I just got this in my mailbox from another list, and forward it to you;
perhaps others know something about her? Sounds intriguing:
"Just listening to a rare recording, just issued by Tahra,
(distributed by Harmonia Mundi) in magnificent sound. of the divine
Ginette Neveu playing the Brahm s Sonata No. 3, Op. 108 with her
brother Jean, this is the last thing she recorded just weeks before
her death in October 1949 in a plane crash in the Azores. while en
route to America for a tour. It is just an overwhelming, breathtaking
performance, an object lesson in Beseelung. I suppose I will have
to go into detail soon enough, but for now suffice it to say that
when combined with such detail of articulation, inflection, phrasing,
Neveu';s larger-than-life sensibility and Olympian spirit has yet to
be matched. And what a pianist her brother Jean was... Also featured
is another recording of her Brahms Concerto, this time with Roger
Desormiere conducting (who was so famous for his magnificent reading
of Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande) I prefer the recording of it she
made a few months laterwith Dorati, now available on Music & Arts.
And while M&A features her famous reading of the Beethoven concerto
with Hans Rosbaud, this Tahra release includes an even better one
(in addditon to the Rosbaud) with the Radio Filh. Orkest under a
certain Willem van Oterloo, recorded in the same year, 1949, but a
few months earlier. She plays with her customary passion and abandon,
but Desormiere tends to under-articulate and push tempi a bit towards
the swift side, especially in the slow movement.. Also included are
a couple of rare radio interviews. She sounds nothing like I imagined.
Her voice is strong, dark and self-assured, extremely articulate and
in command -- rather like a society matron of about 60 rather than
a young woman.
"Every time I hear Neveu I am infuriated and devestated that such a
monumental artist and talent could have vanished in an instant and
been robbed from us so long ago at such an early age. It's *outrageous*!
"There may be something about this release at the Tahra website at
www.tahra.com "
Doug Fields
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