Maria Grinberg. European Music XVII–XVIII
Maria Grinberg. Beethoven
Maria Grinberg. Beethoven: 32 Sonatas
Maria Grinberg. European Music XIX–XX
Maria Grinberg. Russian Music XIX–XX
Maria Grinberg in Ensembles
Maria Grinberg. Piano Concertos
Maria Grinberg in Concerts, 1949–1970 (Live)
Maria Grinberg in Concerts, 1966–1976 (Live)
Lessons of Maria Grinberg
The complete collection of recordings by Maria Grinberg was released for her 115th anniversary.
This unique digital edition spans 45 discs and includes over 200 restored phonograms: studio recordings of solo performances, ensemble pieces, and orchestral collaborations, as well as recordings from live concerts. The project took over a year to complete.
Maria Grinberg's career began in the 1930s, but after her husband and father's arrest in 1937, she, as a relative of "enemies of the people," could only work as an accompanist and orchestra concertmaster. Closer to the "thaw," she resumed solo performances and gained acclaim as an interpreter of Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert. At the same time, Maria Grinberg promoted the works of Soviet composers like Mieczysław Weinberg and Dmitri Shostakovich. Her repertoire included numerous rare compositions, which are also featured in this collection.
The first and most extensive part of the digital edition consists of solo recordings spanning from the Baroque era to Soviet music, made in the studios of All-Union Radio and the Melodiya firm from 1940 to 1970. Alongside Beethoven's cycle of 32 sonatas, it includes earlier recordings of individual sonatas and later works. Among the recordings of Schubert's compositions, her suite of waltzes, Ländler, and German dances, compiled by Grinberg herself, stands out. The repertoire also features rarities such as miniatures by Graun, Corelli-Godowsky, Telemann, and Bizet. Noteworthy are substantial recordings of works by German Romantics – Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn – and a program of Chopin's compositions.
The second section is dedicated to rare phonograms where Maria Grinberg performs chamber music in ensembles with outstanding cellist Daniil Shafran, pianist Nika Zabavnikova (the daughter of the pianist), baritone Sergei Yakovenko, and members of the Beethoven Quartet and the soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra.
The third part presents studio recordings of piano concertos with orchestras, including concertos by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Symphonic Variations by Franck. A separate disc contains compositions by Russian composers: Shostakovich's concerto, Arensky's "Fantasy on Russian Themes," and a recording made at the end of 1942 of Tchaikovsky's Second Concerto. Although technically imperfect, Maria Grinberg stated, "...it turned out well because it was the end of 1942, when the situation on the front began to clarify."
The final part of the collection combines all the preserved concert recordings of Maria Grinberg in the Melodiya archives. While relatively small in volume, they hold undeniable artistic value. They include Beethoven's First and Fifth Concertos – alongside studio recordings of the Second, Third, and Fourth – comprising a complete cycle of Beethoven's concertos in her repertoire. Live recordings include a concert from 1958 (celebrating her 50th anniversary), a concert where Grinberg performed her own piano transcriptions, and rare compositions by Lyutoslavsky, Prokofiev, and Hindemith from that time period (1976).
As a bonus album, recordings of two lessons by Maria Grinberg analyzing compositions by Beethoven and Shostakovich are included.
