The Lost Recordings writes: “On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Samson François’ birth, we are proud to present the unreleased recordings of this prince of the piano, made in Switzerland. In concert and in studio, Samson François’s lyricism and touch in these unreleased works by Liszt, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann will deeply move you.
Magnetic Samson
”I should have liked to make a pact with the devil, but he wouldn’t have me”
he is quoted as saying, according to an article in Diapason magazine published in 2020. François was excessive, unpredictable, a charmer, vulnerable – in a nutshell, he was magnetic, a quality revealed by the discovery of these recordings that are a tribute to one of the greatest pianistic poets of the twentieth century.
Hypnotic original tapes
After succumbing to the hypnotic effect of the pianist’s sound with its unfathomable subtlety – the delicately chiselled accompanying delivery, perfect legato and superbly elegant rubato over an ideal beat – one can only wonder if there are any more spellbinding renderings of these miniatures than these.
The story of this discovery
“We are following the trail of these recordings thanks to one of our clients. A private collector reportedly holds unpublished recordings made in Switzerland, of the great Samson François on analogue tapes. After weeks of discussion, this person finally agrees to send us the two tapes in question. These are studio and live recordings of Samson’s performances in Switzerland. We choose our MCI tape recorder to play them. I am literally overwhelmed by what I hear and I start listening to the Butterflies, the Romances without. lyrics, Liszt’s Etudes… I have never heard these works played like this. Every phrasing, every intonation and every color hypnotizes me. The recordings revealed very different eras and some pieces were not recorded originally on magnetic tapes but using direct-cut matrix and then transferred to these tapes in the early 1960s. It took us a lot of effort to identify the dates and locations of these recordings and we spent an infinite amount of time to restore and thus immortalize this absolute musical treasure”.
Frédéric D’ORIA-NICOLAS
Musical treasure seeker
Recorded on the 31.I.1961 at the RTS Studio, Geneva
- Recorded on the ?.?.1949 at the RTS Studio, Geneva
** Recorded on the 28.III.1962, unknown place
*** Date and place unknown
Ref.: TLR-2403052V
33rpm Lacquer-cuts: Kevin Gray
Photo: 1959 © ClaudePoirier/Roger-Viollet
1st edition, hand-numbered: 2000 copies
Tip-on gatefold printed in Italy
Pressed by Simon Garcia, Marciac, France
MONO ℗ 1949, 1961, 1962 RTS
Remastered by ℗ & © 2024 THE LOST RECORDINGS from the original analog tapes
AN UNEQUALLED KNOW-HOW
- Phoenix Mastering™ restoration from original analog tapes
- Lacquer-Cuts by Kevin Gray
- 180g test-pressings approving in our studios
- New Stampers every 500 copies
- Slow pressing cycle
- Unequalled quality control in Europe
- New Tip-on gatefold printed in Italy
- Pressed by Simon Garcia, in France 🇫🇷