Beckmesser2's video: Liszt Mephisto Waltz No 1 Kilenyi Rec 1938

This 1938 recording ,performed by Edward Kilenyi, a pianist who deserves far greater recognition, is the earliest that I could find of this work. It may be the premier recording. If anyone knows of an earlier recording, please let me know. Edward Kilenyi was born in Philadelphia in 1910 of Hungarian parents. At the age of eleven, he played to the famous Hungarian composer and pianist, Erno von Dohnanyi in New York. Dohnanyi was so impressed by the youngster's performance, that he invited Kilenyi to study with him at the Liszt Royal Academy in Budapest. Thus started an association with Dohnanyi that lasted until Dohnanyi's death in 1960. Both became professors of music at the Florida State University later in their careers. Kilenyi's first recordings were made in 1937 for Pathe. Among the recordings that he made that year, was the first recorded performance of Liszt's Totendanz. It was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in 1938. Kilenyi had a very large repertoire that included all of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas. Before a recital, the audience would be asked to vote for which four (or three if the Hammerklavier was chosen)that they would like to hear performed. Kilenyi would then perform them! Edward Kilenyi died on January 6, 2000 at the age of 89.