Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata has today become part of the cello repertoire but it was originally written for the arpeggione, a form of bowed guitar invented by the Viennese maker Johann Georg Staufer in 1823. With a unique ethereal sound, this instrument reveals the true beauty of Schubert’s initial conception. The Piano Trio No. 2 was performed at the Vienna Musikverein on the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death – its extremes of urgent drama and sublime bittersweet lyricism are characteristic of Schubert’s artistic surge during his final year.
Schubert composed his three sublimely alluring Sonatas for Violin and Piano in the spring of 1816, though they had to wait until 1836 for posthumous publication by Diabelli, who re-named them ‘sonatinas’. With their sometimes subordinate role for the violin and deceptively uncomplicated style, these pieces sidestep the influence of Beethoven and return more to the world of Mozart’s later violin sonatas, particularly with the Sonata D 384. The minor-key works develop Schubert’s gift for drama and vocal melody further, including hints of his famous song Erlkönig from the previous year.
Schubert: Alfonso und Estrella / Bär, Orgonasova, Hampson
Naxos AudioVisual
DVD
$30.99Feb 24, 2009
Franz Schubert ALFONSO UND ESTRELLA Opera in 3 Acts
Mauregato – Olaf Bär Estrella – Luba Orgonasova Adolfo – Alfred Muff Froila – Thomas Hampson Alfonso – Endrik Wottrich
Arnold Schoenberg Choir Chamber Orchestra of Europe Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor Jürgen Flimm, stage director Erich Wonder, set design Florence von Gerkan, costumes
Filmed at the Theater an der Wien during performances in Wiener Festwochen, May 1997.
Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Sound format: Dolby Digital 2.0 / Dolby Surround 5.0 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, German Running time: 140 mins No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)
Jonathan Nott is since 2000 principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony. Such a lengthy collaboration is rare nowadays, and it has produced unique results with this Schubert-Cycle and the Mahler Symphonies. Successful concert tours, guest performances and engagements as orchestra-in-residence at such festivals as Edinburgh and Lucerne are proof of the international reputation of the Bamberg Symphony and their principal conductor, a success not solely based on the classical and romantic standard repertoire but also on works by Boulez, Berio, Lachenmann and Ligeti.
Schubert: Unauthorised Piano Duos Vol 2 / Clemmow, Goldstone
Divine Art
CD
$19.99Jan 02, 2007
R E V I E W S
They're at it again. The indefatigable piano duo team of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow have been hard at work unearthing more hidden treasures from the classical repertoire: orchestral and chamber music arranged for piano duet or two pianos. A couple of years ago their first volume of "unauthorised" piano duos of Schubert's music featured The Trout Quintet, sparklingly rendered by this superlative husband and wife team of pianists, who sacrificed none of the character of the music in their interpretation of the transcription.
Now they have dug up a version for piano duet of the great B flat Piano Trio, which captures the spirit, the flavour and the zest of the vast and mighty trio. The arrangement was made by one Josef von Gahy, astonishingly not a professional pianist but a civil servant, though he must have been able to find his way around the keyboard as he was not only a friend but a regular duet partner of Schubert himself. A cracking disc for devotees of this genre, with a stunning transcription of the Arpeggione Sonata which catches all the grace, poise, and refinement of the work, along with its bubbling virtuosity."
-- Michael Tumelty, Glasgow Herald
The history behind this disc is interesting. Joseph von Gahy was not only a lifelong friend of Schubert but also his duet partner. After the composer’s death Gahy set about transcribing several of his partner’s vocal and instrumental works for piano duet. There is no question of the authenticity of the enterprise. Gahy remained faithful to the originals, even to the extent of parts of the phrases being split between the two players. So seamless is the performance of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow that this cannot be detected.
