Maria Grinberg

MARIA GRINBERG (1908-1978)
Russian-born Ukranian pianist

Maria Grinberg was another great woman pianist of the Russian school of the early part of the 20th century that produced the likes of Richter, and Gilels. That she is not as well known is a crime. She studied with Felix Blumenfeld (teacher of Vladimir Horowitz) and with Konstantin Igumnov. It was not until after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 that she was permitted to travel and give concerts outside Russia, but she was soon being compared to Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein, and Clara Haskil

Her range was miraculous, from Bach to the works of Prokofiev and Shostakovich as they came off the presses. She could play everything she touched beautifully and idiomatically: the Russians, the French, the Viennese classics, the German romantics, and the Baroque.

Fortunately for is all, Maria Grinberg left a rich recorded legacy, and while we will inevitably wish for more Chopin and Liszt and Brahms, for more Schumann, and Prokofiev and Rachmaninof, it is the roads less travelled that grab our attention. Maria Grinberg's rendering of the piano music of Nikolai Medtner has convinced me that he is indeed worthy of being included in the first rand of the great Russian composers.

It is a pity that there are no recordings at hand of Maria Grinberg playing the music of Scriabin and Samuil Feinberg, himself an awesome pianist of the Russian school, or of Bartok.

While I dearly love everything, I am particularly excited about her recording of the first Intermezzo from Brahms Op 117. This is I adore and rarely find fully satisfying when played by even the finest of pianists. Maria Grinberg nails it in this performance.

On this page she plays Chopin and Liszt as well as Russian composers from Glinka to Prokofiev and Shostakovich. There are two additional pages of Maria Grinberg's performances:
Maria Grinberg plays Beethoven (Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms)
Maria Grinberg plays Debussy (Scarlatti, Soler, Carlos Seixas, Bach, Bizet and Grieg)

Glinka Variations on a Theme of Alyabiev's "Nightingale"

recorded in 1964

Glinka Various Piano Pieces
"Las Mollares" Andalusian dance in G major - 01:10 ➢ Tarantella in A minor (rec 1966) - 02:11 ➢ Children's Polka in B-flat major
05:46 ➢ Valse d'adieux in G major - 06:43 ➢ Valse mélodique in E♭ major - 08:30 ➢ Mazurka in A-flat major - 09:44 ➢ Mazurka in C minor

recorded in 1959

Chopin Variations Brillantes in B♭ major, Op 12

Chopin Ballades

1 in G minor, Op 23

3 in A♭ major, Op 47

recorded in 1950

4 in F minor, Op 52

recorded in 1961

Chopin Tarentella in A♭ major, Op 43

recorded in 1949

Liszt Sonata in B minor

recorded in 1952

Part I

Part II

Part III

Liszt Rhapsodie Espagnole (Folie d'Espagne et Jota Aragonesa)

recorded in 1951

Liszt Fantasia on Hungarian Folk melodies
Elic Class conducting the Moscow Symphony Orchestra

Arensky Fantasy On a Theme by I. Ryabinin, Op 48
Sergei Gorchakov conducting the USSR State Radioinformation Symphony orchestra

recorded in 1947

Rachmaninoff Moment musical in B minor, Op 16 ~3

Rachmaninoff from Preludes, Op 23
2 Maestoso in B♭ major - 4 Andante cantabile in D major (03:28)
7 Allegro in C minor (06:57) - 9 Presto in E♭ minor (09:32)

recorded in 1960

Kreisler-Rachmaninov "Liebesleid"(Love's Sorrow)

recorded in 1952

Medtner 2 Fairy Tales, Op 20 (1909)

recorded in 1961

Medtner Piano Sonata in G minor, Op 22

recorded in 1948

Part I

Part II

Medtner Various "Forgotten Melodies"
Canzona Serenata, Op 38 ~6 - 04:00 ➢ Danza Silvestra, Op 38 ~7 - 07:45 ➢ Danza Fiorata, Op 40 ~3
10:41 ➢ Danza Festiva, Op 38 ~3 - 16:18 ➢ Primavera, Op 39 ~3 - 20:13 ➢ Alla Reminiscenza, Op 38 ~8

recorded in 1948-61

Prokofiev Scherzo, Op 12 ~10

recorded in 1953

Prokofiev Piano Sonata 2 in D minor, Op 14 (1912)

recorded in 1961

i Allegro ma non troppo - ii Scherzo: Allegro marcato

iii Andante - iv Vivace

Prokofiev Piano Sonata 5 in C major, Op 38
(1923, revised as Op 135 in 1952-53)

i Allegro tranquillo - ii Andantino

iii Un poco allegretto

Prokofiev Piano Sonata 6 in A major, Op 82 (1940)

recorded in 1973

i Allegro moderato - ii Allegretto

iii Tempo di valzer lentissimo - iv Vivace

Shostakovich Piano Concerto 1 in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra, Op 35
i Allegro moderato - 05:47 ➢ ii Lento - 11:56 ➢ iii Moderato - 13:35 ➢ iv Allegro con brio
Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting the USSR Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra

recorded in 1962 with Sergei Popov, Trumpet