I have loved this pianist all my life – when he's at his best he plays with such life and joy and spontaneity that he's irresistible.
His Beethoven and Schubert are famous of course – from the Beethoven sonatas I would single out all the Opus 10s, The Waldstien and Opus 111. There are many other good ones.
His Bach is special to – I had forgotten how special until recently when I dusted down a Pearl CD and listened again. I've included a sample of him playing part of the Italian Concerto in case you don't know it.
And I like his interpretation of Mozart Concerto #27, with Barbirolli. He takes the middle movement very slowly –justifiably IMO as it's one of the rare times Mozart marks a concerto movement 'Larghetto'. Mostly the slow movements are Andante.
.
It was Schnabel's rendition of Mozart Piano Cto. 20 with Susskind--on an old Vox LP transfer of a 1948 EMI original--that helped me crack through the "audiophile sound only" barrier I'd erected for myself in the early 1980s and realize that there was a universe of really superb interpretations waiting to be heard in those historic old pre-hifi mono recordings.
Dirk
I started a Schnabel thread on the old GMG:
Schnabel's Beethoven Getaway (http://www.good-music-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,8895.0.html)
Since then I have heard more of his stuff, namely the Schubert on M&A. Mark Obert Thorn, who worked wonders with the incredible Beethoven set on Naxos, mastered it. :)
To me Schnabel was not only the first to record Beethoven's complete Sonatas, but he also imposed a style and musical choices that were followed by many interpreters, including Claudio Arrau.
As an example: the way he phrases and the accentuation he gives to the 2nd theme of the first movement of the Sonata 2/2, may seem strange compared to Brendel or Kempff. But in fact it seems the best choice. Arrau, with a slower tempo, did exactly the same accentuation as Schnabel.
Sometimes I disagree with his choices. His version of the opus 57, the last movement of the 31/2 are not the best moments of his version.
But, his energy, sense of accentuation, phrasing in the slow movements - the Largo e mesto of the opus 10/3 is unique - show all the greatness of his vision.
One of my three favorite versions of the complete Sonatas, with Backhaus (an extraordinary sense of the architecture of each work) and, obviously, the great Friedrich Gulda, perhaps the most perfect of all.
I am about to place my order for Schnabel's Beethoven Sonatas on the Historical Naxos label, probably this coming weekend. This will be my sixth set. While this may not sound like a big deal to our Richtervangelist, it is a big deal for someone like me who does not have his primary focus on piano works ...
Quote from: Coopmv on April 08, 2009, 05:20:08 PM
While this may not sound like a big deal to our Richtervangelist, it is a big deal for someone like me who does not have his primary focus on piano works ...
On the contrary, purchasing the first set of Beethoven Sonatas ever recorded, as transferred by the great Mark Obert Thorn, couldn't be anything less than a big deal. :)
Among some of Schnabel's students were Lili Kraus, Rudolf Firkusny and Karl Haas. Karl Haas was well known for his radio commentaries on classical music. It looks like Haas never had a recording career ...
Quote from: Coopmv on April 08, 2009, 05:44:53 PM
Among some of Schnabel's students were Lili Kraus, Rudolf Firkusny and Karl Haas. Karl Haas was well known for his radio commentaries on classical music. It looks like Haas never had a recording career ...
Well, another student of Schnabel was
Claude Frank, who also recorded the complete
Beethoven Piano Sonatas a while ago (I own only 2 complete sets, i.e. Frank & Annie Fischer) - Frank is a good choice for the price w/ excellent recommendations - CHECK HERE (http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Complete-Piano-Sonatas/dp/B000063DK9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239246148&sr=1-1) - even our own
Scott Morrison makes the statement
"They are, in fact, rather close in approach to that of Schnabel, but without the ancient sound and missed notes. His approach is rather gentler than some; he seems attuned to Beethoven's lyricism more than some. "I do not own Schnabel in these works, mainly because of such reviews that the sound is 'ancient' and interfers w/ the appreciation of the music - I just tend to favor more modern recordings w/ better sound reproduction in classical music (now, I own TONS of older jazz, blues, & country music from the past but that is a different matter, i.e. the same performers do not re-interpret their music decades later) - so despite the comments on this performer, he likely will not be on my 'radar screen' - I'll be lookin' for newer interpretations, and also a more 'complete' HIP performance - but hey just me! :D
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61B4Z5HF8RL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
His recorded output is extremely limited. Hardly any Mozart solo piano music, no Haydn, no Chopin, no Liszt, no Debussy, no Ravel, no Bussoni, no serial music, no Brahms solo piano music, hardly any Schumann, no Scarlatti, hardly any Bach keyboard music.
What's going on here -- did he play this stuff biut not record it? Or did he choose to ignore the greater part of the core piano repetoire?
Anyways, he must be the most limited great pianist ever -- his repetoire is even smaller than Gould's!
