I was greatly scolded by my family when they discovered that I had spoken to you about Romanian music without speaking to you about the piano and without publishing anything about the piano or their composers/performers; in practice, I would be lacking sensitivity towards pianists and Romanians, while it would seem that I show too much for chickens and even for the bear that comes down from the Bucegi mountains every night here near Busteni!
The fact is that Romanian folk music fascinates me and seems more authentic to me than classical music, but it is true that, since they began their slow journey towards the West in the twentieth century, they have also done remarkable things in this sector.
So, here I am to make amends, hoping that they (and you) will forgive me!
I will therefore speak to you first of a great pianist and then post two gems by an author I have spoken to you about and whom my brother-in-law adores.
Dinu Lipati (Dino Lipatti) was born in Bucharest in 1917 and died very young, from Hodgkin's disease at only 33 years old, in 1950.
Lipati is a child of art: his father studied with Pablo de Sarasate and his mother is a pianist. He was only baptized when he was old enough to play the piano, with godfather George Enescu. He studied at the Gheorghe Lazar High School and, subsequently, attended the Bucharest Conservatory.
He was already famous while studying, giving concerts at age 13; his interpretation of Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor is famous.
At 16, he won the Grand Prix for his Symphonic Suite "Les Tziganes". The following year, he placed second at the 1933 Vienna International Piano Competition because the jury considered him too young; this fact caused the resignation from the jury of Alfred Cortot, in protest; Cortot himself later had him study with him in Paris.
Lipati's career was interrupted by the Second World War and, at a certain point, he fled to Romania and then settled in Geneva, where he taught piano at the Conservatory. It is here that the first signs of his illness manifest and, therefore, he must reduce the number of his performances. Great musicians, including Yehudi Menuhin and Igor Stravinsky provided funds and collected money to have him treated, unfortunately to no avail.
Severely debilitated, in 1950 he gave his last concert in Besançon, France, with a performance of extremely high value, which was recorded and is still listened to by piano lovers today. The concert includes, in the second part, Chopin's 14 waltzes but, at a certain point, he interrupts the concert and, when he reappears, plays 'Jesus mah my joy', the composition by Johann Sebastian Bach (from: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147) which he had played at his public debut; he died a few months later in Geneva.
Lipati is known for his interpretations of Chopin, Mozart, and Bach, but he also recorded pieces by Ravel, Liszt, Enescu, Schumann, and Grieg. His recording of Chopin's Waltzes is very famous and was published for many years.
Lipati wrote several works in the neoclassical style, including: 'Concertino in classical style, Op. 3', 'Romanian dances for piano and orchestra', the Symphonic Suite 'Les Tziganes', and the 'Sonatina for piano for the left hand' (remember, we have already spoken of sonatas for the left hand, regarding the Concerto in D major for piano with left hand alone and orchestra, dedicated by Ravel to the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who was disabled in the war).
In recognition of his exceptional contributions to classical music, Lipati was posthumously elected a member of the Romanian Academy.
Here are some of Lipati's recordings and one of his compositions. His performance of Chopin is my favorite, due to the poignant emotions that run through it. But also the others (for example, the Mozart Sonata, performed in his last recital) ................
Chopin Nocturne Op. 27, No.2
Mozart Sonata in A Minor, K310
Scarlatti sonata KK9
Scarlatti sonata KK 380
Some of these recordings were of very poor quality and I took the liberty of trying to improve their listenability by removing background noise and working on equalization, etc. I hope you won't hold it against me (the intention was good, let's hope the result is too!).
I would have liked to suggest other interpretations to you as well, but I will leave them for the next post (everyone is already sleeping here and my wife is waiting for me!), also because I will surely have to tell you about Radu!
Regarding Lipati, I am attaching herewith the First movement of Tziganes,
in the interpretation of theOrchestre de la Suisse Romande.
Finally, to conclude with another Romanian, who also died tragically at a very young age, here are two compositions for Piano by Ciprian Porumbescu.
Batraneasca
and Hora Detrunchiatilor.
Regarding the latter, my brother-in-law told me the story.
Porumbescu composed it to remind us that Romania and the Romanians were like they were headless, because some of the regions that were later annexed (for example, Transylvania) were not yet part of the nation. In fact, the Hora is a group dance in which everyone is called to dance, and detrunchiatilor (de=without, trunchi=trunk, at=past participle suffix, ilor=genitive plural suffix) means: of those without a trunk; therefore "Hora of the trunkless". As you can see, since the depicted situation is dramatic, the Hora is not cheerful, as usual, but is full of pain, sadness, and dismay.
Bye and see you soon
