Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) was a German pianist. He is best known these days, if at all,
as a composer, but he was the oldest pianist to commit any performance to a recording.
He made no acoustic discs but made a number of rolls including a recording in January
1905 of the Beethoven Ecossaise in E flat. This was one of the first reproducing piano
rolls ever made. Reinecke was eighty-one at the time and his life overlapped three years
with that of Beethoven himself. Reinecke’s performance captures the character and spirit
of the dance and shows a certain freedom of rhythm including the breaking of chords and
parts from each other.
Alfred Reisenauer (1863-1907) was a pianist, born in Norway, and was a Liszt pupil for
several years. He did not make any discs but made three Liszt rolls. He also recorded the
Chopin Berceuse on roll. His playing was rhythmically very free.
Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946) was a Polish pianist. He was a Liszt pupil and often heard
Liszt play the works of Liszt and Chopin. Rosenthal made a number of Liszt discs but
did not make any Liszt rolls. He playing had brilliance, perfection and charm. His disc
of the A flat étude from Chopin’s ‘Trois Nouvelles Etudes’ is full of exquisite expression
and rubato. His playing contained mannerisms.
Bertrand Roth (1855-1938) was a German pianist and Liszt pupil. He did not make any
discs but made a number of Liszt rolls.
Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982), Polish-American pianist, (born Artur) was not related
to Anton Rubinstein. Like Claudio Arrau, Arthur Rubinstein had a very wide repertoire,
had an exceptionally long and celebrated career both as a concert and a recording artist,
and was an important link between the old and the modern schools, although it seems
neither of them ever practised melody-delaying or arpeggiata. Arthur Rubinstein became
principally known for his interpretations of the piano concertos and piano music of
Chopin although he performed and recorded Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Grieg. His
recordings of Chopin were widely circulated and admired and his playing of Chopin was
noted for its refinement and delicacy, and even a certain coolness, with a complete
absence of mannerisms
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was a French pianist and composer and was a close
friend and musical colleague of Liszt who admired his playing of Liszt’s piano works.
Saint-Saëns recorded on roll a number of his own compositions as well as the Chopin
Nocturne in F sharp major opus 15 no. 2. He recorded nothing on disc except a vocal
accompaniment. Saint-Saëns often stated that he disliked ‘expression’ but his rolls show
that in his own playing he used a fair degree of melody-delaying and indeed rubato.
Vassily Sapellnikoff (1868-1941) was a Russian pianist. He was a pupil of Sophie
Menter (herself a pupil of Liszt) and was a close friend of Tchaikovsky who approved of
him as an interpreter of his works. Sapellnikoff made rolls of the Liszt Spanish
Rhapsody and Liebestraum no. 1. He promoted Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto and
recorded it on disc in 1926. His playing was refined and avoided extreme pyrotechnics
and he used arpeggiata in the top chords of the introduction and throughout the second