The Welte Mignon Mystery, Vol. 6: Ernst von Dohnányi

Featuring

Ernö Dohnányi
Franz Schubert
Franz Liszt
Ludwig van Beethoven
Johannes Brahms
Frédéric Chopin

Robert Schumann

Did you know?

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Recording & Production

This album is not a historical recording; instead, it uses modern recording techniques to reproduce original interpretations from 1905 via a Welte-Mignon player piano.

Interpretation

In the early 20th century, concert-goers often valued a pianist's individuality more than strict fidelity to the composer's intentions, leading to interpretations that might seem unusual today.

Composer Biography

Ernst von Dohnányi, a piano virtuoso, composer, and conductor, made these Welte-Mignon recordings in 1905 while working in Berlin, playing his own compositions and works by other masters.

Recording & Production

The Welte-Mignon system records piano performances digitally using perforated paper rolls, capturing dynamic nuances and pedal activations.

Historical Context

The Welte-Mignon system allowed pianists, for the first time, to hear their own performances immediately after recording, sometimes revealing their own failings.

Historical Context

The Welte-Mignon player piano was hailed as a 'wonder of the world' by the press upon its first demonstration and was found in aristocratic homes, grand hotels, and ocean liners.

Instruments

The Welte-Mignon, invented in 1904, was a player piano system that could record and reproduce all the subtleties of a pianist's performance using perforated paper rolls.