Maryla Jonas Remastered

Ten years ago I transferred three LPs with the playing of a forgotten pianist named Maryla Jonas (1911-59).

Jonas led a difficult life, well chronicled in a Wikipedia entry. From Poland, she fled the Nazis to Brazil and eventually the US. She was able to reestablish her career enough that she made a series of recordings for Columbia, centered on Chopin.

These performances are extraordinary, combining technical control with depth of feeling - often melancholy.

The LPs I transferred, all of Chopin, are newly remastered.

Piano Music of Chopin

Jonas' first album came from 1946, with a mixed program as follows:

Mazurka in B-Flat major

Mazurka in F minor, op. 68, no. 4

Mazurka in G minor, op. 67, no. 2

Mazurka in B minor, op. 30, no. 2

Nocturne in E minor, op. 72, no. 1

Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op posth

Waltz in D-flat major, op. 70, no. 3

Waltz in G-flat major, op. 70, no. 1

Polonaise in B-flat major, op. 71, no. 2

LINK

Chopin - Mazurkas

Jonas recorded two programs of Mazurkas, in 1947 and 1949. These were combined in a 1953 Columbia Entré LP:

Mazurka in F major, op. 68, no. 3

Mazurka in G major Op posth

Mazurka in C minor, op. 56, no. 3

Mazurka in E minor, op. 41, no. 2

Mazurka in A-flat major, op. 41, no. 4

Mazurka in C minor, op. 30, no. 1

Mazurka in A-flat major, op. 24, no. 3

Mazurka in A minor, op. posth. 'Notre temps'

Mazurka in C-sharp minor, op. 30, no. 4

Mazurka in E minor, op. 17, no. 2

Mazurka in C major, op. 24, no. 1

Mazurka in A minor, op. 17, no. 4

Mazurka in A-flat major, op. 17, no. 3

Mazurka in A minor, op. 59, no. 1

Mazurka in G-sharp minor, op. 33, no. 1

Mazurka in A minor, op. 67, no. 4

Mazurka in C-sharp minor, op. 63, no. 3

Mazurka in C major, op. 7, no. 5

LINK

Chopin - Nocturnes

In 1950, Columbia recorded Jonas in five Nocturnes:

Nocturne in E-flat major, op. 9, no. 2

Nocturne in B major, op. 32, no. 1

Nocturne in G minor, op. 15, no. 3

Nocturne in B-flat minor, op. 9, no. 1

Nocturne in F minor, op. 55, no. 1

LINK

Chopin Nocturnes from Maryla Jonas

Here is my third and final post collating the remarkable Chopin recordings of Polish pianist Maryla Jonas.

This 10-inch LP brings together five Nocturnes in February 1950 recordings from Columbia's 30th Street studio in New York. The results are just as sensitive and atmospheric as the two previous collections I have posted. Columbia's sound is good.

The drawing of Jonas on the cover is based on the photo at left. Without checking, I have the sense that it was unusual for Columbia to use a drawing of the artist on their covers at the time; naive cartoons were more common (cf., this cover for Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915).

A more animated (but still apprehensive looking) Jonas is depicted below. Instead of Chopin, that seems to be Stravinsky looking over her shoulder, in Picasso's sketch.

LINK (newly remastered in ambient stereo, April 2025)

More Chopin from Maryla Jonas

As a follow-up to the recent post of Polish pianist Maryla Jonas’ set of Chopin mazurkas, here is the first Chopin program she recorded for Columbia, during April 1946 sessions. This more varied selection contains three additional mazurkas, two nocturnes, two waltzes and a polonaise. Once again, the pianism displays the short-lived artist’s impressive command and ability to create mood.

The set was issued first in a 78 album with a Alex Steinweiss cover (above), and then in one of Columbia’s first 10-inch classical LPs in 1948, with the generic “tombstone” cover at top.

A Classical Discography does not list a location for the recording. The quality was somewhat boxy; I have ameliorated this a bit.

These were Jonas’ first records; my two posts comprise three of the six LPs she produced during her lifetime. She died in 1959.

LINK (April 2025 remastering in ambient stereo)

1948 Musical America ad
(click to enlarge)

Chopin Mazurkas from Maryla Jonas

This recording was the subject of a discussion on one of the classical sharing sites, which motivated me to transfer my very good copy of the LP, which contains an exceptional performance of 18 Chopin mazurkas by the neglected Polish pianist Maryla Jonas.

My friend Fred of the Random Classics blog also offered this album some time ago, but the links are now dead. I hope he doesn’t mind if I quote some of his description of the performance, because my reaction is the same: “This is not the Chopin that you are used to hearing and it is a polar opposite from the elegant, aristocratic approach of Rubinstein.” Fred’s response on first hearing the record: “Never had I heard such melancholy, such world weariness, from these brilliant miniatures. Indeed, Chopin had painted, below the surface, a sadness of seeing his Polish nation subjected to rule and desecration by others.”

Postwar promotional leaflet

Jonas herself had a most difficult life, and was the victim of Nazi persecution, which may have contributed to her early death at the age of 48. Her small discography, made in the US for Columbia in the post-war years, centers on Chopin but also includes a smattering of other composers. This particular LP reissue from 1956 combines two sets of mazurkas, which Jonas inscribed in September 1947 (set M-810) and September 1949 (set M-897), both of which also came out on 10-inch LPs. Sessions for the latter set were in Columbia’s 30th Street studios in New York. No location is listed for the 1947 dates in Michael Gray’s discography, but since that predates Columbia’s use of the 30th Street location, the site may have been Liederkranz Hall. The sound is quite good.

A note about the cover: Columbia had engaged the relatively new design firm Push Pin Studios to prepare a series of covers for its Entré reissue series. Push Pin had been founded by Seymour Chwast and Edward Sorel, who both were to become noted graphic artists. Sorel, soon to leave Push Pin, designed the cover of the Jonas LP in a style far removed from the biting political caricatures that he is known for today.

LINK (remastered in ambient stereo, April 2025)