Oscar Levant - Oscar Levant Plays Popular Moderns (1946)

"Golliwog's Cake Walk / Maid with the Flaxen Hair / Reflection in the Water / Claire de Lune / La plus que lente / The Little Shepherd" by Oscar Levant


Oscar Levant played the piano on the Anton Rubinstein recording from the last entry.  A famous pianist and a famous personality in movies, TV and radio, Oscar Levant released his first album Oscar Levant Plays Popular Moderns in 1946 by way of Columbia Masterworks.

Here is the discography surrounding Oscar Levant's debut album:

Rhapsody in Blue (1945 single)
Oscar Levant Plays Popular Moderns

"Rhapsody in Blue" by Oscar Levant


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Anton Rubinstein - Piano Concerto No. 4 in D Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 70 (1952)

"Piano Concerto No. 4 in D Minor" by Anton Rubinstein


Tchaikovsky studied at the Russian Musical Society under one of its founders, composer Anton Rubinstein.  Recordings of Rubinstein pieces are not as common (or as easy to find), so the first entry into the blog for Rubinstein is a 1952 release of his Piano Concerto No. 4 performed by the New York Philharmonic.

Here is the discography surrounding Anton Rubinstein's debut album:

Piano Concerto No. 4 in D Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 70

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor (1932)

For a time in the early 1880s, Debussy was close with Nadezha von Meck and her family, teaching them the piano and performing private concerts.  However, von Meck, a wealthy patroness, is more famously known for her financial relationship with the Russian composer Thcaikovsky.  Tchaikovsky was a popular subject for early classical recordings, and as usual, the recordings I was able to find are mostly recorded with Leopold Stokowski conducting.  His "first album" was a recording of his Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor released in 1932.

Here is the discography surrounding Pyotr Ilyich Thcaikovsky's debut album:

Symphony No. 6, 3rd Movement (Marche Scherzo) (1921 single)
Dance of the Flutes (1922 single)
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, 2nd Movement (Andante Cantabile) (1923 single)
Chant Sans Paroles (1924 single)
Marche Slave (1925 recording)
The Nutcracker Suite (1926 recording)
Romeo and Juliet Overture (1928 recording)
Song Without Words (1928 single)
Symphony No. 4 in F Minor (1928 recording)
Capriccio Italien (1929 recording)
Overture 1812 (1930 recording)
Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor

"Symphony No. 5, 2nd Movement" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky


Pass the Headphones!!