Leonard Shure (1910-1995) was a superb musician, an important pianist, and an uncompromising and influential teacher. His legacy as a performer lies in a small but significant number of commercial recordings. This release augments that legacy with live performances recorded during his faculty recitals in New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall late in his life. Shure recorded the Brahms Phantasien on 78s for Vox in the mid 1940s, but these performances were never remastered for release on LP or CD. He recorded the Schumann Fantasy on an Epic LP a decade years later, in the mid-1950s, but this too has never been transferred to CD. The present discs have been issued in collaboration with the pianist's family, annotated by former Boston Globe music critic, Richard M. Dyer, and restored by the noted engineer, Adam Abeshouse.
Reviews:
“Shure brings a ton of imagination to the Brahms Fantasien—so much so that one is left speechless in trying to describe the way in which his shifts of mood and touch not only illuminate each piece but also somehow knit the entire cycle together—not an easy task in this complicated, diffuse music. If I have any complaint about this set, it is only that it’s too short! Playing this great simply doesn’t get issued on CDs every day.” - Fanfare
“Shure was clearly ‘his own musician’, absolutely sui generis, and you will find these performances a refreshing alternative to more ‘expectable’ ones.” - International Record Review
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Disc A:
Frédéric Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35
Johannes Brahms: Phantasien, Op. 116
Disc B:
Robert Schumann: Fantasy in C major, Op. 17
Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23; Prelude No. 24 in D minor, Op. 28, No. 24; Prelude No. 23 in F major, Op. 28, No. 23
Leonard Shure, piano
BRIDGE 9374A/B (Two discs for the price of one)