Harold Bauer

British pianist naturalized American, who had initially opted for the violin, Harold Bauer (1873-1951) was the dedicatee of 'Ondine, Maurice Ravel, and when you hear his game, could qualify qu''on ( faute de mieux) of "poetic", never ostentatious in its virtuosity, the enchanting sound, although we understand why.

The actual historical records were already reappeared in Biddulph. "The complete solo recordings" would be better here as the title to "The complete recordings" because the pianist also, in particular, an engraved Brahms Quintet op. 34 with Flonzaley quartet missing here.

A summit, in my opinion, is his Sonata 'Moonlight' Beethoven of 1926. I do not think I have heard better or even as well in this work! Bauer finds the outset the right tempo and the right color for the first movement, the effect is great. The 'Appassionata, though beautiful, is one notch below. Second top in his legacy, the 3rd Sonata op. 5 Brahms (1939) qu''on certainly known more violent and fierce elsewhere but is played with a wonderful youthful enthusiasm (for the idyll of the Andante espressivo, for example, it ''s ideal) . From the first note to the last, it is remarkably found, thought, played. The same Brahms, Capriccio in B minor on both tender and humorous, speaks for itself.

The interpretations of some short pieces like the 'Harmonious Blacksmith of Handel, the Carillon Kythira François Couperin, so delicate, or Debussy (which he had founded in Paris Children''s Corner), a Moonlighting is to melt, deserve to be famous. They complement the portrait of a singularly endearing pianist.