Irén Marik’s rather remarkable
story is told in the booklet notes of
this intriguing release. Born in Hungary
in 1905 – in Szölnök to be
precise – she attended the Franz Liszt
Academy in Budapest and made her debut
in London in 1927. She studied with
Bartók as well as with a Busoni
pupil, Imre Stefaniai and also in London
with George Woodhouse, a Leschetizky
pupil. She suffered privation during
the War and defected to America shortly
after the cessation of hostilities.
She made a New York debut in 1950, formed
a duo and made a series of rather obscure
LPs. She spent many years teaching.
The chase to rediscover her is entertainingly
told and it was successful. Marik died
in 1986. Allan Evans notes that a Liszt
Sonata recording of hers is a real find
– so maybe we shall hear that some day.
In the meantime we
have the contents of two CDs to ponder.
The recordings derive from diverse sources,
as a look at the head-note will indicate.
Some are sourced from Zodiac and Draco
recordings, whilst others are unpublished.
It’s a collection of valuable material.
Her Liszt, recorded variously in 1956,
c.1963 and 1974 is certainly variable
but at its best has a strong sense of
character as well as considerable technical
prowess. Her Vallée d’Obermann
(first version) is more extrovert and
outward going than Richter’s sullen
introspection though the latest of the
readings, Les jeux d’eau, is
rather circumspect and careful when
measured against the sparkling magic
of an Arrau (Berlin, 1928).
Her Kodaly – with whom
she also briefly studied – has density,
acute rhythm and some fine treble colour
and it’s of great interest to hear her
Hungarian repertoire. Her Bartók
for example is plentifully represented
here. The Op.14 Suite is certainly up
to tempo and is dispatched with insight
and authority – from a 1956 Draco LP.
The excerpts from Mikrokosmos Book VI
are excellent and I was particularly
taken by the pictorial From the Diary
of a Fly (No.142). Nevertheless
the second disc also opens up other
musical vistas. The Bach Sinfonia, recorded
privately toward the end of her life
has a grave nobility. Her Haydn seems
preferable to her Schubert on the evidence
only of two smaller examples though
the Lully is preferable to either. Her
Debussy differs strongly from the recordings
of, say, George Copeland whose more
clear and clean and lightly pedalled
performances offer a contrastive view
to the Gieseking-derived evocative fog.
Her Beethoven sonata is a touch dry
and can hang fire (slight dropouts in
the finale) but the final Bartók
examples, the Romanian Folk Dances
and the Evening in Transylvania
finish on an affirmative note – from
1959 and like so much else here previously
unpublished.
This being the case
collectors will appreciate the varying
states of preservation of the recordings.
There’s some tape print through in Vallée
d’Obermann for instance and surface
and other noise. But in the main these
are very listenable recordings given
the precarious nature of the state of
preservation. Splendid notes as ever
from Arbiter and something of a find
for piano collectors, though caution
should be exercised over some performances.
That caveat noted – what about her Liszt
Sonata?
Jonathan Woolf