Quote from: Mandryka on April 08, 2009, 11:17:52 PM
His recorded output is extremely limited. Hardly any Mozart solo piano music, no Haydn, no Chopin, no Liszt, no Debussy, no Ravel, no Bussoni, no serial music, no Brahms solo piano music, hardly any Schumann, no Scarlatti, hardly any Bach keyboard music.
What's going on here -- did he play this stuff biut not record it? Or did he choose to ignore the greater part of the core piano repetoire?
I am not sure of the full extent of his repertoire, but I recall reading that he had to ask for years before getting to record the Schubert works in his repertoire and Schubert was reportedly his favorite composer. :-\
Quote from: Mandryka on April 08, 2009, 11:17:52 PM
His recorded output is extremely limited. Hardly any Mozart solo piano music, no Haydn, no Chopin, no Liszt, no Debussy, no Ravel, no Bussoni, no serial music, no Brahms solo piano music, hardly any Schumann, no Scarlatti, hardly any Bach keyboard music.
Hmmm. I think we need to consult a discography. I just checked Amazon and I see no CDs of Schnabel doing solo Brahms and Mozart popping up, you're right--BUT I have an LP at home called "The Art of Artur Schnabel", an old Seraphim, which IIRC is all solo piano music and has at least two or three Brahms pieces along with some Mozart and other composers. Maybe someone else here has it and can be specific as to the pieces played; if not, I'll check when I get home and post what I find.
OTOH, you are certainly correct about the paucity of Schnabel recordings outside of Beethoven and Schubert and a handful of Mozart and other piano concertos. Glad we have what we have, but it would be nice to have more.
;)
Dirk
I think it would indeed be a safe bet that Schnabel did not play any serial music.
Quote from: dirkronk on April 09, 2009, 05:02:40 AM
Hmmm. I think we need to consult a discography. I just checked Amazon and I see no CDs of Schnabel doing solo Brahms and Mozart popping up, you're right--BUT I have an LP at home called "The Art of Artur Schnabel", an old Seraphim, which IIRC is all solo piano music and has at least two or three Brahms pieces along with some Mozart and other composers. Maybe someone else here has it and can be specific as to the pieces played; if not, I'll check when I get home and post what I find.
OTOH, you are certainly correct about the paucity of Schnabel recordings outside of Beethoven and Schubert and a handful of Mozart and other piano concertos. Glad we have what we have, but it would be nice to have more.
;)
Dirk
I have him doing a handful of Mozart solo pieces on Pearl I think -- I'll have to listen again but one sonata was outstanding (just can't remember which!) I'd be very keen to hear that Brahms.
From Wikipedia
Schnabel was best known for his devotion to the core German composers, especially the Viennese classics of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. He was also renowned for his playing of works by Brahms and Schumann. He also played and recorded works by Bach.
. . . However, his repertoire was wider than that. During his young virtuosic years in Berlin, he played works by other composers including Liszt, Chopin and Weber. On his early American tours, he programmed works such as the Chopin Preludes and the Schumann Fantasy in C.[4]. Among other works that he played, as recalled by those such as Claudio Arrau and Vladimir Horowitz who had heard Schnabel in the 1920s, were Chopin's E minor Piano Concerto and the B-flat minor Piano Sonata No. 2, and Weber's Konzertstück and Piano Sonata No. 2.[5][6] Schnabel himself mentioned that he had played the Liszt piano sonata in B minor "very often", as well as the Liszt E-flat piano concerto.[1]
It is not clear why Schnabel dropped those from his performing repertoire in the 1930s, after his final departure from Germany. He claimed that it was because he decided that he wanted to play only "music which is better than it could be performed".[1] However, it has been suggested by some that "Schnabel, uprooted from his native heritage, may have been clinging to the great German composers in an attempt to keep his cultural origins alive".[7]
Quote from: Herman on April 09, 2009, 05:04:13 AM
I think it would indeed be a safe bet that Schnabel did not play any serial music.
Again from Wikipedia
Despite his performing repertoire being concentrated largely on the works of Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart and Brahms, almost all of his own compositions (none of which are in the active repertoire) are atonal. (It is interesting, in this regard, to note that Schnabel was a close friend of Arnold Schoenberg, his Austrian-American compatriot, who was famous as a pioneering composer of atonal or twelve-tone music.)
They are "difficult", yet fascinating and complex works, and are marked by genuine originality of style. The composer, Ernst Krenek, has commented that they show signs of undoubted genius (see biography of Schnabel by Cesar Saerchinger). Schnabel's list of compositions eventually included three symphonies, a piano concerto and five string quartets amongst various smaller works.
Quote from: SonicMan on April 08, 2009, 07:17:20 PM
Well, another student of Schnabel was Claude Frank, who also recorded the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas a while ago ...
That is an excellent set, underrated IMO. As a side note, Frank's set is the one used to illustrate the Teaching Company's Beethoven Sonatas course -- I think it's a very good choice for a moderately interpreted, well-played set that lets the music speak for itself (which sounds like faint praise, but it's really quite enjoyable).
