Desert Island Music: Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)

One of the greatest pianist-composers was the Faustian giant, Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924). Busoni was one of the greatest pianists of all time. He was a musical philosopher, and his essays are fascinating reading. He was a piano teacher, a musical scholar, a composer, a conductor, a supporter of young performers, and a champion of forgotten and new composers. He was an original thinker, and a genius at scholarship; a profound creative and a profound re-creative artist. He was also a man of deep culture and wide learning, and a polyglot.

Busoni's best-known compositions are his transcriptions for piano of works originally for other instruments. His most famous work is the Bach-Busoni Chaconne in D Minor from the Partita number two for solo violin. It has been recorded by many pianists over the years, including a piano-roll recording by Busoni himself (here's the second part of Busoni's piano roll recording). Next is an old friend, a performance I listened to many times in my college days: Here is a link to the first part (and here is the second part) of a performance of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne by Busoni's student, friend, and musical champion, Egon Petri. A more recent recording of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, and much loved by many people, was by the Italian pianist, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli [Part 1...Part 2]. Here are links to Marc-Andre Hamelin's performance, Part 1 and Part 2. Many others have performed and recorded the Chaconne, such as Alicia de Larrocha [1/2], Artur Rubenstein [1/2], Yevgeny Kissin, etc.

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And, to reiterate Vladimir de Pachmann's comment on Busoni: "der grosser Bach spieler": Busoni playing Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude and Fugue [Number One] in C Major. This is one of my all-time favorite recordings.