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.
Domenico Scarlatti
Thaddeus Kozuch's recitals were known for their variety, and often included a collection of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas. These recordings include a few duplicates to allow comparison between Kozuch's historic 1947 studio 78 rpm discs with later recordings.
Robert Schumann
The 1968 Kozuch performance of Schumann's Fantasy Opus 17, published and dedicated to Franz Liszt in 1839. It is generally described as one of Schumann's greatest works for solo piano, and is one of the central works of the early Romantic period.
Schumann Fantasy Opus 17
The movements are:
1. Passionate, as a legend
2. Moderate, quite energetic
3. Adagio, consistently quiet
Karol Szymanowski
Szymanowski believed that the piano mazurka form was not an 'historic' concept forever tied with Chopin (and subject to mere imitations). Rather, it was a living and dynamic thing that developed just as well as other music forms.
Here is Szymanowski's Tantris le Bouffon from Masques Opus 34 No. 2 (1915-16).
Thaddeus Kozuch recorded this in 1963 in his studio.
The recently discovered recording was made by a friend of the family.
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The audio tape required extensive audio editing including noise reduction, equalization changes, and a 4% pitch correction to the AUDIO. Under these circumstances, we are happy to have this rare Kozuch recording.
Tantris
le Bouffon
1963
Russell Wood
Russell A. Wood was a Chicago composer, voice teacher, pianist and a close friend of Thaddeus Kozuch. Wood's Sonata was written for, and given its first performance by Mr. Kozuch.
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Two Kozuch performances of the Wood Sonata may be heard on this website, this one from a 1947 studio disc, and another from a 1960 French Radio-TV broadcast.
Here is a link to the 1960 Radio-TV France recordings. The collection includes this Russell Wood Sonata.
Before this encore, Mr. Kozuch announced "A little Waltz by a friend of mine, Russell Wood".
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This is a little Waltz by Russell Wood that was played as an encore at Thaddeus Kozuch's final DePaul University faculty concert in 1979.
After the music, if you listen carefully, Mr. Kozuch can be heard saying "Isn't that pretty?"