

Most incredible Rachmaninoff 3rd on record

William Kapell's performances of the Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto are truly legendary. His performance of this work at Ravinia in 1947 is still talked about in reverent tones by those who were there (diminishing in number due to the passage of time). Kapell never recorded the work commercially, so all we have to date is this off-the-air radio check from 1948. Its sound is very rough, and apparently the master of this recording has further deteriorated since it was first released on LP by the International Piano Archives, in 1978.
No matter. Even with the scratchy sound, this recording more than aptly demonstrates Kapell's mastery of the Rachmaninoff 3rd, and confirms his stellar reputation with it.
The Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto is a complex piece, and, despite the fact that it is required repertoire for any pianist worth his or her salt, and therefore frequently performed, is nevertheless very difficult to pull off successfully. In my opinion, the vast majority of recordings of this work do not manage to overcome its complexity of form, and end up sounding way too episodic. As a result, the overall sense of the composition as a whole, is lost, and the performer as well as the listener merely rides wave after wave of effusive musical emotion. To extend the metaphor, the beauty and majesty of the ocean is forgotten in all the focus on the individual waves. Very, very few performers have been able to convey the coherance of this piece; to present it as a harmonious whole.
This is where Kapell succeeds. Under his fingers this concerto just, well, makes sense. Add to this his stunningly articulate fingerwork and singing tone in lyrical passages, and his Rachmaninoff 3rd remains unforgettable. With it, Kapell joins a very small, elite group of masters of this work on record: Horowitz, Rachmaninoff himself, and possibly Gieseking. None of the more recent recordings of this piece come close. Kapell's widow, in commenting on this recording, has suggested he was not at his best in this performance! Supposedly, there is a Rachmaninoff 3rd among the recently discovered recordings from Kapell's last Australian tour, from which he was returning when he was killed in a plane crash, but it may not be a complete version. Until, when, and if that recording is released, this remains the only Kapell version---but it is enough. The CD is worth the price for the Rachmaninoff alone; Kapell's Khachaturian concerto, while justifiably famous, is over-represented in his recorded legacy. If you love the Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto, you owe it to yourself to hear it played by William Kapell, and this CD is currently the only way to do that. September 20, 2006

Relentless drive

William Kapell (1922-1953) is regarded by many as the all-time greatest American pianist. This is a tall claim, especially considering that he lived only a scant 31 years (his life was tragically cut short by an aeroplane accident on the return from an Australian tour) and that his fellow countrymen include the likes of Earl Wild, Julius Katchen, Byron Janis, Van Cliburn and Murray Perahia, to name only a few. However, the proposition is far from absurd, since Kapell was an artist to whom the often overworked term "genius" can be adequately applied. More to the point, Kapell combined one of history's astounding pianistic mechanisms to a relentless drive, an inner conviction and a musical instinct which have had few equals before or since.

The Khachaturian concerto was a trademark Kapell piece. He played it frequently with great success, and his studio recording of it, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Sergei Koussevitsky, has acquired classic status. This 1945 live rendition is no less impressive, with Kapell's characteristic rhythmic snap and technical brilliance making the work sound better than it is, no mean feat in this musically difficult and not very engaging concerto (as witness Boris Berezovsky's new recording for Warner Classics, which never really ignites).

Kapell was a staunch admirer of Vladimir Horowitz, and his own pianism does resemble the Russian master's on several occasions, with his soaring, steely-but-deep tone and digital wizardry. Rachmaninov's Third Concerto was as much a Horowitz piece as the Khachaturian was Kapell's, and the American pianist follows up on his older colleague's footsteps by approaching the redoubtable Rach 3 - live in 1948 - in a virtuosic, propulsive and no-holds-barred manner. Also like Horowitz, Kapell opts for the short cadenza (excising the same two bars at the climax) and makes some cuts throughout, but this doesn't detract from a performance which is always thrilling and communicative.

The orchestras, NBC Symphony conducted by Frank Black (Khachaturian) and Toronto Symphony led by Ernest MacMillan (Rachmaninov), provide good accompaniment to Kapell, and if the sound quality is generally poor in these live broadcasts (much improved, though, by Ward Marston's expert sonic job), the musical experience is singularly rewarding. Highly recommended, particularly for enthusiasts of exciting piano-playing. July 31, 2006

Another golden memory!

Once more the vertiginous trajectory of this genius reached other emblematic peak in the unstoppable and meteoric career; because although is distant in mercurial approach respect to Koussevitzky 'performance it remains as another invaluable historical document that witnesses his powerful musical skills.
December 30, 2005

Virtuosity In Poor Sound

Arguably the greatest American-born piano virtuoso, William Kapell never made a studio recording of the Rachmaninov 3rd Piano Concerto (he did record the Khachaturian on 78s with Koussevitzky). So this poor-sounding "live" 1948 performance is apparently the only surviving specimen of Kapell's way with the "Rach 3." Ably supported by Ernest MacMillan and the Toronto Symphony, Kapell delivers one of the greatest "fast & virtuosic" accounts ever captured by microphones. But be prepared for plenty of sonic distortion and a piano that starts to get drastically out of tune mid-way through the 2nd mvt.

To my taste, the only "super-virtuoso" account to compare with this one is the "live" 1941 Horowitz/Barbirolli on an APR CD (the fastest on record). In the "barn-burner" category, I think Kapell and Horowitz are preferable to everybody else, including the rather over-rated "live" account by Argerich (with woefully inept conducting by Chailly). Of those "live" performances that adopt the slower, more lyrical approach that I like better, the 1939 Gieseking/Barbirolli (on M&A CD) and the classic 1958 Cliburn/Kondrashin (RCA or Philips) are my favorites. Gieseking's was the earliest un-cut recording to use the longer alternate cadenza in the 1st mvt. (Cliburn's was the second to do so).

Of the Kapell, Horowitz, Gieseking and Cliburn performances, only the latter has recorded sound that won't leave your ears feeling like they've just been syringed by a palsied practitioner.

I almost prefer this 1945 "live" Khachaturian to Kapell's studio version: Frank Black and the NBC Symphony don't bury the pianist in orchestral tuttis the way Koussy did with the Boston Symphony. The sound here is considerably better than in the Rachmaninov. My favorite "modern" version is the Katz/Boult account (Cembal d'Amour), which includes the strange 2nd mvt. part for flexatone (some sort of musical saw) that is omitted in Kapell's account.

Recommended more for study than sonic enjoyment. May 5, 2005

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