dba "Schubert in a happy place, part 2" [continued from "Schubert in a happy place: More on our mystery 'Con moto,' part 1"]
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D, D. 850 (Gastein):Historical Events
"New Faces of 1956" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 221 performances
Famous Birthdays
• Fred Funk, American golfer (The Tradition 2008, 10; US Senior Open 2009), born in Takoma Park, Maryland
• King Diamond [Kim Petersen], Danish heavy metal musician (Merciful Fate; King Diamond), born in Copenhagen, Denmark
• Sam Irvin, American director and producer (Guilty as Charged), born in Asheville, North Carolina-- with thanks to onthisday.com
ii. Con moto [With movement]
iv. Rondo: Allegro moderato
Sviatoslav Richter, piano. Praga, recorded live in the Rudolfinum, Prague, June 14, 1956
by Ken
No, on the evidence of Onthisday.com, June 14, 1956, doesn't seem to have been a day of great historical moment -- unless we count what we know happened in the Rudolfinum in Prague that day. I'd like to say "that evening," since it was after all a Thursday (finding out that it was a Thursday was what led me to Onthisday.com in the first place), and we can hear at the end that there was indeed an audience present, but can I say for sure that it happened in the evening?
As I've explained (see "What effect (if any) does this 32-second audio clip have for you?," Sept. 26, in which we heard four pianists play the movement, and that day's follow-up post, "Our four pianists revealed"), and last week's "Schubert in a happy place: more on our mystery 'Con moto,' part 1"), it was the Con moto from the Richter performance that day in Prague -- from which we've now heard the opening movement of the sonata as well -- that so forcefully grabbed hold of me and got me listening to and pondering the sonata.
WELCOME TO THE GASTEIN SOUNDWORLD!
LET'S PLUNGE RIGHT IN -- WE CAN CHAT LATER!
It's not just six different performances we have here. It almost sounds like six different pieces, doesn't it?
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D, D. 805 (Gastein):
i. Allegro [or "Allegro vivace"? -- see the Wikipedia note below]
[Score excerpts and movement notes from Wikipedia]
4/4, D major. The autograph has alla breve Allegro while the first edition (published during Schubert's lifetime and thus probably a revision) gives common-time Allegro vivace -- this is uncharacteristically quick for a Schubert allegro, a marking he often qualified with moderato. The first movement is unrelentingly energetic, ranging from ebullient to stormy to triumphant. A fanfare-like introduction introduces the primary thematic material featured in this movement and ultimately throughout the sonata. In a characteristic Schubertian gesture, this theme is immediately repeated in the minor - also typical is the modulation through remote keys as the exposition is spun out. The cheerful second subject, with its vacillating high-low pattern, is reminiscent of yodeling. This theme is also similar to the opening of the Lied "Das Heimweh" ("Homesickness"), composed at the same time. The development section features a grandiose chordal fanfare theme based on the first subject, also used in the coda closing the movement. Some of the most challenging writing in Schubert's solo piano oeuvre is found here, with the relentless triplets providing opportunity for virtuosic display.First, a couple of "mid"-tempo performances
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano. Decca, recorded in All Saints' Church, Petersham (Surrey), England, Apr. 26, 1975
Emil Gilels, piano. RCA, recorded in Town Hall, New York City, Jan. 16 and 20, 1960
Now a couple of "quick" performances
Sviatoslav Richter, piano. Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga (MK), recorded (live?) in Moscow, Aug. 11, 1956
[no exposition repeat] Clifford Curzon, piano. Decca, recorded in the Sofiensaal, Vienna, January 1964
And finally, a couple of "gradual" ones
Wilhelm Kempff, piano. DG, recorded in the Beethovensaal, Hannover, August 1968
Walter Klien, piano. Vox, recorded in the early 1970s
Maybe it's just me, but this seems a strange soundscape that Schubert presents to us to open this grand-scale sonata of his, starting with that proclamatory opening figure, with its four-repeated-eighth-note-chord upbeats leading into those deadly downbeats, interspersed with finger-twisting passagework. Schubert could do "proclamatory," though it wasn't his strongest suit. This version seems to me to really tax the performer to keep this opening section from sounding like a child alternately banging and running its little fingers wildly over the keyboard.As a couple of the performances we're going to hear show us (hint: their initials might be V.A. and W.K.), it actually is possible to play this quite beautifully without seeming really to have "solved" it, in the sense of making much sense of it.
