Sondra Bianca

SONDRA BIANCA
American pianist (b 1930)

Sondra Bianca was a child prodige who studied with Isabella Vengerova at the Curtis Institute, began performing with orchestras before the age of 10, and apparentlyretired from concert activity activity by the age of thirty. Active in Europe during the 1950s, she made a number of recordings under the direction of conductors of the stature of Carl Bamberger, Jean Martinon and Hans-Jurgen Walther. It is said her's was the first performance in Germany of Gershwin's Concerto in F. Then, like a flame that burns too bright, she was gone.

I have been able to discover almost nothing about her. It seems her recording of the Tchaikovsky concerto was issued on several budget labels under fictitious names. It seems she continued to teach after her inexplicable early retirement. It seems she lives still in relative oblivion. But Sondra Bianca's performances of Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, John Field, André Bloch and a few others will live on forever.

Beethoven Piano Sonata in F minor, Op 53 "Appassionata"
i Allegro assai

Field Nocturnes

recorded in 1957

1 in E♭ major

2 in C minor

4 in A major

5 in B♭ major

12 in G major

Field Piano Concerto 1 in E♭ major
J Randolphe Jones conducting the Hamburg Philharmonia Orchestra

i Allegro
08:02 ➢ ii Adagio ma non troppo on the Scottish air "Twas within a mile of Edinboro' Town"
13:38 ➢ iii Finale - Allegro vivace

recorded in 1957

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1 in B♭ minor
ii Andantino semplice. Prestissimo
Carl Bamberger conducting l'Orchestre des Concerts de Paris

recorded in the 1950s

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1 in B♭ minor
Hans Jurgen Walther conducting the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra

ia Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso, Allegro con spirito (beginning)

ib Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso, Allegro con spirito (conclusion)

ii Andantino semplice. Prestissimo

iii Allegro con fuoco

Grieg Cadenza from Concerto in A minor, Op 16

[Preceded by the following pianists playing the same cadenza:
Arthur de Greef
03:20 ➢ Percy Grainger
06:00 ➢ Wilhelm Backhaus
08:48 ➢ Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli