Rediscovering Chasins & Keene, pianists

[Lance]

Who remembers the KAPP LP recording of two two-piano concertos by JS Bach, in C Major and C Minor performed by Abram Chasins (b. 1903) and his wife, Constance Keene (b. 1921), both now deceased. They performed these two works with the Kapp Sinfonietta led by Emanuel Vardi. I found these on a privately-made CD that also included pianists Victor Aller, Philippe Entremont, all in their earliest days.

[neilnw]

Great album, that one. I'll look it up on YouTube.

[Donald Isler]

I certainly remember them! And I believe these Bach recordings can be heard on YouTube.

[Rach3]

I have Keene’s recordings of the Rachmaninoff complete Preludes and Etudes Tableaux, as well as complete Hummel Sonatas.Rubinstein gave an effusive review to her Preludes recording, originally a 2-lp set on Philips I purchased when I was about 21.Fine pianism all, at YT I believe.

[Lance]

The Bach Double Concerto that Artur- and Karl Urlich Schnabel recorded ... is my go to recording, but there have been many fine recordings made of these works over the years. How lucky we are to have our "picks!"

[Rach3]

From Wiki:

Constance Keene (9 February 1921 – 24 December 2005) was an American pianist, who was renowned for her 1964 recording of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Preludes and won critical acclaim for her recordings of the works of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Maria von Weber and Felix Mendelssohn, as well as Rachmaninoff's Études-Tableaux, Op. 33 and Études-Tableaux, Op. 39.

She was raised in Brooklyn, New York City. One of her teachers was Abram Chasins. She won the Naumburg Piano Competition in 1943. In 1946, she stood in for Vladimir Horowitz when he was unavailable for a concert, and she asserted that she was the only female pianist ever to have been given this honor. She also appeared with Benny Goodman and his orchestra in a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. In 1949 she married Chasins, who died in 1987. They performed and recorded music for piano duo.

Through her husband, who had himself studied with pianist Josef Hofmann, she met other concert pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. She and Chasins regularly socialized and played bridge with Horowitz and his wife Wanda Toscanini Horowitz during Horowitz's 12-year retirement from the concert stage. As a teen she met Hofmann, Godowsky, and Rachmaninoff; as an adult she and Chasins helped Van Cliburn before his rise to fame. She was close to William Kapell, Abbey Simon, and other pianists. Later in life she often hosted rising young pianists such as Evgeny Kissin, Anne-Marie McDermott, and Lang Lang at her Upper West Side home.

She later became an accomplished teacher herself. Her pupils included the children of Arthur Rubinstein, who said of her performances of Rachmaninoff's Preludes that he was "flabbergasted by the colour, sweep and imagination and ... incredible technique. I cannot imagine anybody, including Rachmaninoff, playing the piano so beautifully".

Pianist Peter Nero was one of Constance's pupils as a young man. Despite being a prodigy and winning piano contests in the New York City area, when he started studying with her, Mr. Nero claimed, "She changed my whole life" in regards to piano technique. "I owe it all to Constance", he claimed in later life.

For many years, she was on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, served as the chair of the Piano Department, and was a member of its board of trustees. She was also sought out as a piano competition adjudicator.

[Lance]

I have long enjoyed the piano art of Constance Keene. From an early age, I sought some of her LP recordings. Just for those seeking, this may be helpful:

LPs
•Mercury MG-10113 - Romantic Piano Favorites
•Protone PR-148 - A Romantic Tradition
•Philips PHC2-006 - Rachmaninoff: Complete Preludes, Opp. 23/32
CDs
•Kasp 57732 - Keene speaks; Rachmaninoff, Chopin, MacDowell, Gluck/Chasins
_______issued by our own Donald Isler!
•Naxos Historical 8.111218 - Women of the Piano, Volume 4
•Newport 60161-60163 - J. N. Hummel - Complete piano sonatas
•Newport 601?? - von Weber - Complete piano sonatas [unsure of catalogue number]
_____Unclear in my own manifesting; will find the CD and correct eventually
•Newport 85613 - Piano music of Friederich Nietzsche
•Protone 1106 - Piano sonatas: Hummel, Beethoven, Haydn, Dussek, Griffes
•Protone 1112 - 'Variations': Beethoven 32 in c; Mendelssohn Serieuses;
____Schumann ABEGG; Rachmaninoff Corelli; Handel Harmonious Blacksmith
•Protone 1113 - J. S. Bach selections
•Protone 2203/3 - MacDowell: 4 piano sonatas, other solo pieces
•Kapp/Rediscovery 083 - J. S. Bach, 2 two-piano concertos w/Abram Chasins, piano

Frankly, I'm surprised Philips (now DECCA-UK) hasn't issued her complete Rachmaninoff Preludes.

No doubt Donald Isler has her complete recorded output! Yes???

[Donald Isler]

Some, though not all of it!! But thanks for mentioning the KASP disc!

[Lance]

Why not? You deserve to be followed and appreciated for your efforts greatly enhancing what's available for Bruce Hungerford and Adrian Aeschbacher, not to mention the fine recordings of one Donald Isler. And I well recall what you did for me on Aeschbacher's recordings, most of which were never re-released. What are you working on now for possible new releases?

Some, though not all of it!! But thanks for mentioning the KASP disc!

[Donald Isler]

Thanks for your kind comments, Lance, as well as your encouragement of my work over the years! There are no plans at the moment for any new KASP releases, but I still do occasional interviews for my Isler's Insights blog. Next week I will interview a terrific young pianist named Hengyi Ye, who among other things, gave a blockbuster performance of the Brahms Handel Variations just last month. Our late friend, Joe Patrych, texted me during her performance (which I watched on the livestream) to say "Damn! What fantastic playing!" Perhaps sometime after I write that article I can do an interview with one Lance G. Hill?

[Lance]

Bringing up this older post because I have been spending a lot of time with pianist Constance Keene of late. In listening to her Protone CD [1112] called Variations, we find the music by Handel's Harmonious Blacksmith, Beethoven's 32 Variations in C Minor, Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses, Schumann's ABEGG Variations, and Rachmaninoff's Corelli Variations.

I am in awe of her playing, an incredible and precise technique, masterful touch in all ranges, perfect balances between left- and right hands, and a key word, momentum, all combined in a stunning, glowing piano tone. Artur Rubinstein was right-on about what a fabulous pianist she was. This is the kind of recording that, when playing, immediately absorbs the mind and you stop everything and take notice of a supreme artistry.

I next will be traversing her recordings again of Edward MacDowell's music.