Simon Barere

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Simon Barere (Russian: Симон Барер; 1 September [O.S. 20 August] 1896 – 2 April 1951) was a Russian pianist. His surname Барер is transliterated Barer, but as an adult he adopted the spelling Barere in order to reduce the frequency of mispronunciation.

Biography

Barere was born in

Kiev Conservatory. He emigrated to Berlin, then to Sweden, and finally to the United States. During the autumn of 1935, he toured the UK under the management of Harold Holt, making a number of appearances as supporting artist to Richard Tauber
.

Barere was especially known for his speed and finger dexterity; his rendition of

music critic Harold C. Schonberg, Barere produced a colourful piano tone and could also be highly musical.[1]

Barere gave annual

Sonata in B minor, which was released on Remington Records in the 1950s. Other Barere performances include Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody, Reminiscences de Don Juan and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12, Blumenfeld's Étude for the Left Hand Alone, and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.[2]

On 2 April 1951, Barere suffered a

. He collapsed and died backstage shortly thereafter.

Recordings

In 1985, his complete HMV recordings, made at Abbey Road Studios between 1934 and 1936, were remastered by Bryan Crimp and issued by APR. Additional recordings have been issued on CD. Barere made a series of recordings for Remington in March 1951, showing the pianist in fine form before his sudden death the following month.

There is also an astonishing home recording of Barere playing excerpts from his repertoire, in 1949.[3]

Recently[when?], a 1948 broadcast of the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1, from the Brooklyn Museum, has surfaced online.

References

  1. ^ Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Pianists from Mozart to the Present, Second Edition, Simon & Schuster, 1987
  2. YouTube
  3. ^ "Simon Barere home recording (January 31, 1949) - YouTube". YouTube.

External links