Walter Gieseking (1895-1956)

Walter Gieseking , 1895-1956, German pianist, b. Lyons, France, grad. Hanover Municipal Conservatory, 1916. He began touring Europe in 1920 and made his American debut in 1926. A brilliant pianist with a wide repertoire, he especially excelled in performing the music of Debussy. In 1939 he returned to Germany, eventually being cleared of the charge of Nazi collaboration.A rare musical phenomenon, Gieseking had an immense repertoire spanning from Bach to the foremost composers of his time. He was essentially self-taught and rarely practiced, for his best playing came when he was rested and thus able to fully concentrate, relying on his photographic memory. No pianist before or since has displayed such a unique individuality, a modernism with utmost involvement in the music combined with care given to the style of the work performed. Unlike other artists, Gieseking's own approach was the same from his first discs in 1924 until four days before his death in 1956. His interpretive art did not develop or change, but instead expanded with the addition of new repertoire. Sonically Gieseking possessed a seemingly limitless range of tones and shadings, all based on the music. His hypersensitivity was obscured by the dictates and pressure put on him in the recording studio after the Second World War, so that the documents least representative of his playing are upheld as the most authentic. This disgraceful situation lasted far too long, but with the existence of concert and radio performances, one can hear his genuine pianism. Nearly each composer he approached came to life in a unique way, especially Debussy, his live Mozart recordings, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, and especially the few examples of his Faure and Scriabin. Life would be very incomplete without knowing Gieseking's incredible art