That said, Schnabel is of course the bee's knees. I have the Beethoven sonatas and a few LvB and Brahms concertos on Naxos, and have been eyeing his Schubert for a while. :)
There are some solo piano Mozart in this 5CD Music and Arts set.
http://www.amazon.com/Artur-Schnabel-Plays-Mozart-recordings/dp/B000M5B3NQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239295284&sr=1-1
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41xcvpg2WwL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Schnabel did play solo Brahms.... I have a CD with:
Intermezzo in Eb, op.117, no.1
Intermezzo in A minor, op116, no.2
Rhapsody in G minor, op.79, no.2
and he did play Mozart sonatas, e.g. I have a CD of him playing the Bb sonata, K570.
:)
Quote from: dirkronk on April 09, 2009, 05:02:40 AM
Hmmm. I think we need to consult a discography. I just checked Amazon and I see no CDs of Schnabel doing solo Brahms and Mozart popping up, you're right--BUT I have an LP at home called "The Art of Artur Schnabel", an old Seraphim, which IIRC is all solo piano music and has at least two or three Brahms pieces along with some Mozart and other composers. Maybe someone else here has it and can be specific as to the pieces played; if not, I'll check when I get home and post what I find.
OTOH, you are certainly correct about the paucity of Schnabel recordings outside of Beethoven and Schubert and a handful of Mozart and other piano concertos. Glad we have what we have, but it would be nice to have more.
;)
Dirk
Dirk, You are right. I own this CD
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21TA9MP5X0L._SL500_AA130_.jpg)
Mozart; Rondo in a minor K511
sonata in F K332
Schumann: Kinderszenen
Brahms: Rhapsody in G minor Op 79/2
Intermezzo in E flat Op 117/1
Intermezzo in A minor Op 116/3
Weber: Invitation to the Dance
I have a number of CD's by Lili Kraus, another student of Artur Schnabel ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artur_Schnabel
Love the Pearl set I have thanks to a generous and kind member here at GMG....usually maintains a Richter avatar. ;)
Quote from: Holden on April 09, 2009, 07:14:28 PM
Dirk, You are right. I own this CD
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21TA9MP5X0L._SL500_AA130_.jpg)
Mozart; Rondo in a minor K511
sonata in F K332
Schumann: Kinderszenen
Brahms: Rhapsody in G minor Op 79/2
Intermezzo in E flat Op 117/1
Intermezzo in A minor Op 116/3
Weber: Invitation to the Dance
It seems interesting. How do you rate it?
Quote from: Holden on April 09, 2009, 07:14:28 PM
Mozart; Rondo in a minor K511
sonata in F K332
Schumann: Kinderszenen
Brahms: Rhapsody in G minor Op 79/2
Intermezzo in E flat Op 117/1
Intermezzo in A minor Op 116/3
Weber: Invitation to the Dance
This is pretty close to the LP I have--same three Brahms pieces (are those all he recorded, I wonder?), same Weber and Mozart rondo. However, my vinyl has a different Mozart sonata (K570) and two Schubert impromptus. All of these were recorded between 1946 and 1950--perhaps a bit late for Schnabel.
Cheers,
Dirk
The 11 volumes of Schnabel Beethoven Piano Works on Naxos Historical just arrived earlier this week. I essentially ordered every of his Beethoven recording except the orchestral since I do not enjoy monaural orchestral sound. So far, I have really enjoyed the virtuoso piano playing. This is set #6 of my Beethoven Piano Sonatas. The credit goes to George ... ;D
His Beethoven Op 2/1 is outstanding. It's most valuable for the minuet, which is coherent, spontaneous, mercurial, virile.
Of course the slow movement is characteristically intense with Schnabel. He plays the slow movements of those early sonatas as if they're the work of the mature visionary Beethoven. It's not quite as "spiritual" as his performance of the Largo to Op 10/3, but it's not far off – you certainly know you're hearing a piece by the composer of Op 110. That's maybe a strength or a weakness, depending on your point of view. In this post-Gould world we know there is another way.
Anyway I thought I would post this mainly because I was so impressed with what he does with the minuet.
Anent Schnabel's own music: I am just listening to his Violin Sonata (1935 - his first work written in emigration), magisterially played by Christian Tetzlaff w/Stefan Litwin (Arte Nova, if you can find it). I find it is fairly easy on the ear and, more importantly, involving, for an atonal work:one listens with deepening appreciation, wanting to know what happens next; it is not at all amorphous and grey (as such works can be). The first movement begins with a majestic passacaglia-style motif reminding me of neo-baroque tendencies before settling into a varied sonata-form development. There are shimmering - almost impressionistic - passages in the second (Allegretto) movement; the Adagio seems to progress downwards through ever more questing elegiac interrogations of a quasi-chorale into a low-pitched uncertain fade-out, while the Vivace often seems to splinter the sound in furious attacks of forced jollity, then resumes the questioning reflective tone, which is interrupted by a rebarbative forced-march-like section that subsides into quizzical and sadly doubtful musing. This is the way I hear it, anyway - I must confess that after buying this CD almost automatically about 15 years ago, I listened through in an inattentive summary manner, as one does at times, and filed it away for future investigation. What I like about it is the way (in this performance) it seems to suggest Schnabel's personality as we know it from his great recordings of other composers' music, though I would have to say that ultimately it lacks the divine spark of melodic-harmonic genius that distinguishes the greatest masters.
