Was William Kapell America’s greatest pianist? I realize that discounts a lot of our native talent, but if Leon Fleisher thinks so, then that’s good enough for me.
Kapell was killed in a plane crash in 1953 at the age of 31. Until then, his light burned very brightly indeed. In 1944, he was signed to an exclusive contract with RCA Victor. All of his recordings were pre-stereo and many were issued on 78s, but reencountering a number of these 70 years later confirms that the interpretations still sing, including some stunning Rachmaninoff and a classic account of the Khachaturian Piano Concerto.
Even so, by 1960, all of Kapell’s commercial recordings had gone out of print. With few exceptions – there was an LP reissue of some Beethoven and Prokofiev in the early ‘70s – Kapell’s reputation was kept alive mostly through bootlegs and unlicensed live recordings. In 1998, RCA finally did the right thing and reissued all of Kapell’s authorized recordings, making them accessible to a whole new generation of music lovers.
Sadly, for all the enjoyment these still give, the brilliance of Kapell’s recorded legacy inevitably causes one to wonder what might have been. 31 is awfully soon to have lost one so talented.
How good was he? Well, for one thing, he learned Richard Strauss’ “Burleske” in a week – by the command of Fritz Reiner, no less. You can find the complete story and listen to the live performance, not otherwise available, here:
Join me this afternoon, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, for plenty more Strauss on his birthday, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
PHOTO: William Kapell with Leonard Bernstein in 1947, around the time he received Reiner’s order to perform Strauss
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