Born 1895, Ernst Levy was a Swiss pianist, composer, and pedagogue. A title of Forgotten Genius, a compilation of him playing Liszt and Beethoven, speaks volumes – as well as listeners’ comments: they concur that Levy’s interpretation of great composers’ sonatas is outstanding. For all its atypical freedom (Levy was often ignoring accents and other nuances), they sound fresh and unblemished, giving no reason to criticize performer’s approach.
Unlike many contemporaries, Levy, who paid little attention to accredited norms (including supremacy of serialism), managed to stay accessible – his works are borderline: they sound recognizably modern within the framework of their tonalities and without sliding into emotionless postmodernism cross-cutting the second half of the 20th century. Albeit Levy is virtually unknown to a wide audience, his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra had its premiere in New York, where it was warmly received. Sheet music of this notable piece is available here: Ernst Levy - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra.
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