Thaddeus Kozuch - concert pianist, teacher, lecturer, scholar, composer ... a "Brilliant Piano Virtuoso"
Long Overdue thanks and credit is acknowledged for Joseph Stefanits' discovery and help obtaining the RTF broadcast recordings by Thaddeus Kozuch in Paris from 1960.
Maurice Ravel
Thaddeus Kozuch would agree, as it has been said, that most of Ravel's piano music is extremely difficult to play, and presents pianists with a balance of technical and artistic challenges. The works presented here are no exception.
Mr. Kozuch was certainly up to these challenges. Included are studio and
recital performances of some of Ravel's most difficult music.
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Several recordings of the same music are presented, showing differences in
musical interpretation over the years ...
... or when it was just too difficult to pick only one.
Ravel
Alborada
Ravel - Alborada del gracioso (published 1906)
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Alborada ... ("Morning Song of the Jester") in D minor, is the fourth movement
of Miroirs ("Mirrors"), a five-movement suite for solo piano.
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Alborada is a technically challenging piece that incorporates
Spanish musical themes into its complicated melodies.
This performance was given at Thaddeus Kozuch's final DePaul University faculty recital in 1979.
VIDEO: Ravel Habanera
Habanera is a style of Cuban dance music of the 19th century, also popular in Spain.
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For something completely different, Thaddeus Kozuch performed the Ravel Habanera ( or the Prelude )
in recitals following an enormous showpiece, or as a tranquil encore.
This home studio VIDEO of March 26th, 1986 displays a subtle and sensitive interpretation.
Ravel
Habanera
From the October 3, 1986 concert recital, this is also another beautiful AUDIO recording of the Ravel Habanera.
This concert was Thaddeus Kozuch's last public performance, given in Grand Rapid Michigan at the St. Cecilia Music Center.
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In a sense, Mr. Kozuch made a "full circle" return to St. Cecilia with this concert, where he played one of his first formal public performances before his 1940 Chicago debut.
Ravel
La Valse
Ravel - La Valse (1920)
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This is a 1978 DePaul University Faculty recital performance of La Valse.
Ravel described La valse with the following preface to the score:
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Through whirling clouds, waltzing couples may be faintly distinguished. The clouds gradually scatter. One sees an immense hall peopled with a whirling crowd. The scene is gradually illuminated. The light of the chandeliers bursts forth at the fortissimo. Set in an imperial court, about 1855.
Ravel Prelude
recordings
Ravel's Prelude in A minor was composed in 1913 as a gentile student work.
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For something completely different, Thaddeus Kozuch performed the Ravel Prelude ( or the Habanera )
in recitals following an enormous showpiece, or as a tranquil encore.
These two performances were given in a Houston recital then a week later in Thaddeus Kozuch's
final DePaul University faculty recital in 1979.
Ravel
Toccata
Ravel - Toccata, from Le Tombeau de Couperin (1914-17)
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Unfortunately, the only recording we have was made by a DePaul University music school student auditorium technician who did not know how to manage the volume control. As such, this exceptional 1969 faculty recital performance was captured with too much tape distortion. We have edited the audio quality as best we can.