{"product_id":"robert-lortat_the-complete-recordings_2023","title":"The Complete Recordings","description":"This is the tenth release in the ongoing series from the École française de piano by APR, which aims to showcase important recordings of often-overlooked pianists who represent the very distinctive French playing style of the first half of the 20th century. Without the chronic illness that plagued him after his service in World War I and led to his premature death, Robert Lortat (1885-1938) would undoubtedly have recorded more and would be remembered as one of the greatest French pianists of the 20th century. He performed a wide repertoire, including much of Fauré and Debussy, beautifully, but Chopin was at the center of his art. He first performed the complete works of the composer from memory during five concerts in 1912, and his only recordings, presented here in full, are of Chopin. Lortat is only the second pianist to record the complete études of Chopin, after Backhaus's cycle from 1928 (on APR6026), and the fact that they preceded Cortot's cycle shows the esteem in which Lortat's playing was held in France. When they were previously presented, Lortat's recordings suffered from very poor transfers compared to the original 78s. We hope that these new transfers by Mark Obert-Thorn will present them in a new and greatly improved light.","brand":"Robert Lortat","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58478257766744,"sku":null,"price":23826838.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/5024709160426.jpg?v=1789511965","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/robert-lortat_the-complete-recordings_2023","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}