(By the way, does anyone else get this strange red underlining of words by some hidden software? - I only get it online writing comments in fora and such, not in Open Office documents. The software knows no forms like "Schnabel's", though "Schnabel" is OK, and "rebarbative" is just not on. I'm surprised it accepts "anent". Is it Firefox doing this? "Firefox" is OK, though hardly a regular English word...)
I only know his own music through the cadanza to Mozart's PC21, which is a performance I like a lot.
I've never heard him in 20 and 24 -- but I believe the cadenzas he wrote for them are something else, as they say. Serial music.
Has anyone here heard those cadenzas? Are the recordings of 20 and 24 interesting?
Quote from: Mandryka on September 01, 2010, 03:40:51 AM
I only know his own music through the cadanza to Mozart's PC21, which is a performance I like a lot.
I've never heard him in 20 and 24 -- but I believe the cadenzas he wrote for them are something else, as they say. Serial music.
Has anyone here heard those cadenzas? Are the recordings of 20 and 24 interesting?
For Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart, Schnabel is justly revered as a one of the "classic" interpreters. But with Schnabel we never get any kind of "classic" or comfortable reading. The tempo may be brisk but usually there are neither wide variations of dynamics nor excessive color effects. And he is always fluent and transparent. But what strikes the most is how his phrasing is so lively and free, almost improvisational, and yet results as unforced, natural and fresh.
Listening to Schnabel is like taking a bath in a wavy and salty cold sea. You need some courage to plunge, you have to fight with the strength of the waves, but then you feel somehow refreshed and renewed. Schnabel has really nothing to do with the many interpreters resembling those perfect but warm flat post card beaches.
And when Schnabel had the courage, against many critics, to introduce his own "modern" cadenzas in the Mozart concertos, we probably see another face of his very personal way of giving life to his interpretation and to the music. Schnabel only composed and played his cadenzas for the concertos where we don't have Mozart's own cadenzas. And for the D minor K.466 (No.20) I believe he played the more usual Beethoven's cadenza. So, AFAIK, from the available recordings we may now listen to Schnabel's cadenzas for the K. 467, 482 and 491.
In the C minor (K.491 No.24) Schnabel cadenzas are probably the most "contemporary". You may listen to them in the 1948 EMI studio recording studio, with Susskind, or in an earlier live performance (1946) with Wallenstein. For me they are both very stimulating readings and also interesting to compare. Globally the studio one is probably more recommendable. In the live the sound is much worse and the orchestra and conductor are less polished. But Schnabel's live performance is daring, with some unexpected (even for Schnabel) tempi and wild rubato.
Quote from: ccar on September 01, 2010, 07:15:19 AM
Listening to Schnabel is like taking a bath in a wavy and salty cold sea. You need some courage to plunge, you have to fight with the strength of the waves, but then you feel somehow refreshed and renewed. Schnabel has really nothing to do with the many interpreters resembling those perfect but warm flat post card beaches.
Very well said. I agree.
Quote
In the C minor (K.491 No.24) Schnabel cadenzas are probably the most "contemporary". You may listen to them in the 1948 EMI studio recording studio, with Susskind...
This is the one that I have. I am listening to it now to refresh my memory.
That's interesting about PC 24 -- my favourite concerto in 3 movements. I really must try to hear that -- apart from the cadenzas I can imagine he's wonderful in the variations.
There are also two recordings of Beethoven Op 111. I've only heard the early one (1932), which has a arching, tight, concentrated arietta. The first movement is a bit tumultuous maybe -- I need to listen to that again.
I'm curious now about the later one, the 1942 one
Quote from: Mandryka on September 01, 2010, 08:01:34 AM
There are also two recordings of Beethoven Op 111. I've only heard the early one (1932), which has a arching, tight, concentrated arietta. The first movement is a bit tumultuous maybe -- I need to listen to that again.
I'm curious now about the later one, the 1942 one
That's the one in the GPOTC set, right?
Quote from: ccar on September 01, 2010, 07:15:19 AM
In the C minor (K.491 No.24) Schnabel cadenzas are probably the most "contemporary". You may listen to them in the 1948 EMI studio recording studio, with Susskind, or in an earlier live performance (1946) with Wallenstein. For me they are both very stimulating readings and also interesting to compare. Globally the studio one is probably more recommendable. In the live the sound is much worse and the orchestra and conductor are less polished. But Schnabel's live performance is daring, with some unexpected (even for Schnabel) tempi and wild rubato.
