"Gieseking played all of the German composers and went as far afield as the Rachmaninoff concertos. He was one of the few international favorites who interested himself in contemporary music, [...] But his greatest fame came as an interpreter of Debussy and Ravel. In his prime (about 1920 to 1939; after the war he sounded almost like a different pianist) there was no subtler colorist. His knowledge of pedal technique was supreme, and in particular he was a master of half-pedal effects. Never did he create an ugly sound. The sheer limpidity and transparency of his playing would alone have been memorable even if it had not been backed up by a fine musical mind."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Composers from GermanyComposers from FrancePianists from FrancePianists from GermanyEducators from Germany
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Harold Schonberg, The Great Pianists (revised ed., 1987), p. 448
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Gieseking
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Walter Gieseking
1895 – 1956
deutscher Pianist und Komponist
10 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Walter Gieseking →
Related Quotes
"Walter Gieseking was a victim -- artistically, at least -- of World War II. When the Germans started the war, Gieseki…"
"A tall, hulking man walked on to the stage at Carnegie Hall last week, bent himself into an awkward bow at the piano,…"
"Three seasons have passed since Gieseking made an inconspicuous dé in Æolian Hall, Manhattan (TIME, Feb. 22, 1926). “…"
"His music spoke so eloquently that Sunday afternoon that members of the small audience told their friends. No one, ac…"
"He is, critics say unanimously, a great musician. To appraise him seems almost impertinent and so they write of his p…"
"Unforgettable were Kreisleriana, Davidsbündlertänze, the Bach Variations by Reger. Those three—unforgettable. You kno…"
"I was impressed mostly by Gieseking [Horowitz said in 1987]. He had a finished style, played with elegance, and had a…"
"is an enchanted thing like the glaze on a katydid-wing subdivided by sun till the nettings are legion. Like Gieseking…"
""Ich glaube, dass in Debussys Musik der Einklang mit den Kräften des Lebens und der Natur spürbar ist im Sinne des Ei…"
"Dirichlet was not satisfied to study Gauss' "Disquisitiones arithmeticae" once or several times, but continued throug…"