2021 – Page 2 – The Piano Files

Alfred Cortot plays Stravinsky

by Mark Ainley / Uncategorized / No Comments / April 19, 2021

There was quite a bit of excitement when a Youtube upload was made of a 1927 test pressing of Alfred Cortot playing the Danse Russe from Stravinsky’s Petrouchka Suite. Those who didn’t read the details

Celebrating Simon Barere

by Mark Ainley / Feature / Recordings / No Comments / April 2, 2021

Many pianists lived fascinating lives whose biographical details are forever fused to their legacy. Sadly, for several artists it is sometimes the circumstances around their deaths for which they are most immediately remembered. One such

Egon Petri at 140

by Mark Ainley / Feature / Recordings / No Comments / March 23, 2021

The German-born Dutch pianist Egon Petri has been a favourite of mine from my earliest years of collecting records. The APR label had put out the bulk of his 78rpm recordings on three double-CD sets

An Introduction to Historical Piano Recordings

by Mark Ainley / Feature / Recordings / No Comments / March 13, 2021

I was delighted to have been invited by the Ross McKee Foundation in San Francisco to present a filmed introduction to historical piano recordings. I was approached several months ago about the possibility of presenting

A Forgotten Genius: Muriel Kerr

by Mark Ainley / Feature / Recordings / No Comments / March 4, 2021

One of the great joys of running my Facebook page for the last 11-plus years is coming across great pianists I’d never heard of. In the past one had to find a record in a

Lubka Kolessa

by Mark Ainley / Feature / Recordings / 1 Comment / January 31, 2021

There are many great pianists whose performing careers for a variety of reasons did not sustain the promise of their early years, and a good number of them became distinguished teachers whose influence on musical

Favourite Releases of 2020

by Mark Ainley / Feature / Recordings / Review / 3 Comments / January 16, 2021

I regularly state that we are living in the best time for the availability of historical recordings (I’ve actually been saying this since the 1990s), and 2020 was no exception. With the vast majority of

Celebrating Ruth Slenczynska

by Mark Ainley / Feature / Recordings / 2 Comments / January 15, 2021

Ruth Slenczynska was born on January 15, 1925, which means that the day of this posting she is celebrating her 96th birthday. The legendary American-born pianist has the distinction of having had lessons with a

Clara Haskil: 60 Years Later

by Mark Ainley / Feature / No Comments / January 7, 2021

Clara Haskil died on December 7, 1960 as a result of injuries sustained in a fall at Brussels train station. She was only 65 at the time. The Romanian pianist had languished in obscurity for

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