I've heard K491 now -- the studio one with Susskind.
What a hard dark performance. I think the cadenzas are great -- they fit the interpretation perfectly. Listen to the way the ending of the first movement cadenza integrates so well with the orchestra. And there's a bit of the third movement cadenza which reminded me of the sort of jaunty song soldiers may have whistled while marching to Verdun (between bleating like lambs.)
The orchestra seemed particularly alive and awake, and Schnabel and Susskind seemed completely in sympathy with one another.
I would like to hear the Wallenstein -- in fact I would like to hear everything Schnabel ever recorded!
People used to laugh at that cadenza in K.491 - it's interesting to me as a fact of modern musical reception that you find the cadenzas "fit the interpretation perfectly", Mandryka. I agree, of course, always have, but in the 70s this was regarded as slightly "weird". - As far as the solo Mozart is concerned, I have had for decades (and never needed to replace) a heavy Japanese Emi Angel LP in the line Great Recordings of the Century with K.310, 511, 332, 570, all marvellous performances.
We should not ignore the various live performances that have turned up, as they add an invaluable perspective on his playing. His performance of K.482 (1941 w/NYPO/Walter on The Radio Years), for instance, is rather noisy (radio interference too) but clear - and indispensable, I find, majestically and dramatically introduced by Walter (you could be listening to his Don Giovanni!), Schnabel enters with quasi faux-naiveté dispelled in a few seconds by insolently pointed figuration leading to thundering profound chords as the music and the sound of the piano itself turns darker ...and so on. The shadowy nocturnal aspect of the Andante is richly etched by Schnabel and Walter, an ideal partnership here, I must say, and the cadenza of the third movement is heavenly - and then shocking! There is a Schnabel/Rodzinski recording of K.488 that I found here (a good resource in general - you can find the Beethoven cello sonatas w/Fournier here as well):
http://public-domain-archive.com/classic/composition.php?lang=eng&album_no=143
It must be said that the recording quality of the Brahms opp.8, 78 and 100 w/Fournier and Szigeti (1947) is partly so bad on the Arbiter transfer that one cannot enjoy, only try to analyse (they do say "due to a defective disc-cutter" in op.78). The Szigeti/Schnabel Beethoven sonatas opp. 24 and 96 (1948) are so-so sound-wise, Szigeti sounds very scrawny, but then the sheer character of the interpretation captures your whole attention. But the piano sounds both woolly and cavernous - a pity...
Perhaps others know of other "lives" to investigate?
Quote from: mjwal on September 16, 2010, 06:46:29 AM
We should not ignore the various live performances that have turned up, as they add an invaluable perspective on his playing. His performance of K.482 (1941 w/NYPO/Walter on The Radio Years), for instance, is rather noisy (radio interference too) but clear - and indispensable, I find, majestically and dramatically introduced by Walter (you could be listening to his Don Giovanni
I very much agree. I also feel your analogy between Bruno Walter's introduction of the concert and the dramatic drive of his Don Giovanni (1937 or 1942) is most appropriate. And that's exactly the kind of vital spark and breath I miss in most of our "modern" Mozart interpreters.
(http://www.huberman.info/biography/images/stolen_strad/stolen_schnabel.jpg)
Thanks, ccar - I just love that photo; can that be Serkin on the right? To see Schnabel is to love him - he was a great man. There is a wonderful description of him in Piatigorsky's memoirs, (which I found online, Google books I think - no here: http://www.cello.org/heaven/cellist/index.htm ), it's about the times they spent together in old Berlin (you'll have to find the Schnabel bits yourself). And this article is very good (I must say, even though the writer hated my contributions to La Folia :'( ): http://www.lafolia.com/archive/covell/covell200806schnabel.html
Quote from: mjwal on September 18, 2010, 08:46:41 AM
I just love that photo; can that be Serkin on the right? To see Schnabel is to love him - he was a great man.
Schnabel, Walter and Bodanzky at St. Moritz, 1937. The Salzburg Don Giovanni was certainly in the air.
Did Schnabel ever record the Mozart concerto 25, k503? He wrote a cadenza for it too & concertized it with Szell in the 1930s.
Quote from: Mandryka on April 08, 2009, 11:17:52 PM
His recorded output is extremely limited. Hardly any Mozart solo piano music, no Haydn, no Chopin, no Liszt, no Debussy, no Ravel, no Bussoni, no serial music, no Brahms solo piano music, hardly any Schumann, no Scarlatti, hardly any Bach keyboard music.
What's going on here -- did he play this stuff biut not record it? Or did he choose to ignore the greater part of the core piano repetoire?
Anyways, he must be the most limited great pianist ever -- his repetoire is even smaller than Gould's!
