Elly Ney: The Complete Brunswick & Electrola Solo 78-RPM recordings

Featuring

Willem van Hoogstraten
Elly Ney
Fritz Zaun
Orchestra
Landesorchester Berlin
Staatskapelle Berlin

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ludwig van Beethoven
Richard Strauss
Franz Schubert
Robert Schumann
Johannes Brahms
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Frédéric Chopin
Franz Liszt
Teresa Carreño
Claude Debussy

Did you know?

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Critical Reception

A New York Times critic noted that Elly Ney's playing of Schubert's Impromptu in F minor and Moment musical in C sharp minor gave a "new sensation to hardened concert goers."

Performer Biography

Elly Ney's teachers included pupils of Friedrich Wieck (Clara Schumann's father) and Carl Czerny (who studied with Beethoven), and Emil von Sauer, one of Liszt's greatest pupils.

Historical Context

Elly Ney joined the Nazi Party in 1937, was made a professor by Hitler, and was put in charge of the People's Beethoven Festival, leading to her being seen as a Nazi sympathiser.

Interpretation

Elly Ney's performance of Debussy's Feux d'artifice, recorded in 1924, is notable for her constant rhythm, lack of rubato, and adherence to Debussy's markings.

Critical Reception

A 1927 critic described Elly Ney's playing as having "great breadth, yet misses no detail," conveying the composer's meaning without intruding the player's personality.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Elly Ney believed that the essence of music lies beyond technique, sound, precision, tempo, and dynamics, serving only as means to reveal the spirit behind the music.