Schubert Fantasy, D760. Schumann Fantasie, Op. 17
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann
Label: Sony Classical
Magazine Review Date: 12/1986
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: MK42124
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Fantasy, 'Wandererfantasie' |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Murray Perahia, Piano |
| Fantasie |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Murray Perahia, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer |
Author: Christopher Headington
Pre-echo, on the LP, was a surprise at the start of this Wanderer Fantasy, and so was the sudden drop in tone and slackening of rhythm at bar 18—of course, Perahia is observing Schubert's pianissimo here, but how to do that while preserving the just-established Allegro con fuoco mood and momentum is a problem that he has not solved. In addition I feel that his admirable command of tone and dynamics has not been well served by the recording engineers here, for the sound is recessed and much of the gentler music is rather thin (though the excellent CD suffers from no such shortcomings). This is a real weakness at the start of the Adagio, where we need more body and tonal warmth, and generally it is a fault that cannot be overlooked. The final fugue too needs a richer and more massive sonority than that offered by the LP. There are different views about satisfactory piano sound and certainly no one who follows Perahia's recording career should be put off, since the playing itself has unfailing shape and distinction, but I would be wrong not to voice a caveat. Pollini on DG too is strong and sensitive, but his sound, at least in the cassette version to which I have been listening, is also disappointing, and for much the same reasons: it lacks body and presence.
The Schumann Fantasia predictably draws from Perahia a supple and subtle response, but one wishes that the long-phrased soaring melody of its first movement could sing more richly still, and I still feel some lack of drive compared with Pollini, as well as a need for a greater tonal brilliance and fullness, e.g. in the climactic ff movements of the C minor middle section in this movement and the Maestoso sempre con energia. The recording of the Schumann is better than that of the Schubert, and some very small print on the sleeve tells us that it was made in another location with a partially different recording team and different microphones. In all, one wishes that Perahia had been better served here in terms of sound, and the surfaces are not silent. But the quality of his playing makes the record unquestionably worth having particularly in its fine CD format. Pollini offers splendid authority and depth in the Schumann Fantasia, but once again the sound (from 1974) is shallow, and disappointing judged by the best modern standards.'
The Schumann Fantasia predictably draws from Perahia a supple and subtle response, but one wishes that the long-phrased soaring melody of its first movement could sing more richly still, and I still feel some lack of drive compared with Pollini, as well as a need for a greater tonal brilliance and fullness, e.g. in the climactic ff movements of the C minor middle section in this movement and the Maestoso sempre con energia. The recording of the Schumann is better than that of the Schubert, and some very small print on the sleeve tells us that it was made in another location with a partially different recording team and different microphones. In all, one wishes that Perahia had been better served here in terms of sound, and the surfaces are not silent. But the quality of his playing makes the record unquestionably worth having particularly in its fine CD format. Pollini offers splendid authority and depth in the Schumann Fantasia, but once again the sound (from 1974) is shallow, and disappointing judged by the best modern standards.'
Schubert Fantasy, D760. Schumann Fantasie, Op. 17
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