I think that was probably the case......... E.g.;
Schnabel piano recital,
Queens Hall, London, November 24th, 1934:
Schubert
....... Piano Sonata in A minor, op.143
....... Piano Sonata in A, op.120
Mozart
....... Piano Sonata in C, K.330
....... Piano Sonata in C minor, K.457
Schumann
....... Fantasiestucke op.12Artur Schnabel
Bechstein Pianoforte
Under the management of Messrs Ibbs & Tillet
On 29 November 1937, he programmed the following as mentioned in The Manchester Guardian newspaper (today = The Guardian)... (excerpt): :)
"This afternoon a large audience attended a recital of Artur Schnabel; the programme was the one which he will give at Manchester University - the Toccatas in C minor and D major of Bach; the E minor Sonata of Weber; and Beethoven's thirty-three Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli.
The power of Schnabel's personality is baffling. In a moment this afternoon he gripped his audience. And the paradox is that he gripped everybody by ignoring everybody's existence.
He lived in the music; we could almost see him pass from the world of the concert platform and become invisible. A quick walk to the instrument, a reticent acknowledgement of applause; then he seated himself, bowed his head a moment, and began.
The simplest statement of a theme, in isolated notes, comes to us with tremendous meaning when Schnabel plays: how is it all done? Other pianists possess a more comprehensive technique, a richer palette. And other pianists are as sincere. The issue is begged if we speak of Schnabel's intellectuality - that is a phrase and, moreover, the problem at issue is the means by which the power comes to us. We may approach the secret by suggesting that in Schnabel's playing tone, touch, phrasing and rhythm are proportionate to the conception; in other words, that technique and mind are equated. [...] "
Is that Neville Cardus? In my early teens in the 50s it was his autobiography, among other things, that opened my mind to the sheer adventure of classical music. There was real style in the way critics wrote for the best newspapers in those days. In one of his later articles he wrote: "Schnabel was actually taken to task by critics because, so they alleged, he lacked a really virtuoso technique. But Schnabel himself once said to me: 'A masterful technique can easily master your imagination'. He never performed, never seemed conscious of the presence of an audience." (Cardus on Music, pp 322-23).
Any opinions about Naxos transfers of Beethoven and Brahms piano concertos by Schnabel?
Thanks! ;)
Quote from: Orpheus on September 21, 2010, 06:28:47 AM
Any opinions about Naxos transfers of Beethoven ... piano concertos by Schnabel?
Thanks! ;)
I like them more than the same ones on Pearl, as the the latter has some weird high pitched noises on one of the concvertos (I forget which), plus the Naxos is much cheaper and easier to find.
Quote from: George on September 21, 2010, 06:30:21 AM
I like them more than the same ones on Pearl, as the the latter has some weird high pitched noises on one of the concvertos (I forget which), plus the Naxos is much cheaper and easier to find.
Thanks George! Probably, it will be my first Schnabel on disc... 8)
Quote from: Orpheus on September 21, 2010, 06:38:32 AM
Thanks George! Probably, it will be my first Schnabel on disc... 8)
I recommend following it up with Op. 2. 8)
Quote from: George on September 21, 2010, 08:05:02 AM
I recommend following it up with Op. 2. 8)
Sure. I hope Naxos will assemble the piano sonatas in a big box... ;D
Quote from: Orpheus on September 21, 2010, 08:07:09 AM
Sure. I hope Naxos will assemble the piano sonatas in a big box... ;D
They are cheap enough now so that you can consider it box set price, I think.
Quote from: George on September 21, 2010, 08:11:46 AM
They are cheap enough now so that you can consider it box set price, I think.
I don't think 70 euros for recordings from the 1930s is cheap, not to say it isn't worth it.
Quote from: Clever Hans on September 21, 2010, 09:02:59 AM
I don't think 70 euros for recordings from the 1930s is cheap, not to say it isn't worth it.
That's a lot more than MDT is charging.
$7.63 x 9 = $68.67 = 52.28 Euros
Quote from: George on September 21, 2010, 10:10:51 AM
That's a lot more than MDT is charging.
$7.63 x 9 = $68.67 = 52.28 Euros
But one must get the Diabelli variations and really also the concertos.
Quote from: Clever Hans on September 21, 2010, 10:46:18 AM
But one must get the Diabelli variations and really also the concertos.
I agree, but he was referring to the sonatas:
Quote from: Orpheus on September 21, 2010, 08:07:09 AM
Sure. I hope Naxos will assemble the piano sonatas in a big box... ;D
Quote from: George on September 21, 2010, 10:48:02 AM
I agree, but he was referring to the sonatas:
I see. Still not cheap in my opinion. But then, I think all recordings more than 50 years old should be free to anyone and their production subsidized by arts and cultural institutions.
Absolutely worth it, though, particularly if one has no other issue of Schnabel doing the sonatas.
Quote from: Clever Hans on September 21, 2010, 11:56:41 AM
I see. Still not cheap in my opinion. But then, I think all recordings more than 50 years old should be free to anyone and their production subsidized by arts and cultural institutions.
