Schubert's Piano Sonatas

Posted by: Todd A on 16 October 2000

Okay. I need some help here. I’ve recently heard a few Schubert piano sonatas on the radio played by Mitsuko Uchida and Andras Schiff and I loved them. When I then listened to Uchida’s rendition of the Impromptus (and Lipatti’s, too) and Richter’s rendition of the Wanderer Fantasy, something clicked, or snapped, depending on your perspective, and now I simply must have most if not all of Schubert’s sonatas.

I was originally hot on the Schiff complete cycle but it is apparently out of print. I heard that there is going to be a budget re-release of Kempff’s full cycle released by DG soon. Anyone familiar with his playing of Schubert? Is the cycle worth it? (Without hearing it, but based on his other recordings, I’d say yes, but who knows? Not me.) Any other suggestions? I’m getting ready to binge, er, uh, responsibly purchase music and need some help on this one.

Posted on: 16 October 2000 by Former member

I have the complete Schiff set and I find it absolutely marvellous. I bought it only 2 months ago in London where it was readily available. I think he has a really deep understanding of the composer, and, using a Bosendorfer piano, rather than the usual Steinway, adds greatly to the mellow, lyrical nature of his interpretations.
Great, natural Decca sound too.

Cheers,

Kevin

Posted on: 16 October 2000 by Former member

The Kempff cycle has been re-released at budget price and is definitely worth owning (I have bits of it on CD and much of it on vinyl.) Kempff's Schubert is distinguished by his very light touch, and a sense of fantasy that suits these works very much. This cycle would be my first choice.

I also have all of Uchida's recordings in her Schubert cycle so far, and rate them very highly, although she does have a tendency to play the sonatas with a darker edge than is usual. Her D960 is superb.

I'm in two minds about Schiff's cycle. Sometimes I think his lack of artifice and the self-effacing quality of his playing are ideal for Schubert, but at other times I find his playing too bland and characterless, and without that "otherworldly" quality that appears so often in these works. Worth hearing, though.

Brendel's digital cycle is also very good, although he displays his usual quirky style of playing. There is a Phillips double CD containing the last three sonatas from Brendel's earlier, analogue set from the 70s, and I think this is marginally preferable to his later recordings.

I've heard various recordings of Richter's Schubert and, great pianist though he is, I've always felt he was never really convincing in Schubert.

Other recordings that I think are very good are Clifford Curzon's recordings, particularly his D960, Radu Lupu's discs on Decca, and Pollini's D958 and 959 (although his 960 is not as good). Stephen Kovacevich also gets rave reviews for his latest EMI cycle, but I prefer his earlier analogue recordings, which no longer seem to be available. His D960 on Hyperion (long deleted) is still my personal favourite, and possibly my favourite recording of anything.

Ross

Posted on: 17 October 2000 by Igor Zamberlan

Christian Zacharias almost complete cycle (it's complete by his standards, he skips all unfinished parts) which is available at the price of little more than one record (for five) through French dealers (it shouldn't be difficult to order it at Fnac).

Have to admit I prefer Kempff, though, by a small margin.

And you should have a look at Staiers' rendition on fortepiano of the last three ones on Teldec.

And there's also Badura Skoda with a well recorded complete cycle on fp (Arcana).

Too many choices, not enough time...

Igor

Posted on: 18 October 2000 by Stewart Cooper

Interested British readers might like to tune in to R3 at 8.45 this evening. Alessio Bax (this year's Leeds winner) is playing D784 at the QE Hall.

FWIW I felt that Severin von Eckardstein's interpretation of Prokofiev's G minor concerto was the performance of the competition - but there is little doubt that Bax's Brahms moved the Leeds audience. This evening's recital should be interesting.

Any other views on this year's competition?

Stewart o

Posted on: 18 October 2000 by Former member

I mentioned above that I've never really found Richter convincing in Schubert. I will now eat my words. Inspired by this thread I bought Richter's live 1979 recording of D625 and 664 from Royal Festival Hall on BBC. This is an exceptional performance.

Ross

Posted on: 30 October 2000 by Todd A

I bought Kempff's cycle on DG. My one word description from the new music post is insufficient. I'm having difficulty coming up with a proper set of superlatives for the music. Having listened to 4.5 of the 7 discs I simply cannot praise this set enough.

This begs the question: is it the music or Kempff's playing? The answer, of course, is both. Heavenly music played in a divine manner. Here is a cycle of sonatas to rival Beethoven's. Finally. Mozart, Haydn, Scriabin, Prokofiev - all have brilliant sonatas, but when one considers all of the sonatas together they all come up lacking next to Beethoven. And Schubert. Now I've heard select Schubert sonatas before, but it's not until I got to hear a broad cross-section of all of them that I began to appreciate just how wonderful these works are as a whole.

D960? D959? D845? Which is the best? Is it one of the others? The "unfinished" sonata, perhaps? No. They're all so good I cannot rank them yet. I'm still taking them in. One thing is certain: I will be buying multiple versions of most or all of these sonatas. I will buy Schiff's set when it's available in the States. I will buy some of Richter's recordings. Some of Uchida's and Schnabel's, too. I MUST have more. I must.

This is my disc / set of the year, hands down.

Posted on: 01 November 2000 by Former member

The Schubert disc that I seem to play most often is a Harmonica Mundi recording by Alain Planes.

Posted on: 06 November 2000 by Edot

When was the Kempff set released? I can't seem to find it in the states. I have his mono Beethoven box and just love it.

Posted on: 06 November 2000 by Todd A

I just bought it as a new release at Tower. Should be available at the major chains, just make sure to look in the new releases first. (I searched in vain in the Schubert section.)