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Sonetto Nyiregyházi Archive
Norma Fisher,
a superb piano teacher who was once considered one of the finest
pianists of her generation, was forced to withdraw from the concert
stage in the 1990s due to focal dystonia. While she did not make
commercial recordings in her heyday, she frequently recorded BBC radio
programs for three decades. Norma Fisher at the BBC series was
launched by Sonetto Classics in 2018 and two critically acclaimed albums
have been released. Her third album, Norma Fisher At The BBC Vol. 3 includes BBC broadcast recordings of her Schumann’s Papillon and Brahms Op. 116 aired in 1983 and a Chopin session aired in 1992.
The
broadcast recordings of Schumann’s Papillons and Brahms’s Op. 116 was
once considered for Norma Fisher at the BBC Vol. 2, but the tape we had
then was deteriorated and the first part of Papillons was missing.
Therefore, we decided to wait until better source material emerged. In
2020, reel-to-reel tapes were discovered in Fisher's house, and the pile
included an intact version of Papillons and Op. 116. The condition of
the tape was excellent, and so now listeners can enjoy these superb
recordings here.
Robert Schumann 1. Papillons, Op. 2 Johannes Brahms 7 Fantasien, Op. 116 2. Capriccio in D minor 3. Intermezzo in A minor 4. Capriccio in G minor 5. Intermezzo in E major 6. Intermezzo in E minor 7. Intermezzo in E major 8. Capriccio in D minor Recorded in 1983/84 Frédéric Chopin 9. Mazurka in C major, Op. 68 No. 1 10. Mazurka in C# minor, Op. 41 No. 1 11. Nocturne in C# minor, Op. 27 No. 1 12. 3 Ecossaises, Op. 72 No. 3 13. Berceuse, Op. 57 Recorded in 1992
Recorded: 1983-1984 (tracks 1-8) and 1992 (tracks 9-13) at BBC Studios, London
Recording source: Norma Fisher’s personal archive
Digital transfer: Abbey Road Studios
Producer: Tomoyuki Sawado
Remastering: Andrew J. Holdsworth and Tomoyuki Sawado
Note: Jessica Duchen and Tomoyuki Sawado (Editor: Kevin Bazzana)
Photos front cover and inside front and back covers: Ronald Julian
Photo back cover: Richard Kalina © Richard Kalina
Honorary Executive Producer: Norma Fisher
Special thanks to: Jinko Yokoyama and Jeremy McGahan
Manufactured by Repeat Performance Multimedia, London
All tracks ℗ 2022 BBC