REST OF THE DISCUSSION OF THIS MOVEMENT
(AND THE PERFORMANCES) STILL TO COME
BEFORE WE PROCEED, WHAT DO YOU NOTICE ABOUT
THE BALANCE AMONG THE SONATA'S FOUR MOVEMENTS?
These are the performances I either had at hand or was able to gather for the occasion, so they aren't necessarily representative of anything. But it does seem clear that the second-movement Con moto, has a position of prominenece that rises to something like dominance in a few performances, notably the two Richters the Curzon, the Gilels, and of course the two Richters -- about which more later).
NOTE: FOR THE REMAINING MOVEMENTS THE
COMMENTARY, SUCH AS IT IS, IS STILL TO COME
But we've got a bunch of performances in place -- which may or may not be the ones that wind up in the actual post when it happens. But they should be fine for listening now, keeping mind our exploration of the soundworlds of the Gastein Sonata. I'm pretty sure, though, that the two complete performances we've got at the end are still going to be at the end when we, you know, reach the end.
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D, D. 805 (Gastein):
ii. Con moto [With movement]
3/4, A major. ABABA form. Like the first movement, the second movement is unusual in its quickness, signified by the unique tempo marking. A driving pulse written into the phrasing augments an otherwise wistful melody in the A section. The bold, expansive B section features a novel syncopated dotted rhythm that produces stops and starts of momentum and is used to dramatic effect. Several recitatives and meditative digressions punctuate the piece, which has a sophisticated texture and inventive writing in general. The syncopated rhythm of theme B is merged with theme A for its final appearance, and the movement dies off with a brief and shadowy outro.
Clifford Curzon, piano. Decca, recorded in the Sofiensaal, Vienna, January 1964
Sviatoslav Richter, piano. Praga, recorded live in the Rudolfinum, Prague, June 14, 1956
Sviatoslav Richter, piano. Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga (MK), recorded (live?) in Moscow, Aug. 11, 1956
Emil Gilels, piano. RCA, recorded in Town Hall, New York City, Jan. 16 and 20, 1960
Walter Klien, piano. Vox, recorded in the early 1970s
HINT: Inclusion does not necessarily indicate endorsement. There is, for example, a reason why the two Richter performances, recorded less than two months apart, are here. They're outwardly pretty similar, I guess, but I don't hear them at all the same way. How about you? (Put this on the list of things we still have to talk about.)
iii. Scherzo: Allegro [or "Allegro vivace"?]
3/4, D major, Trio in G major. In the athletic Scherzo, Schubert expands a jaunty dotted-note idea to its limits, with thick chordal writing and frequent abrupt changes of register, texture, and key. Hemiola is used extensively - a strong 3/2 pulse pervades the 3/4 Scherzo. The stately trio, with its even, lyrical repeated chords and distant modulations, contrasts considerably with the kinetic music surrounding it.
Artur Schnabel, piano. EMI, recorded in Abbey Road Studios, London, Jan. 26-27, 1939
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano. Decca, recorded in All Saints' Church, Petersham (Surrey), England, Apr. 26, 1975
Walter Klien, piano. Vox, recorded in the early 1970s
iv. Rondo: Allegro moderato
4/4, D major. ABACA form. The playful and innocent march-like rondo theme, repeated twice with increasing rhythmic subdivision and decoration, is punctuated by two contrasting episodes, each with their own stormy central sections. The B episode features quick scales passed between the hands as a simple staccato phrase is developed. The C episode features a lyrical repeated chord theme that digresses into a dramatic minor section. After the last highly ornamented statement of the rondo theme, a valedictory coda brings the work to a quiet and understated close.
Sviatoslav Richter, piano. Praga, recorded live in the Rudolfinum, Prague, June 14, 1956
Clifford Curzon, piano. Decca, recorded in the Sofiensaal, Vienna, January 1964
Wilhelm Kempff, piano. DG, recorded in the Beethovensaal, Hannover, August 1968
NOW THERE'S A COMPLICATION --
While it probably isn't clear at this stage of post construction, I've found myself strongly attracted to the Gastein recording Emil Gilels made for RCA in New York in 1960. And then for some reason I found myself digging out Harris Goldsmith's High Fidelity review of it, from the Records in Review books published annually in those years containing the last year's worth of HF reviews.
