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EDITH PICHT-AXENFELD
German pianist and harpsichordist (1914 - 2001)
I first heard Edith Picht-Axenfeld's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations when I was a student in the late 1960s. I had never before now heard her play the piano.
She studied piano with Rudolf Serkin and Organ with Albert Schweitzer, was the 6th Prize winner in the 3rd International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1937. After the second world war, her concert career took off, she was an active chamber musician, and recorded extensively for Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, Erato.and RCA for which label she recorded the complete Chopin etudes as a pianist. I would love to hear that recording.
I have found only two multi movement works by Schumann, an Intermezzo by Brahms that is to die for, and a two piano recording with Carl Seemann of the Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.
At the very end is a recording by Edith Picht-Axenfeld at the harpsichord in a stunning performance of the Bach Goldberg Variations.
Schumann Piano Sonata 3 in F minor, Op 14
i Allegro
ii Scherzo - Molto comodo
iii Quasi variazioni sul Andantino di Clara Wieck
iv Prestissimo possible
Schumann Gesänge der Frühe (Songs of Dawn) for Piano, Op 133
i Im ruhigen Tempo
ii Belebt, nicht zu rasch
iii Lebhaft
iv Bewegt
v Im Anfang ruhiges, im Verlauf bewegtes Tempo
Brahms 1 Andante moderato in E major from Drei Intermezzi, Op 117
recorded at her last concert in 1996
Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Sz 110
i Assai lento. Allegro molto
ii Lento, ma non troppo
iii Allegro non troppo
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
recorded in 1968
For those of you who enjoy murder mysteries, here is my first with a strong musical polemic as background
Murder in the House of the Muse
which is also available as an audiobook.
And this is the more recently published second mystery in the series:
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