Schubert Fantasies
A superb coupling of Schubert's unsettling Wandererfantasie for solo piano and his violin-and-piano Fantasie, which finds this husband-and-wife team in outstanding musical harmony. A winner
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Franz Schubert
Genre:
Chamber
Label: ECM New Series
Magazine Review Date: 6/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 50
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 464 320-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Fantasie |
Franz Schubert, Composer
András Schiff, Piano Franz Schubert, Composer Yuuko Shiokawa, Violin |
| Fantasy, 'Wandererfantasie' |
Franz Schubert, Composer
András Schiff, Piano Franz Schubert, Composer |
Author: DuncanDruce
Nearly all Schubert's great instrumental works maintain the classical four-movement layout: by the 1820s his mastery in handling and extending these designs was only shared by Beethoven. But he did turn occasionally to the fashionable, looser, fantasia-style forms - in the case of the Wanderer- fantasie, one of his most disturbing works, he seems to be using his structural know-how in order to subvert the expectations of classical form. Andras Schiff vividly brings out the switches between classical poise, intensely romantic mood-painting and near-expressionistic disruption; the key, I think, lies in the way he doesn't exaggerate any contrast, but makes each detail tell, so that the full range of the piece can be heard. One shouldn't underestimate the technical achievement - the lead-in to the adagio section is a perfect demonstration of a gradual diminuendo, of energy falling away, and when the Adagio arrives the chordal playing is superb - the melodic line perfectly balanced by the dark, melancholic colours in the bass.
Balance and lack of exaggeration inform the D934 Fantasie, too. From the start, when Shiokawa steals in above the piano tremolando, there's an air of magic. Her fine, silvery tone only rarely expands to a richer or more dramatic utterance, but her care not to overplay actually adds to the rich impression the performance gives. Whereas Kremer and Afanassiev present the central variation set as a brilliant showpiece, Schiff and Shiokawa paint a more varied picture - drama and virtuosity alternating with delicacy and touches of lyrical tenderness. In short, interpretations of rare penetration and individuality: a must for the Schubert section in your collection.
'
Balance and lack of exaggeration inform the D934 Fantasie, too. From the start, when Shiokawa steals in above the piano tremolando, there's an air of magic. Her fine, silvery tone only rarely expands to a richer or more dramatic utterance, but her care not to overplay actually adds to the rich impression the performance gives. Whereas Kremer and Afanassiev present the central variation set as a brilliant showpiece, Schiff and Shiokawa paint a more varied picture - drama and virtuosity alternating with delicacy and touches of lyrical tenderness. In short, interpretations of rare penetration and individuality: a must for the Schubert section in your collection.
'
Schubert Fantasies
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