Constantine von Sternberg (1852-1924) was a German pianist and Liszt pupil. He did
not make any discs. Nor did he make any Liszt rolls.
Vera Timanoff (1855-1942) was a Russian pianist and was one of Liszt’s two celebrated
female pupils, the other being Sophie Menter. Timanoff did not make any discs but
made one Liszt roll, of the first Hungarian Rhapsody. If this very early, and very rare,
roll accurately represents her playing, then it was very rhythmically free in this piece.
Timanoff also made a number of rolls of the compositions of Russian composers,
including her former teacher Anton Rubinstein.
Josef Weiss (1864-1918) a German/Hungarian pianist and is said to have been a Liszt
pupil. He made Liszt discs and Liszt rolls and his recorded playing is said to have been
erratic.
RECORDING METHODS
All records made before 1925 were made by the acoustic process. An upright piano, with
all possible covering removed, was backed up to a horn. The sound was funnelled to a
diaphragm attached to a needle which etched the sound waves onto a rotating wax
cylinder or disc. Owing to the lack of microphones, or any electrical amplification, the
pianist in the early days was instructed to play as loudly as possible with little or no
shading and to restrict the use of the pedal when the hands were close together. Upper
and lower sound frequencies were practically non-existent. Early recordings, even with
all these limitations, can still give us a reasonably accurate picture of many aspects of a
pianist’s interpretation.
In the early days the gramophone was considered to be little more than a toy and the great
artists of the time did not want to descend to its perceived level to make recordings. Not
until the great singers Caruso, Melba and Patti released discs and extolled the virtues of
the gramophone did it appeal widely to other musicians of the first rank. The singing
voice, especially the tenor voice, recorded remarkably well with this primitive process.
Piano recordings before 1910 were not very successful, however, and most discs from
this time used the piano as an accompaniment to a singer. From about 1910 many of
these technical problems were solved and there was an improvement in recorded sound.
Editing did not exist in those days and tape splicing was many years in the future. Minor
fingerslips, and some major ones, were left in and listeners accustomed to modern-day
recorded perfection often receive a jolt at first. Those who attend many live recitals,
however, quickly adjust to the relatively low number of missed notes by the early
recording artists.
Another drawback was the short playing time. A ten inch 78 rpm disc ran for 3½ minutes
and a twelve inch disc for 4½ minutes. Longer pieces were spread over the necessary
number of sides and, in practice, most pieces recorded fitted on one side without
interruption.