The disc opens with Gahy’s arrangement of the Piano Trio in B flat major. The music is sublime. Exquisite melodies pour out from a composer in full creative flow reminiscent of his Lieder writing. Does it work without the violin and cello parts? On the whole, yes, although I’m not completely convinced about the Scherzo. Goldstone and Clemmow give a masterclass in the art of duet playing. They are completely sensitive to each other’s performance and play as one. After such a stunning opening the problem is that anything else that follows is likely to be an anti-climax – and it is. The Notturno, also written for violin, cello and piano, just doesn’t work as a duet; the Sonata in A major for arpeggione – an instrument long forgotten- and piano is not the composer’s best although there is evidence of his flair for melodic writing. The only work here originally written for piano duet is the so-called “Friendship” Rondo in D major, a nice-enough piece but not in the same league as the Trio. In spite of these reservations the disc is worth buying for that performance alone.
-- Shirley Ratcliffe, International Piano
The Piano Trio, D 898, Notturno D 897 and 'Arpeggione' Sonata D 821 are all original Schubert works and there is certainly nothing amiss to have them labelled unauthorized. So why is this and the previous issue of the 'Trout Quintet' been tagged as such? Josef von Gahy, who was not a professional musician, but a Hungarian civil servant happened to be one of Schubert's closest friends, and his admiration for the composer knew no bounds. They often played together four-hand works and Gahy's fine playing drew words of praise from Schubert many a time.
By the time of the latter's death, their relationship had become an inseparable one. As a humble homage to his great idol, Gahy decided to arrange some of Schubert's pieces for piano duet and this recording embraces three such arrangements plus the 'Friendship' Rondo, D 608, an original Schubert piece for two pianos, composed in honour of his great and dedicated friend.
The Goldstone and Clemmow duo, married since 1989, have etched a name for themselves in such repertoire, and these interpretations are as absorbing and entertaining as the arrangements themselves. While always highlighting the romantic streak of these works, they unfailingly bring to the fore both Schubert's and Gahy's flair for structure and melody.
Franz Schubert composed the works on this release at the peak of his career, just before his untimely death at age 31. These works display both his rapture of music making, and his melancholy farewell. These works are presented on a two-disc set, performed by Rachmaninov Trio Moscow. Rachmaninov Trio Moscow is Mikhail Tsinman, Natalia Savinova, and Victor Yampolsky. The group’s interpretation of Russian favorites has already been well received, and they meet the challenge of Schubert’s virtuosity with ease.
Schubert: Rosamunde / Malfi, Boyd, Schweizer Kammerchor, Musikkollegium Winterthur
MDG
SACD
$24.99Feb 01, 2011
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Elegant writing beautifully presented.
Douglas Boyd and his Winterthur forces are proving to be a reliable signing for MDG. This disc follows an excellent recording of the Rheinberger organ concertos. In both cases, we are talking about music that has made very few outings on CD, let alone SACD, so to find them presented at this quality is a treat.
Schubert, according to the liner-note, put great energies into improving his reputation as a composer for the stage, but of the ten stage works he completed, only three were preformed in his lifetime. Rosamunde was one of them, and its poor reception was apparently one of the reasons why later stage projects failed to find a home. Problems with the work's dramaturgy have been blamed for its failure, rather than any inadequacies on the part of the music. And the music is good. It falls somewhere between the Schubert the chamber composer and Schubert the symphonist. There is plenty of drama here, but for the most part it retains the civilised formality of the Classical era. Performing the incidental music – and great as it is, the word 'incidental' is definitively appropriate – poses a few challenges. A choir is required, but they only put in a few appearances, as does the alto soloist. Schubert writes trombone parts, but he only uses them to support the choir. So the whole project is a bit impractical, and while you need a range of talented musicians, none is given the opportunity to really show off those talents.
Fortunately, the Musikkollegium Winterthur musicians have what it takes. There is some elegant woodwind writing, all of which is beautifully presented. And those trombone parts, brief as they are, are played with enviable precision and tonal focus. Douglas Boyd achieves a good balance between the composer's aspirations to drama and his innate sense of musical elegance. There are a number of points where the music builds up to a thematic statement through a swell on an upbeat or a short crescendo, and Boyd is able to create just the right sense of anticipation, and without excessive intervention.
It is probably worth noting that this is very much Schubert on modern instruments. There is nothing wrong with that but it seems to be rapidly becoming the exception rather than the rule. The textures are warmer and more homogeneous than you get from period instruments, but - unlike in the later symphonies for example - there is little in the way of contrapuntal or textural detail to lose in the weave. That also limits the potential benefits of the SACD audio. The audio quality is good, and it brings a sense of warmth and intimacy to the quieter textures, especially the woodwind solos, but there is little in this score to bring out in terms of pertinent incident and colour.
