Wilhelm Kempff: Solo Piano Recordings

This set is beautifully packaged with extensive notes and the recording quality is excellent. Whether or not you are familiar with Kempff's work , if you appreciate piano music or are serious student or professional pianist this set of 35 CDs covers music from Back to Schuman including a bonus CD of Kempff - Piano & Speaker. I personally cannot find a reason not have this set.As one would expect the playing if of the highest order, I particularly enjoyed the Bach Goldberg variations but there are gems throughout this collection. Brahms ballades are a wonderfully evocative and beautifully phrased. There are hours of pleasure in this set.

good box

Excellent!

Wilhelm Kempff was the house pianist for Deutsche Grammophon for almost fifty years (not counting a brief flirtation with Decca).He was to DG what Arthur Rubinstein was to RCA.Both great pianists - Rubinstein was the more flamboyant personality, Kempff more cerebral.Rubinstein was a "Chopin specialist", Kempff was a "Schubert specialist."Rubinstein's favorite composer was Brahms; Kempff's favorite composer was Bach.This box is supposed to contain all the solo repertoire that Wilhelm Kempff recorded for Deutsche Grammophon in the post-war period (plus a few items he recorded for Decca):34 CDs plus a 35th CD of some pre-war 78s.No concerti or chamber music recordings (which would have meant maybe 15 additional CDs).Unlike Sony's absolutely complete Rubinstein Collection, which includes multiple performances of the works he recorded (sometimes three times), DG has limited this collection to Kempff's final stereo recording of each work.For those pieces for which Kempff left no stereo recording, his early 50's mono recording is used.This can be awkward: Kempff recorded all eight pieces of Brahms' Op 76 in mono in 1953, but only re-did No. 1, 2 & 4 in stereo in 1962.The eight pieces of Op. 76 (3 stereo and 5 mono) are now joined together on CD 16.3 1/2 CDs of Bach (+1/2 CD of Gluck and Handel); 10 CDs of Beethoven;3 CDs of Brahms; 2 CDs of Chopin; 1 CD of Liszt; 1 CD of Mozart; 9 CDs of Schubert; and 4 CDs of Schumann.Roughly 4/5 of the contents of this box are already available on CD.In particular, DG has issued nice inexpensive boxes of the Beethoven Sonatas (8CDs), the Schubert Sonatas (7CDs) and the Schumann repertoire (4 CDs).I believe this new box is the first time all Kempff's Bach recordings have been gathered together (3 1/2 CDs).It even includes three organ works recorded live in 1954.Wait a minute - They forgot Bach's Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue (see "problems" below).Also for the first time, the Beethoven bagatelles and variations (2 CDs), and the isolated Schubert pieces (2 CDs).Now, for the problems:The collection comes in a 5" x 5" box with a hinged lid (like a child's jack-in-the-box),but the 35 CDs and booklet take up only 3 inches, leaving 2 inches of empty space.It almost seems as if DG had planned to include additional CDs, then changed their mind.Or they could have planned on a thicker booklet (or booklets).The booklet included with the set is a major disappointment - just a four page bio of Kempff and a few photos, in addition to track listings for each CD.The booklets included with the previously-issued Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann boxes were far more helpful,particularly the booklet that came with the Schubert Sonatas.I was able to sell my Beethoven and Schumann boxes (program notes for these are easy to come by), but I guess I'll have to keep my Schubert Sonata box.Also, contrary to the stated aim of this collection, five items in Kempff's recorded solo repertoire were left out:- Bach: Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor, BWV 903- Beethoven: Bagatelle (Presto) in C minor, WoO 52- Couperin: Le carillon de Cithere- Handel: Harmonious Blacksmith- Rameau: Le rappel des oiseaux *These five pieces were recorded in mono in 1953-55.Fortunately, all five are available on a single CD on the Australian Eloquence label: "Fur Elise" -  Baroque Recital Five stars for Wilhelm Kempff.He's not responsible for the crummy booklet and the five missing pieces.The box is still a justifiable purchase, given the price, but DG should have paid closer attention to content and presentation.* pronounced "wazoo"P.S. Since I wrote this review, Kempff's complete concerto recordings have been released in a nice box. This time it really is complete:  The Concerto Recordings