Kapell Rediscovered: The Australian Broadcasts

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "In August 1953 the astonishing young American pianist William Kapell traveled to Australia for an extended tour. … On his return trip to New York … the DC-6 Kapell was flying in … fell apart in flames. … For years Kapell’s reputation has been sustained by the limited number of commercial recordings he made for RCA and scattered recordings taken from live performances. … Then, in 2004, came news that during the Australian tour in 1953 a Melbourne department store salesman and lover of classical music, Roy Preston, had made recordings of several Kapell performances. Mr. Preston … obsessively recorded concerts transmitted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on a home machine. … Jon M. Samuels, the engineer who produced the 1998 set, took charge of the effort to restore the recordings from the 1953 tour. … Now Sony BMG Masterworks has released a two-disc album, 'Kapell Rediscovered: The Australian Broadcasts.' Containing 150 minutes of music, it adds immeasurably to the Kapell legacy" ("Found Gems from a Pianist Gone …," 6/8/08).