Tom Connor wrote:
>This made me curious to know more of Paul Badura-Skoda. ...
>Does anyone know more? I hadn't realized he was so young when these
>recordings were made and am curious why I haven't seen a stronger presence.
He was quite popular during my college days (1948-52). Quoting from David
Dubal's *The Art of the Piano*:
"b. 1927--Austria
"At the dawn of the LP era, Badura-Skoda, an elegant young man from
Vienna, became involved in studying the Schubert sonatas and Mozart
concerti. He made many recordings and became one of the most
listened-to pianists of his generation. Badura-Skoda is best suited
to the German classics, but occasionally leaves this territory. His
Ravel disc includes a rather tepid *Gaspard de la nuit*. When playing
Chopin, most especially the Twenty-four Etudes, he is temperamentally
far from his turf, and the technical material is too hot to handle
with comfort.
"He has recorded the entire Beethoven sonata cycle with the
courage of a dedicated player, not quite up to every technical
challenge, but always with astute intelligence. His Schubert is
proficient; at its best it possesses charm and innocence, especially
in the *Moments musicaux*. His Schumann gives off some heat, but is
mostly too well behaved. His finest work comes in Mozart, which is
deft, careful, and balanced, and there is a Haydn sonata disc, played
on a fortepiano, that is sparkling and witty, especially in the B
minor Sonata. Badura-Skoda's cadenzas to Mozart concerti are invariably
pianistic, effective, and imaginative."
Walter Meyer
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