The disc opens with a bonus track of sorts. It turns out that Schubert wrote the Rosamunde music to a tight deadline and did not have a chance to write an overture. Instead, the programme opens with the overture to Die Zauberharfe. The liner-note assures us that the overture is very much in the spirit of the Rosamunde music, and so it is. However, the Rosamunde movements are thematically interconnected - though a theme better known from the quartet of the same name. The overture does not share this link and so stands out from what follows. That's not a big grumble, but it does call the logic of the programming into question. Even with this imported overture, the running time is still under an hour. So why not include a few more overtures and incidental movements too? -- Gavin Dixon, MusicWeb International
Evgeny Kissin: The Complete RCA & Sony Classical Album Collection
Sony Masterworks
CD
$83.99Oct 14, 2016
A 2017 Critics' Choice Winner at American Record Guide!
Evgeny Kissin (b. 1971) made his debut with the Ulyanovsk Symphony Orchestra when he was only eleven years old. The next year, he performed his first solo piano recital in Moscow. When he recorded the two Chopin piano concertos with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow in 1984, his fame exploded. Each and every piano masterwork is included in this set, as Kissin was a master of broad-ranging repertoire. Staples by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Stravinsky, Scriabin, and more are all here. This specially priced hardcover box set documents many of Kissin’s extraordinary achievements, as it holds all of Kissin’s recordings for both RCA and Sony Classical.
Schubert: Mass In C Major, Mass In G Major / Schuldt-Jensen, Immortal Bach Ensemble
Naxos
CD
$19.99Nov 17, 2009
SCHUBERT Mass No. 4 in D, D 452. Mass No. 2 in G, D 167. Deutsche Messe, D 872 • Morten Schuldt-Jensen, cond; Immortal Bach Ens; Leipzig Chamber O • NAXOS 8570764 (61:38)
This is a follow-up to Naxos 8570381, which contained Schubert’s great E?-Major Mass, D 950 (No. 6), his last, coupled with the Stabat Mater in G Minor, D 175, and performed by these same forces. Joel Kasow did not care much for the earlier release, calling the performance “perfunctory” in a Fanfare 32:1 review. He felt that Morten Schuldt-Jensen’s reading of the score “lacked the spirituality of the major defenders of this work, Harnoncourt and Sawallisch, or Corboz to a slightly lesser degree.” Not being familiar with any of Kasow’s notable mentions, I’m unable to comment; but of the three I do have—Robert Shaw with his Atlanta forces on Telarc, Claudio Abbado with his Vienna contingent on Deutsche Grammophon, and Charles Mackerras with the Dresdeners on Carus—the only one I would recommend would be the last-named. But my reasons are not relevant to this review since we’re discussing different works.
The first four of Schubert’s numbered masses are relatively early works, the G-Major dating from 1815, the D-Major from a year later. Of course, in Schubert’s case, age is not a reliable measure of his musical maturity. In 1816, at the age of 19, nearly two-thirds of his life was already over. Comparing his output of masses to his symphonies, it might be useful to say that in terms of musical development and sophistication his first four masses are analogous to his first six symphonies, and that just as the “Unfinished” Symphony of 1822 marks a significant turning point in Schubert’s symphonic writing, the Mass No. 5 in A? of the same year marks a departure in his writing of sacred choral music.
The Mass No. 2 has about it the sound of a wide-eyed innocent. There is something especially precious in the prettiness of its Kyrie and Credo movements. Compared to the aforementioned Shaw recording on Telarc, Schuldt-Jensen’s reading does seem a bit on the swift side. But in this blissful and ingenuous work, I’m not sure the accelerated tempo is deleterious. Slowing it down can have a cloying effect, so I rather like this performance, which is clear-eyed and straightforward. The choristers enunciate clearly, sing in tune, and have plenty of heft and body for the weightier passages.