That would be nice! :)
I guess when I say cheap I am comparing it to the only other decent mastering of those performances, the Pearl OOP (and expensive) CDs.
Quote
Absolutely worth it, though, particularly if one has no other issue of Schnabel doing the sonatas.
Agreed. :)
Quote from: George on September 21, 2010, 06:30:21 AM
I like them more than the same ones on Pearl, as the the latter has some weird high pitched noises on one of the concvertos (I forget which), plus the Naxos is much cheaper and easier to find.
Do these Naxos Historicals ever get OOP?
Quote from: Coopmv on September 21, 2010, 06:46:37 PM
Do these Naxos Historicals ever get OOP?
Not to my knowledge.
On one of those Naxos remasterings ny MOT there are three Brahms late short solo piano pieces.
Worth hearing.
Quote from: Mandryka on September 22, 2010, 12:33:20 AM
On one of those Naxos remasterings ny MOT there are three Brahms late short solo piano pieces.
Worth hearing.
MOT is the gold standard for remaster/reconstruction of historical recordings ...
Quote from: mjwal on September 16, 2010, 06:46:29 AM
People used to laugh at that cadenza in K.491 - it's interesting to me as a fact of modern musical reception that you find the cadenzas "fit the interpretation perfectly", Mandryka. I agree, of course, always have, but in the 70s this was regarded as slightly "weird".
I wouldn't use my response as an indicator of modern reception trends -- I have cultivated
slight wierdness for years :) And don't forget that there are many people who post on this form who would say their favourite Mozart interpreter is Sofronitsky (
Fille) or Bezuidenhout.
Quote from: mjwal on September 16, 2010, 06:46:29 AM
His performance of K.482 (1941 w/NYPO/Walter on The Radio Years), for instance, is rather noisy (radio interference too) but clear - and indispensable, I find, majestically and dramatically introduced by Walter (you could be listening to his Don Giovanni!), Schnabel enters with quasi faux-naiveté dispelled in a few seconds by insolently pointed figuration leading to thundering profound chords as the music and the sound of the piano itself turns darker ...and so on. The shadowy nocturnal aspect of the Andante is richly etched by Schnabel and Walter, an ideal partnership here, I must say, and the cadenza of the third movement is heavenly - and then shocking!
Good dope. What astonishing, life enhancing music making. Heavenly and shocking is no overstatement.
Sound wise it seems just fine given its antiquity -- I can certainly hear the music without too much pain.
|Does anyone have this recording of Szigeti and Schnabel in Brahms? How is the sound?
[asin]B00004T8XF[/asin]
Quote from: Mandryka on January 19, 2011, 08:56:16 PM
|Does anyone have this recording of Szigeti and Schnabel in Brahms? How is the sound?
Poor.
Can I offer for your perusal my website
www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk
which contains two of AS's Beethoven Society Albums together with his performances in K.V.467 with the LSO under Sargeant and also his recording with the ProArte group of the Trout Quintet. An earlier contributor suggests that AS wrote cadenzas for several Mozart concerti and the K.V.467 cadenzas seem to me to have a similarity in elements of figuration with the Allegro Vivace section of the 3rd movement of the Sonata no.13. The Opus 109 performance has a helter-skelter Prestissimo which I am not sure does the detail evident in the score justice, but it doesn't lack excitement! A strange ghostly sound intrudes at the end of the pp middle section of this movement which could be from an adjoining studio or possibly a spurious pedal-movement artefact. The final Variation 6 starts with 2 bars of 3 crotchets and Schnabel puts in his own slight rit before the 3rd bar begins and the effect is magical.
Quote from: Mandryka on January 19, 2011, 08:56:16 PM
|Does anyone have this recording of Szigeti and Schnabel in Brahms? How is the sound?
[asin]B00004T8XF[/asin]
Yes,I have it (not here at the moment) - I found it hard to attend to properly because of noise and distortion, especially in op.78. When i get back to France I'll give it a re-listen. But nobody, not even Szigeti/Schnabel, can compete with the slow movement of op.78 with Busch/Serkin, one of the top slow movements on record for emotive power.
Quote from: mjwal on January 28, 2011, 10:48:37 AM
But nobody, not even Szigeti/Schnabel, can compete with the slow movement of op.78 with Busch/Serkin, one of the top slow movements on record for emotive power.
Probably -- I like the drama and the moment when times stands still about three quarters of the way through. All the others I can think of are flawed (I like Goldberg and Ferras more than most other violinists, but Balsam and Barbizet not as much as many other pianists.)
Richter+Kagan in Op 78 special though.
Quote from: mjwal on January 28, 2011, 10:48:37 AM
Yes,I have it (not here at the moment) - I found it hard to attend to properly because of noise and distortion, especially in op.78.
Totally.
