Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Mitsuko Uchida :: Schubert: Piano Sonatas D.958 & D.959

Poetic - but too much so?

Alan Lekan | Boulder, CO | 01/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here are two of the monumental late-great piano sonatas by Schubert (the other being No. 21 D960) by one of today's outstanding pianists, Mitsuko Uchida. These grand conceptions are treasures in the piano literature, largely due to their beguiling melodies, effortless flow and powerful tinges of tragedy. The A major D959 is probably the most popular with the public - with the last work D960 not too far behind - but the C-minor is also a work of epic qualities.



There are many fine recordings of Schubert's piano sonatas which would include Schnabel, Lupu, Brendel, Kempff, Schiff and many others. All are legendary and offer musical insights and delights. When the choices are so good, it really comes down to what nuances and emotive qualities the performer imparts that most capture your heart and soul. And concerning this aspect, Mitsuko Uchida is well known for her "heartfelt" approach to her readings and these works are no exception.



In another review of Schubert's Sonatas by Uchida, Amazon lead reviewer Edith Eisler described Uchida's Schubert style quite accurately I felt. It is a style and approach one hears immediately, but a style with qualities that Eisler failed to realize are exactly why many love Uchida's pianism. Regardless, you can be your own judge of how it strikes you, but I feel her description was well stated and applied to the cycle in general ... "Uchida's interpretation is interesting and highly personal, but rather puzzling. She takes considerable liberties with tempo and dynamics, lingering over details, slowing down to end phrases, hesitating on upbeats. This makes her playing subtle, delicate, and poetic, but also fussy and exaggerated; the expressiveness sounds manipulated, the music loses its pulse, flow, and natural simplicity and is never allowed to speak for itself."



I have to agree with her on this when comparing to other performances, such as Alfred Brendel's Philips' DUO recording. While poetic and beautiful Mitsuko Uchida's pauses, slight shifts and overall rubato in works like the lyrical A major seems to disrupt the flow somewhat and draw attention to such personal nuances of expression rather than the overall progression of the musical story. But it is artistic nevertheless, and such things I conclude are really a matter of one's personal taste and what really penetrates into your being and resonates when listening to these works. Personally, I prefer Brendel's approach but I can also appreciate why many adore Uchida's music. Her expressivity is deep, enchanting and captivating - but may not be to everyone's liking. However, two cycles that have much less dispute overall - and where her magnificance is almost without critique - are the Mozart Piano Sonatas (Philips, 5 CD set) and the Debussy Etudes."

(+)Fine indeed, though not right at the top.

A. F. S. Mui | HK | 07/07/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I tend to agree with those reviewers who passed medium high marks for this recording.

Uchida has a good concept of the classical style. She is fully capable of giving dues to the composer's creation without excesses and with due expressiveness. You would not go amiss listening to Uchida's renditions.

Being a lady pianist (and an Asian lady), Uchida stands amongst the foremost of her genre, especially in the classical period compositions.

Her readings of these two late Schubert sonatas are not Apollonian, but it is not truely poetic, either. Uchida seems to have focused on the bare basics without extraneous trimmings, and the tempi are all natural and flow freely and evenly, as are apt in Schubert's music. What matters to the listeners as quibbles, however, are that her touching is more often than not too 'hard-cored', the keys being pressed to a harsh end in many of the more strenuous passages, hampering the overall mood of the passages in question in some cases. This hard-cored touching might do fine for Beethoven or Schumann, but alas, not for Mozart, let alone Schubert. And Uchida is not one jot aided by the recorded sound of Philips in this recording."