The William Kapell Edition

By TERRY TEACHOUT

He was on his way to becoming the greatest American pianist of the century when time ran out on William Kapell. Before he died in a 1953 plane crash at 31, he had everything: looks, charisma, unrivaled musicality, technique to burn. Now his complete recordings--concertos by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff, solos by Chopin, Debussy and Liszt, duet performances with Jascha Heifetz and William Primrose--have been reissued as a nine-disk boxed set, allowing a new generation to be dazzled by his recreative genius. Best of all is a live broadcast of the Copland piano sonata that seethes with passion and force. Hear it and marvel at what might have been.

--By Terry Teachout