Marcelle Meyer plays Beethoven Emperor Concerto (1956 broadcast)

An October 29, 1956 broadcast of the fabled French pianist Marcelle Meyer playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor" with the Orchestre de la Radio Suisse Romande conducted by Volkmar Andreae.
Meyer was a remarkable pianist with a huge repertoire and is today best remembered for her traversals of Baroque repertoire (particularly Rameau, Couperin, and Scarlatti) and early 20th century works (Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky - all composers she'd worked with). While her repertoire was much broader than her significant discography, there are several gaps in her studio accounts: not a note of Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann, for example, though she played them all in concert.
Similarly, there are no studio recordings of Meyer in Beethoven, though she did program his works (George Enescu wrote her a postcard praising her ‘unforgettable’ performance of Beethoven’s C Minor Concerto in the early 1930s), which makes this broadcast performance - made two years before her rather early death at the age of 61 in 1958 - particularly interesting. With her trademark crystalline tone, transparent textures, and refined nuancing, Meyer delivers a reading that is poetic yet certainly not lacking in strength, though power is not exhibited through overt external force but the effective use of contrasts.
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[@josephlaredo5272]

292 likes!? It should be 292,000 or more. Every pianist and pianophile should listen to Ms Meyer. Quel élan, quelle élégance, quelle joie de vivre (malgré quelques petits « accidents ») ! Listen from 13:40 ... Magical playing! Thanks for posting.

[@robertodelorenzo1831]

Such a style! The caracter and Marcelle Meyer's superb sensibility touch me deeply and in very singular way!

[@pianomaly9859]

Meyer grew up musically in and became one of the most prolific pianistic advocates of a movement that was major esthetic shift away from the hegemony of the Austro-German repertoire that had dominated concert programming for at least the century prior to World War I, although Cortot, Nat and others still performed much of it in public. This performance of one of the highpoints of the First Viennese School shows that she was just as sympathetic and capable in that music as anyone, and I concur with the other commentators.........this is a fresh, buoyant performance that illuminated details I had never noticed before.

[@_PROCLUS]

One of the very best rendering of #5 ... The Marcelle Meyer ... couldn't possibly be otherwise ...

[@eguirald]

Fabuleux! Quelle chance de pouvoir assister à ce magnifique enregistrement de la légendaire Marcelle Meyer.

[@NicolasNonyme]

I can't believe such a recording does exist... Thank you very much !

[@zinam5795]

What a big surprise -- the RARITY--- very brightly & convicted ,with great rhythm,sound balances ..... This brilliant records in the Day of Pianists !....BRAVO

[@kedimy]

Thank you for this powerful performance, a rare broadcast of the 50s.

[@tuberobotto]

Thanks for uploading this, I can't really have enough of Ms Meyer's enigmatic playing since I first discovered a few youtube videos of her performances about 2 years ago. Her Scarlatti sonatas are particularly noteworthy because as I listen longer to her playing I realize that she wasn't just playing the sonatas merely for posterity purposes but rather, she was playing them with a sincere intent of making their lustre shine out, musically speaking. In other words, bring out the spirit of the music by which Scarlatti himself wrote them. This is truly a rare treat. Since the early 70s I have been listening to the iconic Ralph Kirkpatrick's recordings of Scarlatti sonatas albeit on the harpsichord, (in fact I first got attracted to the sonatas because of Kirkpatrick), but this is the first time I heard them with full appreciation of their musical content as highlighted by Meyer. As for this concerto, Beethoven's 5th, I am absolutely blown away by her playing of the first bars of the piano part, so much clarity and so much composure! This is truly a joy to listen to. Thank you for sharing.

[@bvbwv3]

Without losing the nobility of this concerto, Meyer plays it with a broader sweep, letting the listener grasp the big picture of this magnificent composition much easier than by those with very good but somewhat labored performances. In my opinion, at least. Sir Piano Files, you DO come up with the most unusual recordings. Bless you, bless you - and thank you so much for sharing. What an enrichment for us all fortunate enough to have bumped into you. Once "bumped", stuck!!

