My own take on this issue, as posted by me to amazon.com

Mischa who?  Levitzki, that's who!  And worth your money, too.  February
14, 2003

Mischa Levitzki (1898-1941) was a Russian-born American pianist who
died at the unreasonable age of 42.  He was born to naturalized American
parents while they were visiting in Ukraine.  He left only 53 sides of
78rpm records, and Naxos is in the process of reissuing them all.  This
is the first volume of that effort.  And more power to them!

This disc contains mostly encores, all but one recorded in the 1920s;
the one exception is the brilliant 'Rondo Capriccioso' of Mendelssohn,
recorded in 1933.  And it includes a couple of Levitzki's own waltzes,
both treasurable.  There are two versions of the Tausig arrangement of
Schubert's 'Marche Militaire', recorded four years apart and very different
from each other.  Levitzki could never be called one of the most important
pianists of the twentieth century (and he didn't make the 'cut' in the
great collection from Philips called 'Great Pianists of the 20th Century')
but he was extremely popular and well-regarded, especially in this
country.  He typically played one big piece on a recital and then filled
the rest of the program with the kinds of bon-bons heard here.  And he
played them as well as any.  His playing is not wayward or idiosyncratic
in any way, but it IS musical, technically brilliant and satisfying.

Listen to his Scarlatti sonata, to the Chopin F minor waltz (Op.  Posth.)
and you'll see why connoisseurs still collect his recordings.

I know I'll be acquiring the rest of this series from Naxos, partly
because of the brilliant re-engineering done by that wondrous producer,
Ward Marston.

Scott Morrison <[log in to unmask]>