The Art of IgnaznFriedmannbyJ.O. TatenThe digitalization of recordednsound proceeds apace, and one ofnthe best results is the refurbishment ofnold recordings. The Edison cylindersnand 78’s of our grandparents’ and greatgrandparents’nworld are being processedninto compact discs, saving space, time,nand—best of all — preserving the musicnof worlds fast fading into oblivion.nTaking the advice of the fellow whontold me to put my money in CDs, Inhave found that what was true with thenold technology is true for the new.nThere’s so much indispensable musicmakingnfrom two and three generationsnago that we are often justified in ignoringncontemporary hype about performance—nand even sound. There arensome things that just don’t get anynbetter.nI have in mind various vocal andnviolin and orchestral performances fromnfifty and sixty years ago. And I think toonof “the Golden Age of Pianism,” whennIgnacy Jan Paderewski, Leopold Godowsky,nMoriz Rosenthal, Sergei Rachmaninoff,nJosef Hofmann, and AlfrednCortot graced the stages of this countrynand the world. I have not omitted thenname of Ignaz Friedman, of course, butn50/CHRONICLESnVITAL SIGNSnrather singled it out for a special citation.nThe recent release of “Ignaz Friedman:nThe Complete Solo Recordingsn1923-1936” on the Peari label is ancause not only for rejoicing but fornacquisition (Peari IF 2000; 4 CD boxednset; imported from England by KOCHnInternational). This gathering of neariynfive hours of imperishable performancesnis a “must have,” an opportunity, anprivilege, and a pleasure. This collectionnis a superb access to a vanishednworld and an evaporated culture. IgnaznFriedman was a remarkable individual,nno doubt; yet through him we can hearnthe voice not only of his immediatenbackground but of the 19th century.nThat sound emanated in Friedman’sncase from “a local habitation and anname.” Born in 1882 in Podgorze, ansuburb of Krakow, Friedman was surroundednby the music of his family’snitinerant orchestra — his father playednwith Josef Hofmann’s father in a Krakowntheater. And he was imbued toonwith the Polish culture and language, sonthat later he would say, when asked whynhe played the Chopin mazurkas sonbrilliantly, that he had danced mazurkasnas a boy and that the Polish languagenheld the rhythmic secrets he knew.nBut Friedman was also a child prodigynwho was lucky to have a teacher asnwise as Flora Grzywinska, who developednhis piano technique and knowledgenof the whole of musical culture.nBy 1901 Friedman was ready for thengreatest of piano teachers: he studiednwith Leschetizky in Vienna alongsidenGabrilovitsch, Moisiewitch, Schnabel,nand Horszowski — the last of whom stillnplays today. Friedman played the firstnconcerti of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, andnLiszt for his Vienna debut in 1904; andnBusoni, Godowsky, and Rosenthal werenin the enthusiastic audience.nIgnaz Friedman toured the woddnand played some three thousand concertsnin the next forty years. The Nazisnpushed him out of Europe so that henspent the Second Worid War in Australianand New Zealand. His left handnbetrayed him in 1943; his health declinednand he died in Sydney inn1948 — a long way from Krakow andnnnthe sound of his father’s Jewish band.nThe sounds Friedman left behind arencompelling; they are also reminders ofnwhat he didn’t leave behind. His enormousnrepertory died with him, particularlynthe big pieces and all of thenchamber music with one large exception.nBut all thoughts of lost opportunities,nrejected recordings, and discardednair-checks must be set aside when wenare confronted by the wealth offered bynthe Pearl collection. What we have isnconsiderable, and greatly magnified bynits intensity.nThe first thing to be said about thenrecordings of Friedman is that theynseem to be the very definition ofn”beautiful tone. ” The sound is wellnmodulated, but it is not overrefined. Itnis a rich blend, a synthesis of colors,nand sometimes an outrage of suggestionsnand overtones. Friedman is non”right-handed pianist,” and the leftnhand roars and whispers in a way that’snreminiscent of Rachmaninoff andnCortot. No one has ever floated anmelody above its accompanying figurenwith more shrewdness, more resource,nor a more ravishing legato than IgnaznFriedman. The recording perspective,n”from the bottom up,” is an image ofnhis sonority, not an engineer’s trick,nand must make one wonder about thenpretensions of today’s technology. Thensound, far from antique or constricted,nis rich and reminds me of Horowitz’snlate work for Deutsche Grammophon;nor perhaps I should say that one Romanticngiant had much the same palettenas another.nThe slight swish or transcribednscratch in the background reminds usnthat we are listening to a series of 78’s,nbut there’s no annoyance to the experience.nBecause of Friedman’s masterynof his instrument, the sound is actuallyn