Quote from: Mandryka on January 28, 2011, 12:34:21 PM
Probably -- I like the drama and the moment when times stands still about three quarters of the way through. All the others I can think of are flawed (I like Goldberg and Ferras more than most other violinists, but Balsam and Barbizet not as much as many other pianists.)
Richter+Kagan in Op 78 special though.
I'd take that as my preferred modern recording of the work, too.
Now playing, and enjoying, I might add:
(http://cdn.tower.jp/zz/m/7270/727031909927.jpg)
In stock right now;
http://cgi.ebay.com/Artur-Schnabel-Audio-CD-Complete-Beethoven-Piano-Son-/230558210573?pt=Music_CDs&hash=item35ae571a0d#ht_788wt_1140
:o
Since Schnabel's been getting so much airtime in the Beethoven Sonata thread, I thought I'd give his thread a gentle bump.
Quote from: Mandryka on February 08, 2011, 01:35:53 AM
Is there anyone interested in exploring Schnabel's recordings a bit more closely using this forum? You know the sort of thing: choosing a piece (Schubert or Beethoven or Bach or Mozart, concerto, chamber solo: -- I don't mind) to listen to and posting reactions, whatever they may be.
Good idea. Anyone want to suggest a work to begin with?
A third volume of the Beethoven Sonata Series, Volume 4, to complement Volumes 2 and 11, is available on my website
www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk
Volume 11 comprises Sonatas 4 and 16, Volume 2 sonatas 9,13 and 30 and the latest volume has Sonatas 2,14 ( not given as "Moonlight" on the labels) and 26 which is titled "Les Adieux" . You need to follow "Transcriptions of 78 rpm records" and then "Classical".
But, Early, Op.81a is "Les Adieux", not Op.90 (which is quite different from the one on your site). By the way, I just love the jazz on your site - very good transfers! I haven't listened to any of the other classical stuff yet, but I assume the same high standards apply.
"Despite the fact that Schnabel never performed contemporary music, his own music is extremely modern and individualistic, and greatly influenced his piano playing. The plasticity of phrase and timing that he is so known for in Beethoven is seen clearly in his compositional concerns, which led him to write totally unbarred music, as well as music of extreme rhythmical sophistication."
- Paul Zukofsky
Apologies for my error,mjwal, my eye slid down to the Opus number for the following Sonata in my Urtext edition on the page where all Sonatas are listed with the opening bars.
(http://musicandarts.com/CDpages/CD1111hi.jpg)
Decided to try and listen to as much as I can in the "unheard pile" over the next few weeks. This one popped out at me tonight. Unfortunately, Music and Arts (Maggie Payne is credited) has once again moved too much of the noise. No sparkle in the tone, but luckily the performances (at least the Schumann, haven't got to the Schubert yet) are great enough to shine through. Here's a link to the Classics Today review. (http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=5591)
A complete edition of Schnabel's recordings for EMI, in special transfers, was published in 25 volumes (about 30 CDs) by Shinseido with EMI in Japan. This has been hard to find but has been recently uploaded oon a blog called ahhfwww. The quality of the transfers is the best I have heard ever. There is some stuff which I have never heard before too -- Beethoven's Op 119 bagatelles, a CD of Schubert duets with Carl Ulrich Schnabel.
Quote from: Mandryka on August 02, 2011, 07:55:00 AM
A complete edition of Schnabel's recordings for EMI, in special transfers, was published in 25 volumes (about 30 CDs) by Shinseido with EMI in Japan. This has been hard to find but has been recently uploaded oon a blog called ahhfwww. The quality of the transfers is the best I have heard ever. There is some stuff which I have never heard before too -- Beethoven's Op 119 bagatelles, a CD of Schubert duets with Carl Ulrich Schnabel.
I was also impressed with those transfers but have since decided that I prefer the Naxos. .aybe I should listen again, but I recall that the Naxos had more high frequency info.
Quote from: George on August 02, 2011, 08:25:09 AM
I was also impressed with those transfers but have since decided that I prefer the Naxos. .aybe I should listen again, but I recall that the Naxos had more high frequency info.
I ddn't compare with Naxos -- I only have a couple of their Cds. But I thought it was much tighter in the lower registers than Pearl.
Quote from: Mandryka on August 02, 2011, 09:01:50 AM
I ddn't compare with Naxos -- I only have a couple of their Cds. But I thought it was much tighter in the lower registers than Pearl.
Definitely, and much less noisy too. Though I feel they went too far with the noise reduction.
Quote from: George on August 02, 2011, 08:25:09 AM
I was also impressed with those transfers but have since decided that I prefer the Naxos. .aybe I should listen again, but I recall that the Naxos had more high frequency info.
And these Schnabel recordings on Naxos Historical were mostly reconstructed/ remastered by MOT ... ;)
For those who want to hear samples of 8 different transfers of the Schnabel Beethoven Sonatas (including the newly added Musical Concepts sample), you can download them here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?lvppl6vj4omdj