Hatto: Brahms Paganini variations identified

[MrT]

This article by Farhan appeared in Pianophiles:

Hatto's Brahms Paganini Variations is one of the most widely praised
Hatto
performances and sought after identifications. After considerable
effort I
have fully identified the performers involved in the creation of this
Hatto
masterpiece. As some of you know, I wrote an article for IPQ back in
1999
comparing all Brahms Paganini Variations recording. I have continued
to
collect recording of the work so it seemed nearly certain that I would
own
whatever performances were used by Hatto. I had given this
identification
a quick try a couple of months ago and did not succeed right off so
now I
sat down and gave it a more serious effort.

After eliminating all non-digital and all live performances there were
still a good number of performances on CD to check against. I started
with
the ones I remembered as being good and went through those
alphabetically
just comparing the opening measures. Just my luck that the very last
one in
that pile, Lilya Zilberstein on DG (damn you Barrington-Coupe!),
turned out
to be the main culprit from which Hatto is stolen. However, in each
book
there are four variations not played by Zilberstein. Of those, six are
taken from the recording by Matti Raekallio on Ondine and two
variations
are taken from Evgeni Kissin's recording for BMG. The substitutions
are in
all cases an improvement over Zilberstein in those variations. In my
survey I grouped the Zilberstein recording among the "more satisfying"
versions, but called it "a little uneven." Hatto has basically removed
much of the unevenness and created a superb rendition.

Here is the exact make up of the Hatto Brahms Paganini Variations. All
is
played by Zilberstein except where marked otherwise.

Book 1
Theme
V1
V2
V3
V4
V5 - Kissin
V6
V7
V8
V9
V10 - Raekallio
V11
V12 - Raekallio
V13 - Raekallio
Finale

Book 2
Theme
V1
V2
V3
V4
V5 - Kissin
V6
V7
V8
V9
V10
V11 - Raekallio
V12 - Raekallio
V13 - Raekallio
Finale

Farhan

[Phil Caron]

"MrT" <symbi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

Thanks - I really liked what I heard of this recording on the Hatto sampler.
I've heard Zilberstein in concert (in other repertoire) and she was very
good and enjoyable to listen to.

- Phil Caron

[David Fox]

Lucky me. Coincidentally, I picked up Zilberstein's recording at
Amoeba for about $4 a few weeks ago. It's very good indeed.

DF