Happy conjunction of the release of Richard Desjardins’ documentary on Chopin and the impeccable CD publication of the complete legacy of the 38 sides of 78 rpm recorded by the first performer in concert of the complete works of Chopin, which Lortat played from memory in London and Paris in 1912. Robert Lortat (1885-1938), 1er Piano prize at 15 in the class of the legendary Louis Diémer, friend of Fauré, was forgotten. No, the “great lineage” of Chopin interpreters does not start from Cortot and Paderewski. Lortat deserves his place between them. Literally broken (his health – after-effects of typhoid – and his psychological balance) by the Great War, his career was subsequently patchy. Some who had heard of his major engravings (Preludes, Waltzes, Studies, 2e Sonata) classified him among the salon Chopinians. What a mistake ! Lortat is a “Baudelairian” Chopinian, free, haunted, inhabited by flashes and broken by the inaccessible. Excellent work by APR in reporting these truly historic engravings.
Click here to view an excerpt.
To watch on video