Walter Rehberg

Because his recordings have been unavailable since their original release on 78rpm discs, Walter Rehberg is forgotten today. This is a great shame as he was a fine pianist who played in the grand manner. The recorded output is centred around Schumann, Schubert, Liszt, and Brahms. His excellent recording of Liszt’s Rhapsodie Espagnole is reminiscent of Ignaz Friedman in its sweep and breadth, perhaps a legacy from Rehberg’s studies with d’Albert. Rehberg recorded for Polydor in Germany, and many of these discs appeared in Britain on the Decca label. In the 1920s he recorded two extended works for Polydor: Schumann’s Fantasie Op. 17, which was issued in Britain on the Brunswick label, and Schubert’s ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy D. 760. The Schubert is given a grand Romantic reading with some octave doubling in the bass, and in the Schumann, Rehberg sounds most at home in the second movement: he articulates the dotted rhythms perfectly so they do not sound snapped or military, and the final page of this movement is stunning in its velocity and bravura.

In the early 1930s Rehberg recorded his own Tanzstudien in B minor and G major as well as his Fantasien über ein Thema von Verdi on the Jankó piano. Other transcriptions, on a normal piano, include some delightfully played arrangements of Johann Strauss waltzes by Grünfeld and Bass, and an exciting performance of Liszt’s arrangement of the Waltz from Gounod’s Faust. The only work of Chopin he recorded was the Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61, but he also recorded unusual shorter works of Liszt including Eglogue (from the Années de pèlerinage) and Ave Maria (1863).

Even if not a great pianist, Rehberg certainly deserves to be heard today as his performances provide much pleasure and enjoyment.

Courtesy of Jonathan Summers