Much of the wide-eyed innocence has disappeared a year later in the D-Major Mass (No. 4), which is scored for a larger instrumental ensemble and is more serious in tone. If only a few seconds longer in duration than the G-Major Mass, the D-Major is a bigger-boned and heavier-textured work, more in the style of Haydn’s late masses. Again, I like the clarity of diction and transparency of voicing, both choral and orchestral, that Schuldt-Jensen brings to the score. In any case, pickings are a bit slimmer for the D-Major Mass than they are for the G-Major, though Sawallisch, mentioned by Kasow in connection with the E?-Major Mass, can be heard in the D-Major as well as in a budget twofer on EMI. For the period-instrument crowd, there’s a Sony Vivarte recording with Bruno Weil leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Chorus Viennensis. And for those whose taste runs to boy trebles and altos in place of female voices, there’s George Guest with the Cambridge St. John’s College Choir and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields on Decca.
The so-called Deutsche Messe, D 872, is one of Schubert’s last sacred works, and due to the circumstances of its commission, quite possibly one of the least inspired and least interesting things he ever wrote. But listeners may at least take comfort in its “divine length,” all 24 minutes of its homophonic, hymnic monotony. The commission came from a Professor J. P. Neumann of the Polytechnic School of Vienna, the churchman who had previously provided Schubert with the libretto for Sakantala, an opera that never fully materialized. The texts for the Deutsche Messe are Neumann’s, and his request to Schubert was that the score be as musically simple as possible so that it could be performed by amateurs. Schubert discharged his duty accordingly, providing what sounds like a succession of German Protestant church hymns. The booklet provides only the titles and tempo indications for each of the nine movements, but not the full texts or translations.
Schubert wrote a large volume of sacred choral music, so it cannot be dismissed as an insignificant or occasional interest on his part. Yet with the exception of his two late masses, his sacred works have not been as widely embraced as have his songs, orchestral works, and chamber music. So, if you are just now beginning to explore this area of Schubert’s output, the new Naxos release is a modest enough investment for getting started. The G-Major Mass from the pen of the 18-year-old composer is one of his loveliest creations, and well worth getting to know.
Schubert: Impromptus, Moments musicaux & German Dances / Vogt
Ondine
CD
$17.99Oct 14, 2016
Following Lars Vogt's massively popular recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, this new recording features much-loved piano works by Franz Schubert. Vogt was appointed the first ever "Pianist in Residence" by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003-2004 and enjoys a high profile as a soloist and chamber musician. Schubert's Impromptus, D. 899 and the famous Moments musicaux are some of his most well-known pieces that are featured on this release.
Schubert: The Unauthorised Piano Duos, Vol. 3 / Goldstone, Clemmow
Divine Art
CD
$19.99Jul 10, 2015
The veteran British piano duo of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow present two major world premieres: the first recording of the piano duet transcription by lieder-writer Robert Franz of the ‘Death and the Maiden’ Quartet, and the first recording of the ‘Unfinished’ Symphony in a full four-movement performing edition for piano duet including arrangements by Anselm Hüttenbrenner (Schubert’s friend), Anthony Goldstone, and Friedrich Hermann. It includes a completion of Schubert’s part finished Scherzo and the Rosamunde Entr’acte, widely believed to have been the intended finale.
Hynninen’s artistry at least on a par with, if not superior to Fischer-Dieskau and Bostridge.
To celebrate its 25 th anniversary, Ondine, now distributed by Select but still operating independently, have released five bargain twofers in “a limited edition available in 2010 only.” Each comprises titles from their best-selling backlist to showcase five of their star artists: sopranos Soile Isokoski and Karita Mattila , violinist Pella Kuusisto, clarinettist Kari Kriikku and the singer featured here, baritone Jorman Hynninen.