[@cmcase]

Yes, one should certainly follow the ongoing discoveries of His Excellency Sir Pianophiles.

[@mikedaniels3009]

Energetic performance, thanks for the upload. Mme Meyer was a beautiful woman with a strong magnetic & sensual aura definitely reflected in her playing and a most remarkable musical force to be reckoned with in her time. The French Swiss left a mighty footprint with their remarkable Suisse Romande Orchestra, led to numerous battles and glory by the legendary Ernest Ansermet et al. and guest soloists. Eg see The Bach Cantatas, Dinu Lipatti,... Again, thank you for the upload.

[@cbooth2004]

Wonderful. One of the most delightful performances/recordings of this concerto that I have heard. Thank you for this post and the yoeman's work you do in service of the piano.

[@sheilanovitz8578]

A treasure. Many, many thanks.

[@trelateatro8256]

MARAVILHOSA.

[@yanikucho]

14:30 her playing is flawless

[@sheilanovitz8578]

Sure is! The last time I heard playing like this was Wilhelm Backhaus in the 1950s.

[@kimdoomin]

Her playing has, not just an incredible artistic meaning, but a huge moral power that we find very rarely in the history of music. It's completely different artistry then Schnabel and others !

[@rowley555]

I agree. And her playing in virtually every repertoire was simply phenomenal....she had so much insight, humility and sincerity...no ego....she served her art...Her recordings should be required listening for music students.....

[@peterwaters4119]

oh come on how does it enhance the greatness of Marcelle Meyer's playing by belittling Schnabel's, as though they're enemies or something ? I bet she was using Schnabel's system of phrasing to reach this point, we all were ! It's a completely stupid statement that could just as easily have included the first very correct sentence and qualified the second by stating that it is amazing that with such different approaches to artistry and with such varied means one can arrive at the essence of a work that shows its greatness in such a different light

[@brkahn]

@@peterwaters4119 I don't think that Doomin KIM meant to belittle Schnabel when saying that their artistries are completely different...

[@hellbooks3024]

@@peterwaters4119You may have misinterpreted the comment.

[@dancersanddreamers2049]

❤️

[@MrInterestingthings]

I wonder if Meyer was tall like DeLaBruchollerie ? Amazing how the tiniest bodies can elicit breadth and force from a piano ! Those spaced octaves at 27:56 ! Some of the phrasing and delicacy in left hand in the 2nd mov. I will never forget . My test has always been those big full-handed chords in the finale . Most pianists simply don't know how to play such music . Ingrid Haebler died and she is the first musician I go to for Mozart along with Uchida and Pires who I just heard on her American tour ! I wish I liked her Mozart .But I really don't think anyone but LiliKraus and Horszowsky recorded listenable Mozart in the 40's and 50's . I was shocked when I came back to Geiseking, Arrau and Landowska after I became an adult and had ideas about Mozart playing .

[@rainerlanglotz3134]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqbRd3l9ZdaAi7M Mdme Meyers Mozart sonatas are better than anything in our days. - And I´m a great fan of Mitsuko Uchida.

[@NicolasNonyme]

Remarquable !

[@punkpoetry]

Thanks, this is very exciting!

[@berlinzerberus]

Magnificent!

[@classicalduck]

8:50 oops! Good recovery, though.

[@ThePianoFiles]

Indeed!

[@goscott444]

_I took it as interpretation_ 😁

[@polonaise]

14:30

[@yanikucho]

magnificent! @thepianofiles Do we know the conductor/orchestra ?

[@ThePianoFiles]

Yes, it's listed in the text description with the video: the Orchestre de la Radio Suisse Romande conducted by Volkmar Andreae.

[@petermichaels9802]

Major boo-boo at 8:46 as the normally impeccable Marcelle Meyer started the run up the keyboard a full beat too soon, or maybe the conductor was too late, but it sure wasn’t together!