The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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**The Piano Maven with Jed Distler**

Your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.

Latest Episodes:

Malcolm Frager and John Browning - two documentaries Nov 20, 2025

Show notes

Jed recommends documentaries about legendary American pianists Malcolm Frager and John Browning.

Link to watch Malcolm Frager: American Pianist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q-cx_lJNWc

Link to watch Memories of John Browning - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_tqt112TlE

The Ideal Debussy Preludes Book 1 (One Pianist for Each Prelude) Nov 17, 2025

Show notes

Jed recommends individual recordings for each one of Debussy's twelve Preludes Book I, picking twelve pianists without repeating a pianist. Here are links to listen to, to download, to stream or to purchase these performances:

No. 1 Catherine Kautsky - https://music.apple.com/us/album/debussy-pr%C3%A9ludes-for-piano/905973751

No. 2 Philippe Cassard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIwKlPewVg

No. 3 Alfred Cortot – (1931 recording) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZVy_6T86bI

No 4 Catherine Collard - https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9592584--debussy-preludes-books-1-2?srsltid=AfmBOoqOKz2MWmGhobWiohTCz2e6tCSL7x7cUJlV3vlSd8xq6bEMnzjZ

No 5 Livia Rev - https://www.ebay.com/itm/402637135496?hash=item5dbf0b1e88:g:RzcAAOSw3KZdGgsw

No. 6 Ivan Moravec - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoGAZxklQJI

No. 7 Pascal Roge - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgxsWjzaZ60

No. 8 Jean-Yves Thibaudet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0e1bJ0gVV0

No. 9 Nelson Freire - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGP98I9pmvc

No. 10 Claudio Arrau - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Shy_JWQ8k

No. 11 Steven Spooner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icu2ROCvUt8

No. 12 Henriette Faure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyrIhbiLGIc&t=6s

Jorge Bolet's Best Liszt Transcendental Etudes Nov 13, 2025

Show notes

Jed discusses Jorge Bolet's August 4th 1964 Tangelwood recital, which featured a stunning performance of Liszt's Twelve Transcendental Etudes. Here's a link to hear the recital:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvJo1ciAq3M&t=2021s

Consider making a donation to The Piano Maven podcast by subscribing to our Substack page (https://jeddistlermusic.substack.com/about), which you also can access by clicking on the "Donate" button here: https://rss.com/podcasts/pianomaven

Paolo Bordoni's Complete Schubert Waltzes Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

Jed recommends Paolo Bordoni's delightful survey of each and every Waltz that Schubert composed for solo piano, once available from EMI

Here's a link to the pianist's rare EMI recording of Schubert's "Unfinished" Sonata in C Major D. 840:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bXlwC8Lf68

Stanislav Knor plays Chopin's Four Scherzos Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

Jed discusses Czech pianist Stanislav Knor (1929-1984) and his early 1960s recording of the Chopin Scherzos, available to download here:

https://archive.org/details/fbgsf

And here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdSRZ_yOL7E&t=1890s

Six Chopin Nocturne Cycles (rebroadcast) Nov 03, 2025

Show notes

We continue rebroadcasting earlier Chopin-centered episodes of The Piano Maven with Jed Distler, this time with six recommended cycles of the complete Nocturnes.

Here are some relevant links:

Jan Smeterlin Op. 48 No. 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lssPl98jDk

Moura Lympany link: https://www.classicstoday.com/review/sublime-sounds-sacred-space/

Stephen Hough link to Hyperion video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqD7AHQAKyk

Ivan Moravec plays Chopin Op. 48 No. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BaLVjoLUAQ

Bach Guild's Big Chopin Box (rebroadcast) Oct 30, 2025

Show notes

Continuing our rebroadcasts of selected Piano Maven episodes centered around Chopin, here's Jed's evaluation of a genuine download bargain.

Here's a link to purchase and download Bach Guild’s Big Chopin Box here: https://www.classicselectworld.com/products/big-chopin-box-7-hour-digital-download-boxed-set?_pos=1&_sid=598a0a1ad&_ss=r

Consider making a donation to The Piano Maven podcast by subscribing to our Substack page (https://jeddistlermusic.substack.com/..., which you also can access by clicking on the "Donate" button here: https://rss.com/podcasts/pianomaven

Eric Lu in Leipzig (rebroadcast) Oct 27, 2025

Show notes

To mark Eric Lu’s first prize victory in the 19th Warsaw International Chopin Competition, I’m offering a rebroadcast of my episode about the pianist’s July 2nd 2022 recital in Leipzig, which included Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 – here’s a link to listen:

https://archive.org/details/3_20240904_20240904_1534

And here's a link to purchase his Warner solo debut CD –

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8732850--chopin-preludes-op-28-schumann-ghost-variations

The Chopin Mazurkas with Arthur Rubinstein (rebroadcast) Oct 23, 2025

Show notes

As we decompress from the 19th International Chopin Competition, my 100th episode in this second season of The Piano Maven podcast rebroadcast will be a repeat of the 2024 episode where I compare Arthur Rubinstein's three integral edition of the Chopin Mazurkas.

Here are download links for all three cycles:

1. https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8079160--rubinstein-collection-vol-6-chopin-mazurkas-scherzos;

2. https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8079130--rubinstein-collection-vol-27-chopin-mazurkas-impromptus;

3. https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7933105--rubinstein-collection-vol-50-chopin-51-mazurkas

The Ideal Major Chopin Piano Works Oct 21, 2025

Show notes

On this episode, Jed offers a list of both historic and modern recommendations for each major Chopin work or cycle of works, without repeating a pianist.

Here are selected links to some of the recordings that Jed discusses:

Poloniases – Maurizio Pollini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-OK5a1h07s&list=PLC3ZgwGAh0c9yect11lXvWOIhHs8vRjUO

Poloniase Op. 26 No. 1 - Arthur Rubinstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVaLArwr80

Etudes – Paul Badura-Skoda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2n7NMgzjwY&list=PL4D14bmfCxVVkhor7FZs6mJeC9n_854gH

Fantasy in F Minor Op. 49 – Solomon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTY5CybIEaA

Barcarolle Op. 60 – Richard Goode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7bM0DYjik

Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 25 – Sergei Rachmaninov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrQG-Z5gdfg

Piano Sonata No. 3 Op. 58, 4. Finale – Percy Grainger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE_ftBizu0E

Preludes Op 28 – Alfred Cortot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1R6Bpo-CQ

Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor Op. 20 – Benjamin Grosvenor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XFdKFWJ618

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