Earl Wild, the America virtuoso pianist, died on Saturday, January 23, 2010. Earl Wild impressed me as a performer who could do everything well. Art Scott loves Wild’s Brahams CD. I love that, and Wild’s Chopin. In fact, I love all the Earl Wild CDs I own. The man was without pretension. And, that might explain why Earl Wild is not more well known. He never stayed with one record company for long. He jumped around. Over time, Wild’s recordings went out-of-print. Recently, there has been an attempt to rescue many of Earl Wild’s wonderful performances and make them available to the public again. Go to http://www.earlwild.com/ find out more about this gifted performer and to order some of his wonderful music.
Back in the seventies, when I was first trying to acquire an ear for what my parents nervously called “good music” there was a radio show hosted by Karl Haas, where you could hear people like Earl Wild play. No one has ever replaced him–not even with the many stations on our brief try at Sirius Radio. Maybe having someone like him again would encourage a new generation of listeners of “good music.”
Our Classical Music station used to play Karl Haas every day, Patti. We loved it. I wish whoever controls the rights to those programs would put them online or bring out a CD set of the BEST OF KARL HAAS. I’d buy it in a minute!
I find that if there is any one thing that’s very much a matter of personal taste, it’s pianists. For me, Wild is okay, but so are more than a handful of others. Certainly if there was a recording of his that didn’t overlap the same work by others I would buy it, but I won’t buy a duplicate just for his interpretation. Or maybe I would, if there are some nice memorial packages in the offing.
You’re right about personal tastes in music, Rick. I’m a Richard Goode fan, and he’s not on many people’s radar. Earl Wild didn’t promote himself the way Horowitz did, but I believe Wild was just as talented. Who is your favorite pianist?
It says something about the mass media – or my mode of interacting with it – that I learn of Earl Wild’s death from your blog. He’s the one pianistic giant of my half of the 20th Century that I most regret never having heard live (I’ve heard most of them, from Martha Argerich to Thelonious Monk). The key recording in his large discography is The Art of the Transcription, which preserves his historic 1981 Carnegie Hall concert. It’s still available in the Wild volume of the Great Pianists of the 20th Century series from Philips. Essential for pianophiles.
Glad my blog was able to bring you up to speed, Art. Diane and I almost heard Earl Wild two years ago when he was scheduled to play in the Ramsey Tick concert series. Wild canceled at the last minute for health reasons.
Now that recording Art mentions does sound like one I should have. I’m off to make the purchase.
It’s a great CD, Rick. Your ears will thank you when you play it.
Got it, it’s ont he way. Found it at HiFiClearance, on sale.