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Background: Marc-André Hamelin's programme is mostly devoted to Godowsky’s works based on themes by - or directly inspired by - Johann Strauss II. It is not intended to be a comprehensive survey but is, nevertheless, fully representative of Godowsky's finest reflections on the Waltz King.

The last work on this dazzling disc is an oddity - indeed, a rarity. Sometime prior to 1925, Godowsky made a piano roll of his arrangement of The Last Waltz by Oscar Straus, the Vienna-born composer. The eponymous Waltz is heard throughout the 1920 operetta. The music of Godowsky’s transcription was never published for some unknown reason - it is a uniquely appealing arrangement. In the early 1970s, Gilles Hamelin, the pianophile father of Marc- André, notated, arranged and edited The Last Waltz from Godowsky’s piano roll, which was then published in 1975. Shortly afterwards, a copy of the negative of Godowsky’s manuscript was sent to Gilles Hamelin. It was all but illegible, so Hamelin Snr made a fair copy in his own hand: in almost every respect it tallied with the version he had transcribed from the piano roll.

CATALOGUE NR: CDA67626
RECORD LABEL: Hyperion
FORMAT: CD
PRICE: £ 11.99 including VAT, or £ 10.43 excluding VAT
RELEASE DATE: 28-Jul-2008

COMPOSER: Leopold Godowsky
TITLE: Strauss transcriptions and other waltzes
TRACKS: Symphonic Metamorphosis on Kunstlerleben after Johann Strauss II from Walzermasken 24 tone poems in triple time : No.2 Pastell / No14 Franzosisch / No.22 Wienerisch / No.24 Portrait. Symphonic Metamorphosis on Die Fledermaus after Johann Strauss II from Triakontameron 30 moods and scenes in triple measure : No.4 Rendezvous / No.11 Alt Wien / No.13 Terpsichorean Vindobona / No.21 The Salon / No.25 Memories. Symphonic Metamorphosis on Wein Weib und Gesang after Johann Strauss II. The Last Waltz (Oscar Straus idealized version by Leopold Godowsky).
ARTISTS: Marc-Andre Hamelin      

- Aug-2008 5 star BBC Music Mag. - Sep-2008 Gramophone Editor's Choice 'Clarity and subtlety in delightfully eloquent interpretations.'

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• Berceuse in D flat major op.57. Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor op.35. Two Nocturnes op.27 : Nocturne in C sharp minor: Larghe

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