This Bavarian Radio
production introduces another young
pianistic talent to the catalogue. David
Theodor Schmidt was born in 1982, and
made this recording in his home town
of Erlangen. The recorded sound is accurate,
clear and atmospheric, and brings out
his richly capable talent.
Of course the Bach
repertory is a crowded market place
among recorded performances. This recital
is imaginatively put together and gives
much pleasure, so it enters the market
place with head held high. Tempi are
well chosen in all the pieces both large
and small, and in any case the large
(the English Suite) is made of several
small movements in sequence.
The exception is the
1884 masterpiece by César Franck,
the Prélude, Chorale et Fugue,
since parts of this develop on a more
extended plan and in any case are designed
to form a single span of some twenty
minutes. For all the considerable difficulties
of this piece, Schmidt’s performance
is a triumph and the best thing on the
disc. He has power when required, but
sensitivity too, while the piano sound
is particularly sensitive and appealing
in this great but under-valued work.
As for various Bach
items, the pianism on display is that
of a real talent with an exciting future.
The English Suite is held together well
across its varying approaches and tempi,
and that variety is developed into its
very strength. The transcriptions make
an interesting collection but the performances
are more mixed. The highlights are probably
Busoni’s version of Nun freut ich and
Wilhelm Kempff’s of the dramatic sinfonia
from the cantata Wir danken dir, Gott.
The extrovert style and more epic scale
of these pieces suit Schmidt’s pianistic
style, whereas in the more intimate
numbers he plays the notes but does
not necessarily conjure the magic. The
balancing of melodic strands within
textures is not always completely convincing,
for example.
This German production
was no doubt intended primarily for
home consumption, since the music notes
are provided only in German, though
there is an artist biography in English
also. The notes are rather thin and
not at easy to read, being in small
print against a grey-designed background,
another case of a booklet putting the
‘design cart’ before the ‘information
horse’.
Terry Barfoot
David Theodor Schmidt (piano) 