“Essential Highlights” is somewhat misleading, in that rather than offering snippets, the programme provided here consists of telling accounts of Schubert’s two most celebrated song-cycles, both recorded by Hynninen in his prime in 1988. “Die schöne Müllerin” is slightly unusual in that it is more often sung by a tenor, although there have been many recordings made by baritones. “Winterreise” is sung in its most familiar tessitura – but again, we have had highly successful versions recorded by singers of other vocal categories, especially mezzo Brigitte Fassbänder and contralto Nathalie Stutzmann. Not being much of a fan of Fischer-Dieskau, I am unused to hearing a baritone in “Die schöne Müllerin” and take as my yardstick recordings by tenors Aksel Schiøtz, Fritz Wunderlich and, more recently, Jonas Kaufmann – although the latter evidently has more of a baritonal colouring to his voice than his silvery predecessors. In general, I feel that this music really demands a tenor voice to make its full impact, so I began listening inclined to make disparaging comparisons between Hynninen and his tenor competitors.
I have to say that his singing wholly disarmed my prejudice, even if I still persist in favouring a tenor version. A lot of his success has to do with the brilliance and sensitivity of Rolf Gothóni his accompanist – perhaps the wrong word, given the prominence and beauty of the piano part, but more of that anon. Born in 1941, Hynninen has been one of the pre-eminent Finnish singers of the last thirty years. He possesses a flexible, slightly grainy, husky baritone with a light vibrato, an easy top and rich low notes. He has performed very successfully in opera but is particularly renowned for his interpretations of Schubert, making this bargain set indispensable to any lover of Lieder or any of his fans who do not already own these discs.
His freedom and naturalness with the German text suggests that he is quite at home in the language, without sharing Fischer-Dieskau’s propensity for preciosity and for pouncing on words. I also happen to think that he has a more beautiful voice than DF-D, but that is a question of personal taste. I was surprised to find that the transpositions Hynninen requires are often by no more than a tone downwards and sometimes not at all. There are fleeting moments of strain or ungainliness in fast-moving songs with higher-flying passages such “Der Jäger” – but tenor Kaufmann has the same passing difficulties, inherent in a heftier voice having to take on such music. Hynninen counteracts the possibility of a baritone being unable to convey a sense of lost, bewildered youth by frequently lightening his voice into a tender, touching mezza voce and employing falsetto for particular effects, such as in the closing cradle-song “Des Baches Wiegenlied”.
Hynninen and Gothóni attack “Das Wandern”, the opening song of “Die schöne Müllerin”, at such a pace that I was temporarily taken aback, but I suspect that this was a deliberate choice to counteract immediately any effect of lugubriousness which a lower-pitched voice might engender. Tempi in general are brisk; both artists rely more on precise, calculated articulation of both notes and texts to delineate emotion rather than an all-purpose melancholy. They seem well attuned to poet Wilhelm Müller’s exploitation of that very Romantic technique of pathetic fallacy; as the narrators contemplate the rippling brook or trudge through the bleak landscape, their emotions are palpably embodied in the interplay between voice and piano and the listener is drawn into this world of metaphysical projection. Hynninen’s personae in both cycles emerge as very real and very human, operating in a vividly realised, naturalistic context.
Gothóni is simply the best pianist I have heard in this music since Gerald Moore; his playing complements perfectly the singer’s emotional range, especially in “Winterreise”. It is noticeable that its vocal topography suits Hynninen slighly better than “Die Schöne Müllerin”; as he moves from a haunting half-voice to a more extrovert and operatic register, Gothoni shadows him, unhurried and sonorous in “Das Wirtshaus”, nervy and agitated in “Im Dorfe, defiant and emphatic in “Mut”. Singer and pianist are equal partners, each varying the dynamics, employing rubato and momentary hesitations to heighten or lower the emotional temperature, particularly in “Der Lindenbaum”, a key, core song, whose opening affords a moment of repose before the stark intrusion of “Die kalten Winden bliesen”. The culmination of the cycle is “Der Leiermann”, that most haunting and disturbing of songs; Hynninen and Gothóni combine to evoke the strange beauty of the benumbed, trance-like state of a narrator “half in love with easeful Death.”.
There are literally scores – hundreds? - of recordings of these two song-cycles available at any one time to the collector and a top recommendation is impossible. Just as many adore Fischer-Dieskau, there are some who swear by Ian Bostridge’s version. I do not share their enthusiasm and as such am happy to endorse Hynninen’s artistry as being at least on a par with theirs, if not superior, although I would still turn first to a favourite tenor to hear “Die Schöne Müllerin”, fine though Hynninen is.
