The first volume in APR’s survey of Alfred Cortot’s “late recordings” begins with the pianist’s 1947 Schumann Kinderszenen. It’s a less technically secure reading than his 1935 account. It contains, for example, more wrong notes in Hasche-Mann and less poised dotted rhythms in Kuriose Geschicht. Compared to the Von fremden Ländern’s elegantly proportioned tempo fluctuations in 1935, the remake’s rubato sounds relatively mannered, with inner voices stressed to the edge of exaggeration. (Interestingly, Cortot ignores the movement’s lone fermata that he observed to magical effect in 1935). Wichte Begebenheit’s martial chords and left-hand octaves are less steadily dispatched this time, and Cortot adds a spurious repeat to the first eight measures. On the other hand, Ritter vom Steckenpferd’s accents on the upbeats really swagger this time, and Cortot’s melodic detailing in the left hand sings out with more assertion. Cortot purges Fast zu ernst of 1935’s liberal rubatos, sticking closer now to Schumann’s marked ritards.
In the Chopin selections, Cortot’s genius for impassioned melodic projection and acute harmonic awareness operate at full throttle in the Nocturnes (APR includes an equally inspired, less well-played unpublished first take of the E-flat Op. 55 No. 2). Ditto in the C-sharp minor Prelude and the Nouvelles Etudes, although the officially issued 1949 versions are more settled from a technical and musical standpoint than these 1947 test pressings. In an attempt to squeeze the Polonaise-Fantasie onto two 78 rpm sides (as opposed to the conventional three), Cortot races through the slower sections and elsewhere sets brisk tempos that severely tax his fingers. Small wonder that this recording was rejected at the time. (A discographical aside: APR mentions that Cortot did not re-record the work, but in fact he did in the 1950s, when the advent of tape allowed the pianist to take normal tempos. This version was released in the mid-1980s by Concert Artist/Fidelio Recordings on cassette only).
Cortot’s ravishing tone is heard to greater dynamic and coloristic advantage in the 1947 Debussy Children’s Corner than on his suaver yet no less insightful 1928 recording. I’ve always liked Cortot’s red-blooded, forward-moving way with La cathédrale engloutie (better to erect a monument than submerge it underwater, I guess!), yet the versions Cortot recorded for his respective 1931 and 1949 integral Preludes Book 1 sets are shaded in softer, more variegated hues.
How do APR’s transfers compare to earlier editions? On Music and Arts, Seth Winner’s remasterings of the 1947 Nouvelles Etudes, C-sharp minor Prelude, and Polonaise-Fantasie test pressings are noisier yet richer sounding. If you have a parametric equalizer on your tuner, you can obtain similar results from the APR disc by de-emphasizing the midrange. EMI’s six-CD Cortot Chopin edition (CZS 7 67359 2) offers slightly sweeter transfers of the published Op. 55 Nocturnes, although APR’s increased amplitude and reduced surface swish make a favorable impression. Both APR’s Children’s Corner and Kinderszenen sound clearer and fuller in transfers made from cleaner copies than those on Japanese EMI SGR 8115. Forgive my stirring up the piano collector’s pot, but by naming this Cortot series “The Late Recordings”, APR’s use of the definite article implies a comprehensive run of the pianist’s postwar sessions. Does that mean we’ll finally get to hear Cortot’s unissued Chopin Preludes and Ballades, or his unissued, virtually complete Beethoven Sonatas? We’ll see…
