Domenico Scarlatti and Wanda Landowska

Wanda Landowska's wild performances of a number of Domenico Scarlatti's (1685-1787) 555 Sonatas for harpsichord, recorded in Paris in 1934, 1939, and 1940 [click here to download]. On track 22 (recorded 3/8-9/40) at 2'00" and 2'41" one can hear the ineffective rumble of artillery in an attempt to halt the Nazi invasion of France. The Germans would enter Paris on June, 14 1940, forcing Landowska to flee to the greener pastures of Lakeville, Connecticut. Here is a clip of Landowska and admirers, including a testimony from the late Bill Buckley.

Robert Schumann and Pablo Casals

Pablo Casals playing Robert Schumann's (1810-1856) Cello Concerto in A minor, Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, and my favorite Fünf Stücke in Volkston (five pieces in a folk style) [click here to download]. With Eugene Ormandy conducting the Prades Festival Orchestra, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, piano, Alexander Schneider, violin, and Leopold Mannes, piano, respectively. If you listen closely to the Fünf Stücke you can hear Casals grunting on several occasions, particularly just before the start of a phrase, or as a guttural accent at the end of one. Casals's vocal accompaniment is most audible in the third and fourth movements.

Frédéric Chopin and William Kapell

Twenty-nine of Chopin's (1810-49) mazurkas recorded by William Kapell in the early '50s [click here to download].