conservatory in Lwiw with Karl Mikuli (1819-1897). He was Mikuli’s last pupil and
Mikuli took special care to pass on the Chopin tradition to him. Mikuli had been
Chopin’s favourite Polish pupil and assistant and dedicated himself single-mindedly,
following Chopin’s death in 1849, to the preservation of the Chopin tradition. Mikuli
published careful editions of Chopin’s music, taking into account the copious instructions
by the composer, which he passed on to his pupils. This edition, now published by
Schirmer, is still available and used today and, in particular, the lengthy preface by
Mikuli is a unique guide to the Chopin tradition. Koczalski’s performances on disc of the
Chopin Nocturne in E flat opus 9 no. 2 and Nocturne in D flat opus 27 no. 2 have
melody-delaying on the first note of every bar and an agogic accent every bar or second
bar, usually on the first beat, with large amounts of rubato. There is a fair amount of
arpeggiata in the left hand chords of the E flat Nocturne but no arpeggiata in the two-note
chords in the right hand of the D flat Nocturne. Koczalski inserts into the E flat Nocturne
some extra ornamental passages following a Chopin tradition through Mikuli. In his disc
of Chopin’s Trois Nouvelles Etudes, recorded in 1938, the first two (F minor and A flat)
are full of rubato and melody-delaying. The third (D flat) is played quite briskly, perhaps
to fit onto the disc, and is played fairly straight bearing in mind that the pianist has to
concentrate on playing legato and staccato simultaneously in the right hand which does
leave much leeway for the insertion of rubato or mannerisms. Koczalski was considered
one of the greatest interpreters of Chopin’s music and one of the greatest pianists of his
time, but he is mostly unknown today. These discs are among the most important
surviving documents of the Chopin tradition.
Frederic Lamond (1868-1948) was a Scottish pianist and Liszt pupil. In his day, until
he was supplanted by Artur Schnabel, he was regarded as the pre-eminent Beethoven
pianist and his disc of the ‘Appassionata’ Sonata is free of mannerisms. His roll of
Liszt’s third Liebestraum is full of melody-delaying and his tempo is on the slow side.
Theodor Leschetizky (1830-1915) was a Polish pianist, teacher and composer. From an
early age he was recognised as a prodigy and, after studying in Vienna with Carl Czerny
(Beethoven’s pupil) and Simon Sechter, he became a teacher at the age of fourteen. By
the age of eighteen he was a well-known virtuoso in Viennese music circles. Besides
performing, he became a very influential piano teacher, first at the St Petersburg
Conservatory, which he co-founded with Anton Rubinstein, and subsequently in Vienna.
His pupils included many of the renowned pianists of their time, such as, Fanny
Bloomfield-Zeissler, Katharine Goodson, Ignaz Friedman, Ignacy Paderewski, Artur
Schnabel, Alexander Brailowsky, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Mark
Hambourg, Elly Ney, Severin Eisenberger and Mieczyslaw Horszowski. Several pupils
also became noted teachers, including Isabelle Vengerova, Anna Langenhan-Hirzel,
Richard Buhlig and Czeslaw Marek. Leschetizky was also a composer, having under his
name over seventy piano pieces, two operas, several songs and a one-movement piano
concerto. Leschetizky made no discs but he made some piano rolls of his own
compositions and a roll of the Chopin Nocturne in D flat major opus 27 no. 2. His
playing of the Chopin Nocturne has plenty of melody-delaying, first beat agogic accents,
rubato, and arpeggiata of the right-hand two-note chords, as well as a number of bass
doublings. The overall impression is of a very old-fashioned performance.