The list is cronological with respect to date of recording.
I welcome any additions or corrections.
What a pity that Godowsky did not accept the proposal by record company Brunswick in 1928 to record the Passacaglia. Instead, we are left with a tantalising
review by Abram Chasins of the world premiere performance of that master piece in Godowsky's New York apartment, where Godowsky played in the presence
of some of his friends, including Josef Hofmann:
"And how he played! This was sheer enchantment, both the work itself and Godowsky's pianism. It had the cool, colorful clarity of a stained-glass window. Although
I was greatly moved and impressed by what I heard, Godowsky's effortless mastery made me unaware of the vastness of his pianistic feat that night. Years later I
realised it when one of the great virtuosos told me that he had worked on the "fiendish piece" for a year, several hours each day, and had finally had to give up the
unequal struggle. "It is impossible to master, " he said. I felt tactful that day and refrained from telling him with what devastating ease Godowsky had disposed of
it, making it seem like nothing at all."
|
Year |
Date |
Pianist |
Cover |
Label |
Reference |
Comments |
| 2019 |
17 August |
David Stanhope David Stanhope and His Orchestra
David Stanhope, conductor |
 |
Tall Poppies |
TP265 |
Stanhope's transcription for orchestra.
Revised version of the YouTube recording. |
| 2018 |
25 November |
Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi |
 |
Decca |
481 8602 |
Thanks to Alice Aymerich di Laconi for advising
date of recording. |
| 2017 |
November
April |
Lukasz Kwiatkowski |
 |
DUX |
1464 |
|
| 2016 |
29 December |
Yu-Wen Huang |
 |
Youtube |
n/a |
Non-commercial live video recording, Taipei. |
| 2015 |
26 August |
Emanuele Delucchi |
 |
Youtube |
n/a |
Non-commercial live video recording, Bolzano.
From Delucchi's semi-final recital at the 60th
Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. |
| 2015 |
30 June |
David Stanhope David Stanhope and His Orchestra
David Stanhope, conductor |
 |
Youtube |
n/a |
Stanhope's transcription for orchestra.
Non-commercial recording.
Date is Youtube publication date. |
| 2015 |
6-8 March |
Emanuele Delucchi |
 |
Piano Classics |
PCL0096 |
|
| 2008 |
24 or 25 July |
Howard Na |
 |
Youtube |
n/a |
Non-commercial live video recording, New Orleans.
From Na's semi-final recital at the 20th
New Orleans International Piano Competition. |
| 2008 |
6 June |
Artem Borissov |
 |
Youtube |
n/a |
Non-commercial live video recording. |
| 2006 |
March |
Xiang Zou |
 |
Arktos Recordings
Limited |
200692 CD |
|
| 2002 |
3, 4 December |
Konstantin Scherbakov |
 |
Marco Polo |
8.225187 |
|
| 2002 |
10 April |
Michael Schäfer |
 |
Telos |
TLS 052 |
|
| 2001 |
4, 5 October |
Antti Siirala |
 |
Naxos |
8.555997 |
Siirala included the Passacaglia in one of
his recitals at the 2000 London International
Piano Competition where he won first price. |
| 2001 |
22, 23 August |
Marc-André Hamelin |
 |
Hyperion |
CDA67300 |
|
| 2000 |
n/a |
"Michael Nanasakov" |
 |
Nanasawa
Articulates |
JNCD-1008 |
Produced with computer and Yamaha discklavier
by Junichi Nanasawa.
Nanasawa names the virtual pianist Michael
Nanasakov. |
| 2000 |
12 May |
Marc-André Hamelin |
 |
n/a |
n/a |
Non-commercial live recording at Blackheath
Hall, London. |
| 2000 |
4 March |
Marc-André Hamelin |
 |
n/a |
n/a |
Non-commercial live recording, Tokyo. |
| 1998 |
21-23 May |
Ian Hobson |
 |
Zephyr |
Z112-98 |
|
| 1998 |
January |
David Stanhope |
 |
Tall Poppies |
TP135 |
Stanhope performs on a Stuart & Sons
four-pedal grand piano. |
| 1997 |
n/a |
Carlo Grante |
 |
Music & Arts |
CD-984 |
Published 1997. No recording date information. |
| 1996 |
n/a |
Carlo Grante |
 |
Altarus |
AIR-CD-9094 |
Published 1996. No recording date information.
The performance follows Jorge Bolet's copy of
the score into which Godowsky had marked
numerous corrections. |
| 1996 |
n/a |
Tomoshiba Fuwa |
 |
Youtube |
n/a |
Non-commercial live video recording. |
| 1993 |
24 April |
Janice Weber |
 |
The Boston
Conservatory |
Digital
audio tape |
Non-commercial live recording at Boston
Conservatory.
Weber performed the work as early as 1983,
the first New York performance in forty years. |
| 1991 |
21-23 May |
Rian de Waal |
 |
Hyperion |
CDA66496 |
Rian de Waal gave the work its second London
performance in April 1991, 63 years after Godowsky
gave the work its first public performance at
London's Queen's Hall in April 1928. |
| 1987 |
21 August |
Rainer Maria Klass |
 |
Danacord |
Unpublished
live recording |
Pianist Daniel Berman recorded for his own
interest the complete 1987 and 1988
"Schloss vor Husum" festival concerts.
Danacord has issued a selection of these
recordings from the first years of the festival
(DACOCD 299). However, the Passacaglia by
Klass is not included in the issued selection. |
| 1987 |
August |
Marc-André Hamelin |
 |
Musica Viva |
MV 1026 |
Hamelin performs on a Fazioli grand piano,
an interesting choice of piano at a time where
only a few hundred pianos of that particular
piano brand existed. |
| 1970 |
n/a |
Stephen Glover |
 |
IPL |
1001 |
Published 1970. No recording date information.
Some information indicates that the recording
was made in the early 1960's.
Glover's first name is spelled Stephen on the
LP cover and Steven in the booklet. |
One early performance of the Passacaglia deserves mentioning: Godowsky's son-in-law, David Saperton (who went on to record eleven Chopin-Godowsky studies, two Godowsky Symphonic Metamorphosis
(Die Fledermaus and Künstlerleben) and several other Godowsky works), performed the Passacaglia in February 1935 at the Astor Hotel, New York. The performance was part of a surprise party celebrating
Godowsky's 65th birthday; four hundred people participated including Josef Hofmann, Josef Lhevinne, Jascha Heifetz, Harold Bauer, George Gershwin and Albert Einstein. Other performers included the
young Shura Cherkassky, who played the Albeniz-Godowsky Tango, Schubert-Godowsky Moment Musical and two Godowsky Waltz Poems (reference: Jeremy Nicholas' Godowsky biography).
Established 26 November 2011. Latest update 2 November 2019.