From the notes: The Recordings: After signing a contract with the UK Columbia Graphophone Company in 1935, work began almost at once on nothing less than Beethoven's last Sonata, a characteristic yet somewhat surprising choice. 'Characteristic' because late Beethoven was very much Petri's domain but 'surprising' because at the time HMV, Columbia's sister company, had yet to complete its pioneering integral Beethoven cycle performed by Artur Schnabel, recorded by Fred Gaisberg and initially released as a subscription 'Society' release. By recording the Op. 111 sonata, Columbia under the artistic control of Walter Legge, was placing itself in direct competition with its stable companion in esoteric repertoire. Not that Egon Petri or Walter Legge were the type to be intimidated! Notes written by Bryan Crimp



"Petri's English Brahms recordings permit no reservations. His accounts of both the Handel Variations and the Paganini Variations form one of the great monuments of the record catalogue. The three rhapsodies recorded shortly after his arrival in America, however, reveal a very different pianist. Where his first American recording -- The Liszt-Busoni Rapsodie espagnole of January 1940 (see Vol. 1 of this series) -- found him in astounding form, these rhapsodies, recorded in May of the same year, present him in a subdued, perhaps even desultory mood. .... Could it be that the full impact of his recent flight from Europe, allied to the realisation that to all intents and purposes he was obliged to forge a new career in a new land, had begun to take its toll?" Notes written by Bryan Crimp ”

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