Search - Schnabel :: Artur Schnabel Beethoven Klaviersonaten

Great Performances, Nice Price!

A. Grasso | Cleveland, OH, USA | 12/16/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was fairly familiar with the performance style of Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) prior to purchasing this recording. My small collection included his Schubert impromptus and several sonatas, a few Mozart concertos, the Brahms piano concerto #1 with Szell, and assorted Bach pieces. Others have waxed eloquently elsewhere about the aspects of his playing, so I will let you read their lengthy comments. Better yet, just LISTEN to some Schnabel, if you haven't already!



Although I can't really do it justice, I'll briefly summarize Schnabel's style. He gives a very personal interpretation of everything he plays. When you hear him, it's clearly Schnabel's Beethoven or Schnabel's Schubert or Schnabel's Brahms...not an attempt to historically recreate what the composer himself may have wanted. In a way, Schnabel is diameterically opposed to the HIP (Historically-Informed Performance) crowd.



In terms of fingering style, legato predominates over staccato to a great extent, rapid tempo changes are commonplace, and the rubato playing is stupendous. Some have commented in the past about technical deficiencies, such as slip-ups during challenging passages...I have to say that in these 1930's performances I don't hear many. If you listen to live performances towards the end of his career, you'll hear a few more botched notes.



So, he certainly isn't a Michelangeli (another pianist I respect greatly) in terms of absolute perfection of style and technique. What you get with Schnabel is an incredibly personal view of the music, persuasive and emotional in its delivery, intellectual and refined yet at the same time accessible, who plumbs the depths of a master like Beethoven like you've never heard before.



This particular collection is a reissue of the recordings Schnabel made for the English recording company HMV between the years of 1932-1935. This output initially totalled one-hundred 78 rpm records ("two-hundred sides"). It has never been out of print because of its incredible artistic value. The fact that it has continued to sell well probably hasn't hurt either! Previous incarnations have been found on Pearl, Dante, EMI, and now, Naxos Historical. I won't claim that this issue from Membran Music/Documents, apparently a German company, is better in sound quality than the others. In fact, I'd probably appreciate a little less noise reduction and more hiss, so I could appreciate the piano's tonal quality a bit more (hence, the 4 stars). However, after hearing the first of these discs, I can tell you that they are eminently listenable. Obviously, this ain't the digitally-recorded sound of Yevgeny Kissin playing in Carnegie Hall, but you can appreciate full-force the artistic genius of Schnabel.



I highly recommend this set, which is currently going for the ridiculously-low price (although I hope it stays that way...) of $16.99 for 10 CD's. Anyone who wants to hear the apex of Classical piano playing should give it a try.



Best regards, and Happy Holidays,



Adam







"

Great performance, bad sound.

What's in a name? | Washington, D.C. | 10/18/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"5 stars for performance

1 star for sound

5 stars for value (at "

Unacceptable sound, even for the price

John Grabowski | USA | 01/27/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"There's no point in reviewing the music in the present release. It would be like reviewing Star Wars--you either already know it and love it or in the unlikely event you don't know it you can easily find info elsewhere. The issue here is how good is the sound for the price? And the answer is not very. Even at such a discount, this is inexcusable sound. Unfortunately, a quick look reveals the French Dante set, an even better bargain, is now out of print, at least in the US. That incarnation also contains multiple versions of the five concertos, and other short piano pieces such as the Op. 77 Fantasy, Fur Elise, the Eroicas and Diabellis, so you get more music for the buck too, if you can find it. (I'd try overseas sources--even with shipping it would probably be a great buy.) If you want to really spring you can get the Naxos separate releases, which are in even better sound, or look for the old Pearl recordings used, which are in even better sound still. These latter alternatives will be pricy and will require legwork to find, but even if you just want convenience in acceptable sound, the Dante, and not this horrid set, is the way to go. Avoid this one at all costs.

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