Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: APE (image+cue)
Label: Sony
Size: 168 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: no
# Piano Sonata No. 1 in E major, D. 157
Composed by Franz Schubert
with Arcadi Volodos
# Piano Sonata No. 18 in G major (“Fantasy”), D. 894 (Op. 78)
Composed by Franz Schubert
with Arcadi Volodos
# Der Müller und der Bach (“Wo ein treues Herze”), song for voice & piano (Die schöne Müllerin), D. 795/19 (Op. 25/19)
Composed by Franz Schubert
with Arcadi Volodos
Arcati Volodos is one of the great pianists on the scene today along with his Russian compatriot Grigory Sokolov who, between them, are releasing what I consider the most satisfying, heart-moving and thought-provoking recordings coming out in the solo piano repertory of late.
This Schubert disc is a by-word for subtlety. The major work here is the Sonata in G, D 894, the 18th of Schubert’s 21 sonatas. It is gentle. There is nothing like the profound depression and sorrow to be found in the last D960 with its monumental slow movement of deep sorrow and beauty. The D894 is comparatively light-hearted and beautifully done by Volodos.
The unfinished early sonata in E major that opens this recital is equally buoyant but, like Schubert, not at all frivolous. The hallmark of Schubert’s music, especially his solo piano works, is a quiet wisdom, lyrical and warm, yet often achingly poignant and sad. There is little sadness in these two sonatas but more a dreamy wistfulness. This is not a recording to turn to when you want piano fireworks, unlike his Wanderer Fantasia.
For me the highlight of this recital is the final ‘encore’ as it were of Liszt’s arrangement of the last part of Die Schöne Müllerin, ‘Der Müller und der Bach’. This is one of those lovely short pieces that I like to hear over and over again, pretending I am at the keyboard in some sort of impossible romantic setting. So Schubertian!
Someone else has wondered why Schubert must be played so delicately. I don’t understand this question. Schubert was not Beethoven, or even Schumann and nothing like Brahms. He was a composer possessing fine antennae that waved in the atmosphere and picked up his melodies and wove them into gossamer beauty like few other composers I can think of. Mendelssohn comes close in some of this orchestral works but with the piano Schubert stands alone in this regard, along with the occasional Schumann and Brahms work, both of whom composed in a heavier style, until Debussy and Ravel came along decades after Schubert’s death.
I highly recommend this lovely disc, ideal for one of those quiet early spring evenings after a couple of glasses of Malbec, when the mind is tired but relaxed and not interested in dealing with ‘angst’.
Delightful.
Thank You!!!