How to sum up in a few sentences Harris Goldsmith (1935-2014) and what his vast store of musical knowledge meant to me back in the day -- and to this day? I had been reading H.G. in High Fidelity for years, my formative musical years, before I had any connection to the magazine, where he could have handled pretty much any record that might have been sent his way but mostly wrote about much of the core Classical and Romantic repertory. He had a stupefying store of musical knowledge in his head, and a sensibility and sensitivity, not to mention incorruptibility, that set him apart from most mortals. And, oh yes, he was a terrific pianist -- at some point we should listen to some of his records. It was always a special treat to hear the kinds of issues he dealt with regularly regarding music and performance come to such vivid life in his playing.
And my goodness, how much I learned from him! This was the case before I knew him, and became even more the case when I became his editor, and friend, at High Fidelity. How much I trusted not just his knowledge but his judgment! So when it comes to a piece like Schubert's D. 580, which I don't know all that well to begin with, the review you're about to read stopped me in my tracks with the overall shape of this piece pretty well formed. I didn't have much trouble standing my ground with Harris when it came to Gilbert and Sullivan. Of course he knew every damned G&S recording, but he liked many of the crappy croaky ones that I hate, and he didn't begin to appreciate the really good ones. However, when it comes to a major Schubert piano sonata. . . .
I finally decided that the way forward was to just keep moving forward, but now taking into account the position H.G. staked out here. And I invite you to do the same, after reading this unauthorized reproduction of the review in question. I should probably have searched out H.G. reviews of the later recordings of D.850 we're hearing. I just wasn't up to it. But here's what he had to say about the Gilels D. 850.
As it happens, I wound up including the Schnabel performance of the Scherzo, which I really like -- and might yet include his Rondo. FYI: At the end of this post we're going to have the complete Schnabel recording, and the 1956 Richter-Prague Gastein as well.
HARRIS GOLDSMITH ON THE GILELS-RCA SCHUBERT D. 850
SCHUBERT: Sonata for Piano, No. 17, in D, Op. 53. Emil Gilels, piano. RCA Victor LM/LSC 2493
This generation is faced with a real dilemma, musically speaking: although present-day performers have to a large degree repressed the emotional excesses favored by their predecessors, few of them have yet acquired the musical erudition which enables them to function with ease and authority in classical music. Here, for instance, Emil Gilels -- who can make a splendid effect in a Prokofiev Toccata -- flounders apologetically in the more subtle ideas so eloquently expressed in this Schubert piece.
The opening movement, as heard in this recording, is a series of carefully efficient scales. Gilels produces a neutral, colorless piano in the slow movement song, and the stormy fortissimo climax in the middle sounds thwarted. The interpretation throughout has none of the exciting life and analytical punctuation which Schnabel brought to the Sonata in his memorable 78-rpm edition. The phrase shapes are obscure as Gilels states them, and dynamic contrasts (even extreme ones of piano and fortissimo) are often nil. To be sure, Schnabel's technical equipment was not the secure thing that the Gilels mechanism is, as the rushed passages in the finale, the distorted dotted rhythm of the scherzo, and other eccentricities of his version bear testimony. But these not inconsiderable defects also emanated in part from Schnabel's penetrating awareness of the riches this wonderful music contains and from his eagerness to communicate them to the listener. Gilels's fluent execution, in contrast, seems to me without charm, without passion, and without humor.
Until we have the Schnabel reading reissued in Angel's "Great Recordings of the Century" series, Richter's sunny, elegant version for Monitor and Wührer's forthright one for Vox will serve very nicely to remind us that Schubert was no eunuch. -- H.G.
(High Fidelity magazine, 1961)
NOW, AS PROMISED, OUR TWO COMPLETE PERFORMANCES
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D, D. 805 (Gastein):
i. Allegro [or "Allegro vivace"?]
ii. Con moto (With movement)
iii. Scherzo: Allegro [or "Allegro vivace"?]
iv. Rondo: Allegro moderato
[ii. at 8:34; iii. at 21:58; iv. at 30:03] Artur Schnabel, piano. EMI, recorded in Abbey Road Studios, London, Jan. 26-27, 1939
[ii. at 7:48; iii. at 23:23; iv. at 31:59] Sviatoslav Richter, piano. Praga, recorded live in Prague, June 14, 1956
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