Eileen Joyce
Sun, May 22 2011, 11:58PM
As I have just tried yet again for the umpteenth time to post a reply to Earl Grey's post, only to have it rejected every time by the 64 character problem (despite my continuing complaints) I will have to post a new topic.
Eileen Joyce was a very fine pianist who has not received her due from the reissue industry other than on Pearl's fine CD. Whilst her Testament issue duplicates about half a dozen items it concentrates too much on virtuoso type encore pieces. I am therefore grateful to Mr Heath for his efforts as to the best of my knowledge only the delightful performance of Sonata K332 has appeared on CD, on the Pearl disc. Perhaps I should set up my own 78 equipment again as I think I still have a copy of the Rondo K386 somewhere. This sprightly performance makes even Murray Perahia's splendid performance sound a little sluggish. I looked up the original review from 1936 on the Archive which ends with the comment "and go away with four shillings worth of musical heaven under your arm": quite, and what a pity she didn't make any Mozart concerto recordings.
My favourites however are her Chopin discs, no doubt because the first Chopin I ever heard was on my parents 78s of her recordings of the Fantasie Impromtu, Berceuse & Nocturnes Op9/2 & 31/1. I still think they're amongst the greatest I've ever heard. The first two items are on the Pearl disc but all can be heard (free of charge) on the British Institute of Recorded Sound's website player.
I don't want to sound disingenuous to Mr Heath but I do find his transfers over processed and prefer Pearl's natural sound despite the high surface noise: just like I remember the originals.
It is perhaps ironic at a time when the Gramophone recently devoted an issue dedicated to film music that Joyce was decried by the snobbish musical establishment of the time for her involvement with the film industry by recording the soundtracks for Brief Encounter & The Seventh Veil. Stokowski too was mocked in some quarters for his involvement with Hollywood, perhaps that's why Louis Kenter refused to allow his name to be mentioned for playing the Warsaw Concerto soundtrack, despite the 78 issue becoming a massive seller. Would a pianist today refuse the publicity?
Mon, May 23 2011, 4:43PM
#2
RE: Eileen Joyce
Those of you who have sampled my site may not have done so during the last month or so when you would have found a performance of the Hammerklavier Sonata without the name of the pianist. It is, and he has been mentioned above, Louis Kentner. The unascribed performance produced the following comment from a listener/correspondent
"...and what a wonderful Hammerklavier. The strong rhythmic phrasing, the
dynamic effects, the emphatic silences, the piano colours - are all
amazing. It reminds me of ......."
and he correctly identified the pianist.
Tue, Jan 10 2012, 6:30PM
#3
RE: Eileen Joyce RE: Eileen Joyce
One of the two modern pieces of music that I found in my father's collection of 78s when I began to explore them in the 1950s was the first Piano Concerto of Shostakovich with Eileen Joyce. As a contrast to this pianist's interpretations of the Mozart Piano Sonatas already on my site ( see link below) I now present the Shostakovitch concerto together with what for me is a major discovery, John Ireland's piano concerto (also with Eileen Joyce and the Halle). The Shostakovich got pretty short shrift from the Gramophone reviewer in 1941 as you can see for yourselves on the Archive but I enjoyed the piece and was given the chance to play the solo part in the Second Concerto with the school orchestra later in the decade.
To my shame I have not yet bought the Eric Parkin set of Ireland piano works although I have three of the four volumes of scores and stumble through them from time to time, but here I am listening to "Song of Springtides" from the Parkin set (wonderful!!!!) on YouTube and lo-and-behold one of the themes is almost identical with one from the Concerto. There are several modern recordings of this rarely performed work and here is a relatively painless chance to get to know it. I say relatively because the records themselves are slightly dished/off-centred but I hope you can hear through the imperfections and enjoy the harmonic invention and the marvellous piano playing of Eileen Joyce.
The Ballet "Dante Sonata" was conceived by Frederick Ashton shortly after the beginning of the Second World War. Constant Lambert, Musical Director of the Vic-Wells Ballet, orchestrated a piano piece by Franz Liszt; "Après une lecture de Dante: Fantasia Quasi Sonata" from "Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième année: Italie" to provide a work that is very dramatic, operatic even, many different rhythms and textures giving scope for all aspects of dance. The original principal dancers were Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes. Birmingham Royal Ballet recently revived the work. A memoir of the wartime performances is to be found on their website.
http://www.brb.org.uk/4236.html
Louis Kentner was the pianist in the contemporary recording with the Sadler's Wells Orchestra conducted by the arranger, Constant Lambert. As presented on my site, I have placed the piece as a postscript to Louis Kentner's performance of the Hammerklavier Sonata feeling that for it to come first would be inappropriate! You will necessarily hear the opening bars of the Beethoven as the file loads and I hope that those who have shied away from the demands of such a peak of musicality ( as I have, in the past) will be persuaded to give it an extended trial.
http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/transcriptions_07.php
Thu, Jan 26 2012, 12:07PM
#4
RE: Eileen Joyce
An opportunity to hear the John Ireland Concerto for Piano performed by the Ealing Symphony Orchestra under their Conductor John Gibbons is detailed below: Saturday February 18th 2012, 7.30pm
Samantha Ward
(piano)
90th Anniversary Concert,
supported by the John Ireland Trust
WALTON
Façade Suite No. 1
John IRELAND
Piano Concerto
ELGAR / Payne
Symphony No. 3
Tickets £12
(concessions £10, under-25/full-time student £5, accompanied under-16 £1)
St Barnabas Church, Pitshanger Lane, London W5 1QG (map)
Ealing Broadway (1 mi), Hanger Lane (1 mi)
Sat, Jan 28 2012, 4:11PM
#5
RE: Eileen Joyce
I'm several hundred miles too far from Ealing to attend Ireland's 90th anniversary concert but his concerto must now be the most recorded of British piano concertos, described as the finest of the genre by Ivan March in his Dec review of the new recording by John Lenehan. The slow movement on the G-Player sounds excellent although with versions by Eric Parkin, Piers Lane and Kathryn Stott I don't need another. There's also a newish version by Mark Bebbington which I've not heard but I do have a couple of Bebbington's solo Ireland piano discs which are highly recommendable for anyone wishing to explore the best of 20th century British piano music.
Mr Heath's transfer of Kentner's Hammerklavier is very good (not over processed) but I'm not entirely convinced by the performance. The Dec/Jan issue of Pianist magazine has feature on Kentner and pianophiles should look out for his book "Piano", (Menuhin Music Guides - keeping it in the family, he was once married to one of the violinist's sisters). There's an interesting discography, pre CD, but many of the recordings are still available. One comment he makes is that if one wanted to demonstrate the human race's greatest achievement to someone from outer space, what would it be? His answer: Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas! (Fair comment?)
This has digressed somewhat from Eileen Joyce but the new APR set much praised by Jeremy Nicholas is certainly on my shopping list.
The problem with the marvellous Eileen Joyce from a technical point of view was that they were recorded in a very resonant acoustic and I felt that leaving even a modicum of hiss would be intrusive.
www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk
clive heath