Giuseppe Auletta - Wilhelm Kempff: Lieder (2023)

Wilhelm Kempff was born in Jüteborg (Brandenburg) on November 25, 1895 into a family of musicians who contributed to the growth of an extraordinary musical talent. He possessed a natural predisposition both for keyboard instruments and for composition, which manifested itself early, as shown by a recording made by his father, musical director at the church of San Nicola in Potsdam.
In fact, Wilhelm Kempff began to perform when he was still a child, and already in 1904 at the admission exam at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin, the very young boy was able to play numerous preludes and fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach and perform very complex transposition exercises.
The young talent was entrusted to the care of Heinrich Barth who had already studied piano and composition with Hans von Bülow and Robert Kahn from the school of Brahms. His brilliant course of studies led him to receive the Mendelssohn Prize as the best graduate in both disciplines.
His dazzling career began as a virtuoso of the organ as well as the piano. His first success came when, at an early age, he performed on a successful tour of Scandinavia with the Berlin Cathedral Choir. His greatest admirer and patron was the bishop of Uppsala, Nathan Sœderblom, to whom the young composer dedicated his Fantasy and Fugue for organ in D major.