After recording all
of the Beethoven Sonatas Artur Schnabel
went on to make recordings of other
selected pieces. The works on this disc,
volume 10 in Naxos’s re-issue of the
complete Beethoven Society recordings,
fall into two categories: those pieces
written for amateurs and those in which
Beethoven deliberately sought to expand
the limits of the classical repertoire.
The earliest piece
here is the Rondo in A major, WoO
49 which Beethoven composed at the
age of twelve. The similarly modest
Minuet in E flat, WoO 82 dates
from 1805 when Beethoven was 35. Three
years earlier, he had composed a number
of works for piano including the Bagatelles,
Op. 33. These are his first significant
works aimed at amateurs; they are charming,
containing much of interest despite
Beethoven’s concern to keep the piano
part within the limits of amateur ability.
Inevitably, these are very much classical
works, with no feel of the composer
straining at the bounds of what was
possible or indeed allowable.
Schnabel gives no feeling
of condescension in his playing of these
pieces; he takes each seriously on its
merits and provides performances of
great style and musicality. The music
is given space. There is no feeling
of the music being dashed off in an
impatience to get to something a little
more substantial, but neither does he
over-weight the music. I can think of
no better introduction to these charming
pieces.
In the Six Variations
on an Original Theme in F major, Op.
34 and the Variations and Fugue
in E flat, Op. 35 (‘Eroica’) Beethoven
deliberately set out to expand the Classical
methods of variation form. These are
his first substantial sets of piano
variations and were composed in the
same year as the Bagatelles.
In the Op. 34 variations, Beethoven
uses a novel key schema, progressing
downward in thirds from the F major
of the theme. The Op. 35 variations
are something larger and more ambitious;
the set served as the model for the
finale of the Eroica symphony
and so became known as the Eroica
Variations. Schnabel is on form
in both; always fresh and spontaneous,
though I must admit that his technique
could be a little wayward. That said,
he contributes some brilliantly sparkling
virtuosity in the Eroica Variations
and you never feel that he is opting
for safety over depth of expression.
His account of the Eroica Variations
is remarkably fleet, with only occasional
moments of over-weighty drama.
The disc concludes
with two further pieces. The Fantasia
in G minor, Op. 77 gives a glimpse
of Beethoven the improviser, simply
sitting down at the piano and entrancing
his audience. It is exactly the sort
of piece to bring out the free and spontaneous
nature of Schnabel’s art. The final
work is another bagatelle, the Bagatelle
in A minor, WoO 59, written
in 1810 for his pupil Therese Malfatti
(with whom he was in love). Inscribed
simply Für Therese, a misunderstanding
has lead to it being called Für
Elise, one of Beethoven’s best-known
and loveliest small pieces.
Mark Obert-Thorn has
done a good job in re-mastering these
recordings and for much of the time
the sound is more than acceptable. You
feel Schnabel’s real presence and there
are few moments when excuses need to
be made for the recording process. There
was however something of a slight aura
about the recordings. Whether it is
in the re-mastering, the original recording
or simply problems with the piano(s)
that Schnabel uses, I don’t know, but
at the upper and lower reaches of the
piano the sound hints at a piano not
quite as in tune as it should be. There
again, that might be me being hyper-sensitive.
Robert Hugill
Artur Schnabel (Piano) 
