Louis Kentner

LOUIS KENTNER (1905-1987)
Hungarian-British pianist

Louis Kentner (Lajos Kentner) was born in what was then Austrian, now the Czech Republic, of Hungarian parents. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest under Arnold Székely (piano), Hans Koessler and Zoltán Kodály (composition), and Leo Weiner (chamber music).

He emigrated to England in 1935 where his radio broadcasts included the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert, the complete Well-Tempered Clavier of Bach, and the complete Années de Pèlerinage of Liszt. Bartók chose him to be the soloist at the Hungarian premiere of the composer's second piano concerto under Otto Klemperer. Bartók also chose him for the first European performance of the third concerto under Sir Adrian Boult.

He was a composer as well with orchestral and chamber music, piano pieces and songs to his credit.

Louis Kentner was one of the greatest interpreters of the piano music of Liszt. He is lamentably little known today, but when I was a student he was known to be one of the grand masters and his records were still readily available. For those who were brought up on his supreme musicality, a musicality supported by unparalleled virtuosity, the parade of pianists each trying to play Liszt louder and faster than anyone else, are an offense to the ears.

We have all heard fingers of steel flying over the most difficult of Liszt's transcriptions and paraphrases, but to hear Louis Kentner play the Valse à capriccio after Donizetti is to hear a performance in which every one of those notes has a reason for being, a performance which places Liszt on a musical pedestal high above the myriad traveling virtuosi of his time.

On another page, Kentner plays Chopin, Beethoven and others.

Liszt Sonata in B minor

recorded in the 1930s

Liszt Ballade 2 in B minor, S 171

recorded in 1938

recorded ca1969

Liszt Polonaise 1 in C minor

recorded in 1940

Liszt Berceuse, S 174 (Second version)

recorded in 1941

Liszt Scherzo and March, S 177

recorded in 1940

Part I

Part II

Liszt Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S 154

Liszt 3 "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude"
from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S 173

recorded in 1938

Liszt "Csárdás Macabre"

recorded in 1951

Liszt from Grandes Études de Paganini, S 141

recorded in 1946

2 Andante capriccioso in E-flat major (rec. 1942)

3 Allegretto in G♯ minor "La Campanella" (rec. 1946)

5 Allegretto in E major "La Chasse"
(a comparison in which I much prefer Kentner with Petri in second place)

Egon Petri
03:05 ➢ Louis Kentner
06:08 ➢ Rosalyn Tureck
08:49 ➢ Emil Gilels
11:21 ➢ Earl Wild

Liszt Trois Études de concert, S 144

recorded live in 1985

1 Il Lamento

2 La leggierezza

3 Un Sospiro

Liszt Two Concert Études, S 145

1 Waldesrauschen (rec. 1939)
04:24 ➢ 2 Gnomenreigen (rec. 1941)

2 Gnomenreigen (1972 video)

Liszt from 12 Transcendental Etudes, S 139

recorded in the late 1950s

1 Preludio in C major
00:59 ➢ 2 Molto vivace in A minor

4 Mazeppa in D minor

5 Feux Follets in B♭ major
04:00 ➢ 8 Wlide Jagd in C minor

7 Eroica in E♭ major

9 Ricordanza in A♭ major

10 Allegro agitato molto in F minor
(a comparison in which my preference is Kentner by a mile with Bolet, who plays it beautifully but not at all allegro agitato molto, a distant second)

Louis Kentner
04:39 ➢ Gunnar Johansen
08:49 ➢ Jorge Bolet
13:57 ➢ Earl Wild

11 Harmonies du Soir in D♭ major

12 Chasse-Neige in B♭ minor

Liszt "Au bord d'une source"
from "Années de Pèlerinage: Première Année - Suisse"

recorded in 1937

Liszt "Après une lecture de Dante: Fantasia Quasi Sonata"
from "Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième année: Italie"

This version for piano and orchestra was created for a Frederick Ashton ballet by Constant Lambert who conducts the Sadler's Wells Orchestra in this 1940 recording