Leonid Kreutzer (1884 - 1953)

Only one of Kreutzer’s compositions had some success. His pantomime Der Gott und die Bajadere (1920) was performed at the opera houses in Mannheim and Berlin. He also wrote two books on the piano, Das normale Klavier-pedal (Leipzig 1915) and Das Wesen der Klaviertechnik (Berlin 1923), as well as editing works of Chopin and Liszt.

To date, none of Kreutzer’s recordings has been reissued on compact disc outside of Japan; hence his name is unfamiliar to many. He made a number of recordings in the late 1920s in Germany for Polydor. These include some piano trio movements by Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms where Kreutzer is joined by violinist Josef Wolfsthal and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. The solo recordings from this period include Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A major K. 331 and some Chopin: the Berceuse Op. 57, Ballade No. 3 in A flat Op. 47 and some waltzes and mazurkas, and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 110. Kreutzer continued to record after settling in Japan, and from these sessions come Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Opp. 26 and 27 No. 2 and shorter pieces by Chopin, Liszt and Paderewski. Much of his playing is heavy and portentous. He applies weight and leans on the first beat of the bar, most noticeably in Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 in A flat Op. 47 and the Prélude in D flat Op. 28 No. 15. The recording of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 by Liszt sounds undistinguished, with Kreutzer’s rubato making the music sound as though rhythmically undisciplined, and the same fault mars the recording of Chopin’s Nocturne in C minor Op. 48 No. 1 where rubato is applied to both the right and left hand giving a destabilising effect. In Liszt’s ‘Paganini’ Études Nos 2 and 3 Kreutzer sounds like an old man who has to slow down for the difficult parts. He is better in the shorter Chopin pieces such as the waltzes, and Paderewski’s Cracovienne Fantaisie Op. 14 No. 6. Probably the best of his recordings are the Beethoven sonatas.