• Tracks

The new issue No. 17 from the series "The Welte Mignon Mystery," being introduced today, differs from the earlier ones in regard to it's program, among other things. Edwin Fischer chose only pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart for his piano-roll recordings, probably recorded for the Welte company in 1923 (possibly already in 1909). He played none of the encores customary at the time and no work of his own. It is therefore obvious that the Welte technology was also suitable for larger, longer works. The Sonatas Op. 10, No. 3 and Op. 110 of Beethoven - distributed over several rolls, but brought together on our CD - are created anew in their entirety before our ears as coherent structures with comprehensive arcs of tension. Edwin Fischer came to terms with the music of the very greatest composers; on his Welte recordings, at least, there was no room for the salon pieces so beloved during this period. In this respect, too, the exceptional quality of his personality is readily apparent.