Three-fourths of this collection stems from a radio broadcast dating around 1948, issued here for the first time. The engineering is unusually vibrant and colorful for broadcast acetates, and it works to the then 33-year-old Earl Wild’s advantage. He brings a wealth of color and nuance to Buxtehude’s six-movement D minor suite, and imbues Hindemith’s Third Sonata with straightforward, loving care. He convincingly unmasks the lyrical arches beneath the motoric drive of the scampering “Sehr lebhaft” movement and concluding fugue. If the ceremonial pace of Ravel’s renowned Pavane seems slightly heavy and short of breath (not breadth!), Un Sospiro’s undulating figures breeze by with hardly any effort on the pianist’s part. Wild tosses off the octave climax in the Chopin/Liszt “My Joys” with breathtaking nonchalance, and what gorgeous texturing he brings to Chopin’s E minor Waltz, laden with aristocratic rubato!
The remaining four Etudes, two waltzes (the E minor again, but not as poised as the broadcast version), and D minor Prelude were first released on an album of 10-inch 78s on the Majestic label, an outfit essentially oriented toward pop music. Here the sound is dry, airless, and dynamically constricted, while an air of glib impatience governs Wild’s skillful fingerwork. Piano enthusiasts, however, will be “Wild About” the broadcast items and will gain insight into Wild’s eclectic early career from Jonathan Dobson’s excellent notes. Roger Beardsley’s transfers work wonders with what must have been difficult source material.
