Bernard Roberts is
currently a teacher in the Keyboard
Department of Chetham’s School of Music.
This recital was part of the Fifth Chetham’s
International Summer School and Festival
for Pianists in 2005. The programme
booklet states that all of the profits
from the sales of this CD will be donated
to the Keyboard Department at Chetham’s,
so with a ‘value added’ aspect to this
issue buyers can become part of a rapidly
growing and increasingly recognised
educational enterprise and festival.
Having just finished
listening to Alfred Brendel’s new Philips
live Schubert set review,
I was more than happy to continue my
total Schubert immersion with the main
work on this disc, the Sonata D959.
With Brendel consistently brisk and
compact in his tempi, I wasn’t surprised
to find Roberts a little longer in the
opening Allegro. The other movements
have similar timings, and in the final
Rondo he actually comes in a
good minute and a half shorter than
Brendel. The Chetham’s audience is very
well behaved, and hardly noticeable
throughout the recording. The piano
sound is also good, though the programme
notes admit to ‘certain constraints
on microphone placement’ which amounts
to an apparent narrowing of the stereo
image. I personally don’t find this
much of a problem. It is however very
much a ‘live’ performance, with a fair
clutch of little slips here and there.
The photo on the back of the booklet
reveals that Roberts is not playing
from memory – something about which
I have no opinion one way or another.
Like all great performers, Roberts’
communication of the music is far more
important than the occasional technical
blemish, and there is much fine playing
here. Most impressive for me is the
slow Andantino, from which Roberts
manages to tease about as much tear-jerking
tragedy out of the music as seems possible.
By contrast his Scherzo is wittily
playful, with little nuances of rubato
which keep the listener on the edge
of his or her seat.
The great D959 is framed
on this disc by some of Beethoven’s
lighter compositions for piano solo.
The Rondo Op.51 has a lyrical expressiveness
in which Roberts makes most of the Cantabile
marking. His phrasing allows Beethoven’s
beguiling simplicity in this work speak
for itself, reminding me that I have
neglected his complete Beethoven Sonatas
(Nimbus) for too long. The two Bagatelles
with which the programme is concluded
show how Beethoven was able to turn
his hand to simple pieces playable by
almost anyone. The improbably short
Op.119 No.10 acts as a witty little
coda to the fairly serious No.4, which
Roberts plays with transparency and
charm.
This CD is as fine
a souvenir of a splendid musical event
as one could wish for. The recording
is good enough, the programme is attractive
and entertaining, and the playing is
honest and expressive. As a distinguished
British ambassador for the piano Bernard
Roberts has his own following: fans,
students and collectors need not hesitate
in adding this recital disc to their
collections.
Dominy Clements
SCHUBERT Bernard Roberts(piano) 
