Alfred Brendel’s first recordings were made in early 1950s Vienna forindependent American labels – Period, Vox, and the short-lived SPA label, for whom Brendel made four LP recordings of rare repertoire that he would not record again, discs that have long been prized by lovers of piano music.
For the first time, all four of these recordings are being reissued together, sonically restored and with new liner notes, for streaming and download.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Flute Sonata in B-flat Major, Anh4
Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon in G Major, WoO37
with Camillo Wanausek, flute & Leo Cermak, bassoon (WoO37)
Franz Liszt: Weihnachtsbaum, S. 186
Richard Strauss
Fünf Klavierstücke, Op. 3, TrV 105
Piano Sonata in B Minor, Op. 5, TrV 103
Ferrucio Busoni: Fantasia contrappuntistica, BV 256
Johann Sebastian Bach arr. Busoni: Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 (BV B 27 No. 3)
Alfred Brendel, piano
While exact recording date information is not available, these recordingswere made in Vienna between 1951-52 (Liszt) and 1952-54 (Beethoven, Strauss, Busoni)
Liszt released in 1952 as SPA-26
Beethoven released in 1952 as SPA-28
Strauss released in 1954 as SPA-48
Busoni and Bach-Busoni released in 1956 as SPA-56
Executive producer for SPA: F. Charles Adler
Engineer and editor unknown
Cover image: original SPA Records generic cover graphic
Reissue produced, restored and mastered for Toblach Ausgabe
by Gene Gaudette, Urlicht AudioVisual
Click here to download the liner notes!