# Soloists' early/competitive years



## Fenestella (Oct 4, 2015)

I'm most interested in the soloists who belonged to the generations and schools of the belle époque. It's a great pity that many of them recorded very little or nothing in their teens and twenties, although / because some of their performances recorded in their 50s and 60s still sound so amazing (e.g. Lhevinne, Hofmann, Barere).

I had not been interested in the interwar and post-war generations until I listened to more and more of their performances recorded in their early/competitive years, which are so much more convincing and impressive than their later recordings.

For instance, I was amazed when I listened to the 18-year-old Pollini's live recordings in the Chopin Competition, and even more so when I listened to some of his performances recorded when he was 14 years old -






- it reminds me of (and perhaps even edges out) Lhevinne's amazing performance of this etude (recorded in his 60s), which makes me wonder how amazing would Lhevinne's performance be when he was in his early/competitive years.


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