Dinu Lipatti is one of those almost mythical figures of the piano cosmos. His star shone briefly, but with incredible intensity – and its lingering aura threatened at times to obscure the view of his playing. Conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) was repeatedly quoted: ‘It was no longer piano playing, it was music, released from all earthly weight, music in its purest form, in a harmony that can be imparted only by one who was no longer of this world.’ Karajan is Lipatti’s partner in the 1948 recording of Robert Schumann’s A minor Concerto, widely hailed as the “everlasting” benchmark recording, which is correspondingly included in this CD Edition.

The year 2017 marks the centenary of Lipatti’s birth, and at the same time the 67th anniversary of his death – and his life, all these years later, is still just as fascinating.

Contents:

I. Pre-War Recordings (1936-38)
CD 1
Bach, Bach-Busoni, Enescu, Brahms

II. War Recordings (1941-43)
CD 2
Bach-Hess, Scarlatti, Brahms, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Lipatti
CD 3
Enescu

III. Post-War Recordings (1945-48)
CD 4
Lipatti, Liszt, Grieg
CD 5
Bach-Busoni, Bartok
CD 6
Schumann, Lipatti
CD 7
Chopin, Scarlatti, Liszt, Ravel, Fauré, Rimsky-Korsakov

IV. Last year of Dinu Lipatti (1950)
CD 8
Chopin
CD 9
Mozart, Schumann
CD 10
Chopin
CD 11
Bach, Bach-Kempff, Bach-Busoni, Bach-Hess, Mozart, Chopin

V. Dinu Lipatti’s Last Recital
CD 12
Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Bach-Hess