The 'heavenly lengths' Schumann loved in late Schubert are as much in evidence in the sublime G major quartet as in the other large-scale works of Schubert's final years. The Takács Quartet's earlier Hyperion recordings of Schubert were hailed as 'near ideal' and 'superlative' and this new release is every bit as fine.

Leif Ove Andsnes is a leading pianist of his time, known for his exceptional musicianship and subtil touch, his considerable technical flair being unfailingly put at the service of his interpretations. He was a pioneer for being the first home-trained superstar pianist to have emerged from Norway. This box is the story of a 20-year partnership that has yielded a rich seam of recorded treasures, first for Virgin and then for EMI. Running through this cornucopia of 34 albums (36 CDs), we find recurring themes: Grieg (Andsnes even recorded some Lyric Pieces on the composer's own piano at Troldhaugen), Nordic music in general, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Schubert.

This disc couples two of the finest recordings of Schubert' two best-known symphonies. In Furtwangler' hands the Unfinished is etched with aching intensity as he conjures sadness, resignation, rage and, finally, solace.

MARLBORO FEST 40TH ANNIVERSARY

SCHUBERT: SYMPHONY NO 9 GIULI

THE HEIFETZ COLLECTION VOL 38

Poised and patrician interpretations that concentrate on lyricism, warmth, and spacious breadth rather than incipient tension.

Walter’s 1960 B flat recording hasn’t Beecham’s geniality or élan but it does have an unhurried and patrician affection that is hard to gainsay. The generosity of the phrasing never descends to Casals’s rather heavy-handed loving kindness; the sectional balance is fine, the direction remains crisply understated but affectionate. The wind and horn principals distinguish themselves in the slow movement where Walter brings out detail with candour but without any kind of finicky over-scrupulousness. Genial and leisurely – and without any crunching tutti weight – the finale is of a piece with Walter’s mature perception of the symphony. It’s a young man’s work but seen somewhat through avuncular and retrospective eyes.

The Unfinished was recorded two years earlier, this time in New York. Poised and patrician once more this is a reading that concentrates on lyricism rather than incipient tension or internal dynamic contrasts. The orchestra sounds notably fine and Walter’s direction retains a grand seigniorial approach, one that will perhaps disappoint those who might have missed the spirit of his fiery wartime performances with this orchestra, a time when he seemed on occasion hell bent on recreating Toscanini’s sweeping dynamism. Nevertheless his later approach certainly makes up in warmth and spacious breadth – especially the second movement – what it lacks in velocity and power.

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International [reviewing Sony 78741]

SCHUBERT: ARPEGGIONE SONATA, P

Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 54: All Schubert: Sonata, D. 960

This is the kind of release that is fully worthy of a major label like RCA: two of today's top artists working at peak form, delivering the goods in a serious program of worthy repertoire. Schubert is one of the few composers whose range is wide enough to allow the creation of a rewarding evening devoted just to him, and his piano duos (here played on two pianos rather than by two pianists at one keyboard) live in a world all their own. Evgeny Kissin has done some of his best work in Schubert (the "Wanderer" Fantasy, for example), and James Levine, no slouch as a pianist himself, clearly loves this music as much as anyone. The program includes three of Schubert's very greatest works in the medium, all of them dating from the end of his brief life.


The earliest is the Grand Duo, really a symphony that Schubert never got around to scoring (the most famous orchestral arrangement is Joachim's, and it deserves to be a repertory piece). Much of the writing is extremely orchestral in conception, which means unpianistic, and the trick here lies not so much in making the piece sound like piano music (who cares, really?), but simply in focusing the listener's attention on the ongoing symphonic musical process. Key to this is timing, and here Kissin and Levine don't set a foot wrong. The first movement perfectly balances "allegro" with "moderato" in an unbroken arc of sustained tension, perhaps inspired by the presence of the very well-behaved Carnegie Hall audience. A beautifully shaped andante leads to a boisterous scherzo, its interesting harmonic underpinning unobtrusively highlighted where necessary (using two pianos probably helps here). You only need listen to the closing bars of the finale, music that often sounds too thin on the keyboard, to understand just how perfectly timed this performance is.


The Grand Duo occupies the second half of this concert. The program begins with a subtle, fluid account of the haunting Fantasie in F minor. It's interesting how performers who can seem affected when playing solo (as Kissin sometimes does) behave themselves when working in an ensemble situation. Here, the lovely opening theme has the right elegiac simplicity, the final fugue great clarity and rhythmic point. I'm not giving up such favorites as Perahia/Lupu in this music, but Kissin/Levine offer an interpretation that's really very affecting. And their ferocious take on the "Lebensstürme" Allegro D. 947 is just plain thrilling--a turbulent, clenched fist of a performance that brings the first half of the program to a grandly passionate conclusion. Indeed, taken as a whole, the first part minor/second part major cast of the whole evening works extremely well as an emotional sequence for continuous listening.


