Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Peter Schubert
Performer: Artur Schnabel, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Claude Hobday, Pro Arte Quartet
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Number of Discs: 8
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 2650642
Release: 2009
Size: 1.26 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D major, BWV 850
01. Prelude
02. Fugue
Bach: Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903
03. Fantasia
04. Fugue
Bach: Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971
05. I. —
06. II. Andante
07. III. Presto
Bach: Toccata in C minor, BWV 911
08. I. —
09. II. Fuga
10. III. Fuga
Bach: Toccata in D major, BWV 912
11. I. Presto – Allegro
12. II. Adagio
13. III. Fuga
Bach: Concerto for 2 Pianos No.2 in C, BWV 1061
14. I. —
15. II. Adagio ovvero largo
16. III. Fuga
CD 02
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, ‘Pathetique’
01. I. Grave – Allegro di molto e con brio
02. II. Adagio cantabile
03. III. Rondo. Allegro
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 27 No. 2 ‘Moonlight’
04. I. Adagio sostenuto
05. II. Allegretto
06. III. Presto agitato
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, ‘Pastoral’
07. I. Allegro
08. II. Andante
09. III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
10. IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, ‘Waldstein’
11. I. Allegro con brio
12. II. Introduzione. Adagio molto –
13. III. Rondo. Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo
CD 03
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, ‘Appassionata’
01. I. Allegro assai
02. II. Andante con moto
03. III. Allegro ma non troppo – Presto
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a, ‘Les Adieux’
04. I. Das Lebewohl. Adagio – Allegro
05. II. Abwesenheit. Andante espressivo
06. III. Das Wiedersehen. Vivacissimamente
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, ‘Hammerklavier’
07. I. Allegro
08. II. Scherzo. Assai vivace
09. III. Adagio sostenuto. Appassionato e con molto sentimento
10. IV. Introduzione. Largo – Fuga. Allegro risoluto
CD 04
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90
01. I. Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck
02. II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorzutragen
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
03. I. Vivace ma non troppo – Adagio espressivo
04. II. Prestissimo
05. III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
06. I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
07. II. Allegro molto
08. III. Adagio ma non troppo – Fuga. Allegro ma non troppo
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
09. I. Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
10. II. Arietta. Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
CD 05
Mozart: Concerto for 2 Keyboards and Orchestra in E flat K 365/K 316a
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Rondeau. Allegro
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K 467
04. I. Allegro maestoso
05. II. Andante
06. III. Allegro vivace assai
Mozart: Sonata for Keyboard No. 17 in B flat K 570
07. I. Allegro
08. II. Adagio
09. III. Allegretto
10. Mozart: Rondo in A minor K 511
CD 06
Schubert: Moments musicaux D 780
01. No. 1 in C Major
02. No. 2 in A-Flat Major
03. No. 3 in F Minor
04. No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor
05. No. 5 in F Minor
06. No. 6 in A-Flat Major
07. Schubert: Allegretto in C minor D 915
08. Schubert: March in E major D 606 (Allegro con brio – Trio)
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat, D 960
09. I. Molto moderato
10. II. Andante sostenuto
11. III. Scherzo (Allegro vivace con delicatezza) – Trio
12. IV. Allegro ma non troppo
CD 07
Schubert: Impromptus D 899
01. No. 1 in C Minor
02. No. 2 in E-Flat Major
03. No. 3 in G-Flat Major
04. No. 4 in A-Flat Major
Schubert: Impromptus D 935
05. No. 1 in F Minor
06. No. 2 in A-Flat Major
07. No. 3 in B-Flat Major
08. No. 4 in F Minor
Mozart: Sonata for Keyboard No. 12 in F, K 332/K 300k
09. I. Allegro
10. II. Adagio
11. III. Allegro assai
CD 08
Schubert: Piano Quintet ‘The Trout’ in A major, D 667
01. I. Allegro vivace
02. II. Andante
03. III. Scherzo. Presto
04. IV. Tema con variazione. Andantino
05. V. Finale. Allegro giusto
Mozart: Quartet for Keyboard, Violin, Viola and Cello in G minor K 478
06. I. Allegro
07. II. Andante
08. III. Rondo
Artur Schnabel was born on 17 April, 1882 at Lipnik Górny, a suburb of the modern-day Polish town of Bielsko-Biala. At the time of his birth this town would have been known as Bielitz, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Schnabel died in 1951 at Axenstein in Switzerland.
He was the youngest of three children and when still a child the family moved to Vienna, where the young Schnabel took up studies with the legendary Theodor Leschetizsky, who also taught Paderewski and Moiseiwitsch. Schnabel remained a pupil of Leschetizsky’s for seven years, from 1892 to 1897.
Schnabel’s début took place in 1890 in Vienna and in 1900 he moved to Berlin, where he lived for 33 years. In 1905 he married the well-known contralto, Therese Behr, and the couple successfully toured the German provinces giving Lieder recitals.
The birth of their first son, Karl Ulrich, took place in 1909 and in 1912 a second boy, Stefan, was born. Karl Ulrich was to become a famous teacher and accomplished pianist: he features in two of the recordings in this set. A number of today’s famous pianists studied with him, including Leon Fleisher and Peter Serkin. Stefan took up acting as a career and achieved a fair degree of success in both Germany and Hollywood.
Schnabel made his first recordings in 1930 of the Beethoven sonatas and concertos and, in 1933, the Schnabel family left Berlin a few months after Hitler took power. They lived in England for a while and in 1939 moved to the USA where, in 1944, Schnabel became an American citizen. Although resident in America, it was in Europe that he was more widely recognised and it was in London, for EMI, that Schnabel made virtually all of his great recordings.
This set of 8 CDs presents the incomparable Schnabel in a range of works by composers whose music he particularly admired and made a speciality of: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert.