Leonard Pennario – Pennario Plays Debussy Preludes (Remastered) (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

“Nobody plays the piano better than Leonard Pennario,” wrote the eminent critic Andrew Porter in London’s New Statesman in 1952, when the competition would have included none less than Horowitz in his prime. That year, Pennario began recording for Capitol Records in Los Angeles, and a decade later he moved to RCA Victor, for which label he made a series of distinguished albums. To mark the tenth anniversary of Pennario’s death, Sony Classical reissues various of the pianist’s RCA recordings together for the first time.

Born in 1924 in Buffalo, New York, Pennario gave his first public performance there at the age of seven, later moving with his family to Los Angeles, where his teachers included the legendary Isabella Vengerova. His breakthrough came in 1936, when he made his orchestral debut deputizing for an indisposed soloist with the Dallas Symphony. On that memorable occasion, the twelve-year-old performed the Grieg Piano Concerto, a work he had never heard, let alone played, until a few days earlier.

Dazzling concertos would, of course, feature prominently in Pennario’s discography, and his first RCA Victor releases in 1964 included Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Franck Symphonic Variations with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops (High Fidelity: “immense dexterity and bravura”) and the two Liszt concertos with René Leibowitz conducting the London Symphony (Gramophone: “magisterial accounts of both works … it is a constant delight to listen to his effortless brilliance and power … vivid ‘hi-fi’ recording”).

Among the acclaimed solo recital albums in this set are a collection of popular short pieces by Beethoven, Schubert, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Grieg, Falla, Debussy, Gershwin and Rachmaninoff which Pennario plays “with admirable care and impeccable taste” (High Fidelity) as well as both books of Debussy Préludes: “This is a most beautifully played set” (Gramophone).

Tracklist:
1. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 1. Danseuses de Delphes. Lent et grave 03:04
2. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 2. Voiles. Modéré 03:07
3. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 3. Le vent dans la plaine. Animé 01:53
4. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 4. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir. Modéré 03:10
5. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 5. Les collines d’Anacapri. Tres modéré 02:43
6. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 6. Des pas sur la neige. Triste et lent 03:36
7. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 7. Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest. Animé et tumultueux 03:01
8. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 8. La fille aux cheveux de lin. Très calme et doucement expressif 02:27
9. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 9. La sérénade interrompue. Modérément animé 02:11
10. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 10. La Cathédrale engloutie. Profondément calme 05:11
11. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 11. La danse de Puck. Capricieux et léger 02:40
12. Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: 12. Minstrels. Modéré 02:09
13. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 1. Brouillards 03:00
14. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 2. Feuilles mortes 02:48
15. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 3. La puerta del Vino 03:25
16. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 4. Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses» 03:02
17. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 5. Bruyères 02:59
18. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 6. Général Lavine – eccentric 02:26
19. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 7. La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune 04:07
20. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 8. Ondine 03:10
21. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 9. Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. 02:22
22. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 10. Canope 02:51
23. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 11. Les tierces alterneées 02:30
24. Préludes, Livre 2, L. 123: 12. Feux d’artifice 03:56