| Arthur Friedheim was a pupil of Liszt from the late 1870s, and acted as Liszt's secretary during the 1880s until Liszt's death in 1886, with daily contact and experience of all that Liszt did in that period: he is our best witness to Liszt's performance and thoughts from that time. Liszt greatly admired Friedheim's playing, declaring that his interpretation of his now famous B minor piano sonata was just as he wanted it to have been (there was a piano roll made by Friedheim of the sonata, for the Triphonola company: If anyone knows of the whereabouts of this roll I'd like to hear about it - the roll is thought lost, but if it still exists it would be one of the most important musical documents in the history of piano performance and it needs to be preserved in digital media and performance). Friedheim's own playing was exceptionally aristocratic and elevated. There is a sense of what we now call "classicism" to his interpretations. Control, balance and concentration. The few recordings he made are fascinating. I am also putting a few piano roll recordings of Friedheim online to give a better idea of this pianist, as the acoustic recordings stretch to so few minutes. This recording was made in 1912 and is of the "Feux Follets" ("Will-o'-the-wisp") Transcendental Etude. This performance is quite exceptional, and is one of THE best handful of Liszt performances ever recorded. |