The two encores, Characteristic March No. 1 D. 968b and the inevitable March Militaire No. 1 D. 733, are played much more quickly than the music requires, but then the point here is simply to wow the audience, and I'd be the last person to deny Kissin and Levine a bit of fun after such a long and tiring program. RCA's engineers also deserve credit not just for leaving out the audience (even though there's a good bit of applause around and between works), but also for finding a sonic framework that minimizes clatter while maximizing clarity. The two-piano (or piano duo) medium can come across as overly thick and unpleasantly dense, but the slight dryness of the acoustic seems just the ticket in this case. In short, what must have been a splendid live event has been captured for posterity with total success. You might prefer this or that version of individual works, but taken as whole this is pretty special.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Miss Verrett...comes into her own in the Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov songs. Her essentially lovely voice warms to these and I found them all most enjoyable... I hope Miss Verrett...will some day give us a recital of Russian songs, including some by Borodin and Mussorgsky, for she responds so sympathetically to those included on this disc...

-- Gramophone [6/1968]
reviewing the original LP release

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...I enjoyed hearing the immense sincerity she already brought to An die Musik and to Die Allmacht, a song calling for the dramatic power of an opera singer. The Russian items, sung in the original, are also deeply felt and here the unaffected style is very welcome. Needless to say the spirituals are superbly done, particularly Oh, Glory!, which I used, not long ago, for a radio profile of this artist. Witness shows off her excellent rhythmic sense and diction in English. Alleluia is technically secure, but the piece calls for a brighter voice. The accompanist is no great asset and as recorded sounds clangy. I do hope RCA will soon give us a new recital from this rich-voiced mezzo; she deserves as much.

-- Gramophone [6/1973]
reviewing an LP reissue of this recording

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“I believe in working and in being good.” - Shirley Verrett

"On stage Miss Verrett presents both a stunning physical appearance and a stunning voice. Vocally her range is large, and her voice is exceptionally expressive and memorable. She works on dramatics – conveying the meaning of the words – and strives equally hard, and equally successfully, to sustain a flowing musical line. She has mastered the subtlety of Schubert songs and the coloratura of Mozart’s “Alleluia.” The hymns and spirituals which she has been singing since childhood, and which she still loves to do, she obviously sings from the heart."

- Mary Campbell
quoted from the program notes for this album. 1965

"• Exclusive to Naxos! • All titles never before available in the U.S.! • Incredible value; budget prices! • German pressings of the immense Sony Classical Masters Catalog in smart, desirable and collectible multi-disc editions • The Sony catalog is replete with legendary artists and many of the greatest recordings of the classical repertoire • Box fronts feature large, prominently displayed photo of the featured artist • Slender, shelf-friendly boxes; CD's housed in space-saving slipsleeves"

Pianist Rudolf Serkin is often recalled as one of the 20th century’s most commanding performers of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. But he was always a masterful Schubertian as well. After the war, he became American Columbia’s premier pianist in the Classic-Romantic repertoire. This 5-CD box gathers his recordings of the last two Schubert Sonatas – two different ones of the great B flat, D 960: one from 1975 and a live 1977 performance from Carnegie Hall – as well as the Impromptus, Moments musicaux, the “Trout” Quintet (from the Marlboro Festival with “an enthusiastic group that rises to the work’s challenges and Serkin’s inspired promptings” – AllMusic.com) & the exquisite late chamber songs “Auf dem Strom” and “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen”, in which he is joined by soprano Benita Valente, horn Myron Bloom and clarinet Harold Wright.

Works For Flute And Piano

Lieder

Works For Violin And Piano

Trio Works

Fl釦e d'amor

The third volume of Schubert 4-hand piano works by Lønskov/Ilambias team. On the earlier releases of the series, Gérard Honoré of the French Repertoire wrote, “Le duo Dano-argentin..., capable de la plus belle réussite...”, “Le jeu des deux interprètesest homogène et internse. La respiration, pleine de sensibilité, est soubent subtie, et très attentive au texte...”

The second volume of Schubert’s Four Hand series by the popular piano duo Lønskov & Llambias includes rarely recorded Lebensstürme, a very original work published after Schubert’s death. Danish Tove Lønskov and her Argentinean husband Rodolfo Llambias, both students of Wilhelm Kempff and Guido Agosti, are presently working on a Tchaikovsky project.

Wandererfantasie, Der Wanderer

Complete Works For Four Hands,

Complete Works For Four Hands,

MASS NO. 6 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, D

*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***