The Slipped Disc daily comfort zone (201): Annie’s still smoking hot

The Slipped Disc daily comfort zone (201): Annie’s still smoking hot

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norman lebrecht

October 07, 2020

Annie was never far from a cigarette. And Mozart sounds so much better for a bit of puff.


Comments

  • Ken says:

    Ok, you stumped me. Who is/was Annie Fischer? I got nothing.

    • Bruce says:

      She was a wonderful Hungarian pianist, one of the “old masters” of the postwar era. I saw her in the early 80s when she was a dignified older lady (about 8-9 years before this video); she gave a magisterial performance of the Beethoven C minor concerto. Well-known, but not super famous in the US (I’d never heard of her; I just went because I had season tickets to the Rochester Philharmonic when I was a student there.)

      You can tell from her page on Amazon that she was highly respected: “legend,” “icon,” etc. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=annie+fischer&i=classical&ref=nb (some of the customer comments are very knowledgeable).

      There is probably a lot on YouTube as well. Give her a listen — you are in for a treat!

    • Robert Roy says:

      Her cycle of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas on Hungariton is superb. I remember it was difficult to get in the UK and a friend asked me to pick up a set in Budapest.

  • E says:

    Sweet. Thanks so much!

  • Doc Martin says:

    I wonder if Annie knows the air Avondale? Mozart might have done some variations on it, or maybe auld Ludwig.

    Air (Trad) Avondale

    The lyrics to the traditional air “Avondale” refer to the birthplace of Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891, the uncrowned king of Ireland. Avondale House, in Avondale, County Wicklow, was his home.

    He was one of the leading political leaders in Irish history. It is set in the Avondale Forest Park in over 500 acres of land, approximately 1.5 km from the nearby town of Rathdrum. The river Avonmore flows through the park on its way towards the Irish Sea. The House is now a museum.

    The Chieftains, James Galway.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzPxPrHAe8&list=PLq0vaBwvxHY2BvGRdoAQP8E-R_HQ1-ji7&index=420

    Oh have you been to Avondale
    And lingered in her lovely vale,
    Where tall trees whisper low the tale
    Of Avondale’s proud eagle.

    Where pride and ancient glory fade
    Such was the land where he was laid,
    Like Christ was thirty pieces paid
    For Avondale’s proud eagle.

    Oh have you been to Avondale
    And lingered in her lovely vale,
    Where tall trees whisper low the tale
    Of Avondale’s proud eagle.

    Long years that green and lovely glade
    Have lost for now our grandest Gael,
    And cursed the land that has betrayed
    Our Avondale’s proud eagle.

    Oh have you been to Avondale
    And lingered in her lovely vale
    Where tall trees whisper low the tale,
    Of Avondale’s proud eagle.

    • McBreen says:

      Some ejit thumbed down Avondale, the philistines know nothing of real music. Avondale is is from the 16th century for heavens sake before Mozart was even thought of. I will get my Uilleann pipes out for tomorrow! Doc is a grand fella on the harp.

  • Bruce says:

    She was a marvel.

  • caranome says:

    In 60 years we have evolved from Annie Fischer’s smoking hot to Khatia Buniatishvili’s smoking hot. Is it progress? Discuss. 10 points.

  • Maybe says:

    Thank you for this! Very interesting splicing/editing 🙂
    Have the best day 🙂

  • Frances Calman says:

    One of the greats.

  • Alexander T says:

    Superb artist.

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    I think we’ve lost a lot of humanity in making our world so antiseptic. I remember seeing footage of Bernstein smoking while conducting the NY Phil. Yes, it stinks, but there was a freedom of being in those days that has since disappeared.

    • Petros Linardos says:

      Some of my relatives would still be around if it were not for that “freedom”. I am sure I am not alone on this.

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