Schubert’s late piano
sonatas are amongst the greatest of
his works and, in my view, are the only
ones that rank alongside Beethoven’s
contribution to the genre. Several great
pianists of the 20th century
recorded these works. The complement
includes Kempff and Brendel and there
is plenty of competition including more
recent recordings by Schiff and Perahia.
Most of these come either as part of
a set or in pairs of sonatas but there
are some instances where more innovative
juxtapositions have been made. An example
is to be found in Leif Ove Andsnes’s
recent versions of the 17th
and 20th sonatas which are
both coupled with Schubert lieder. In
Wu Han’s case we have the central work
of the trilogy of sonatas written just
weeks before Schubert’s death coupled
with the Arpeggione Sonata, written
four years earlier and played on the
cello. Your view on such a pairing may
well depend on which discs of Schubert
you already have. A record such as this
could nicely fill a gap ... or not.
Aside from "collecting" considerations
though, this is an appropriate pairing
which works well; both works having
A as the tonic.
The ArtistLed label
"evolved out of the desire of two
musicians (Wu Han and David Finckel)
to produce recordings in an environment
free of constraints". Effectively
this means that they are both producers
and performers and, as far as I could
tell, this works perfectly well. The
sound is natural and well-balanced,
and the presentation of the disc is
excellent, particularly the "listening
guide". This takes you through
the works pointing out the structure
and key moments (with timings), and
is analogous to what you get with some
operas instead of a libretto. The booklet
is attractively illustrated and also
contains an essay on ‘Schubert and melody’.
The performers/producers are too modest
to tell us anything about themselves
(although biographies can easily be
found on their website). So the disc
looks a good proposition but what of
the performances?
Wu Han plays the D.959
Sonata with great conviction and takes
no liberties with the score. She is
equally alive to both the lyrical and
darker elements of the work. In the
first movement she plays the exposition
repeat, which is often omitted on disc
and seems to be important structurally
(otherwise the last movement will be
longer than the first). This is a performance
that captures both the spirit of each
movement and sweep of the whole work.
Before I heard it I thought that this
sonata’s successor (No 21 in B flat
D.960) was a greater work; now I am
not so sure.
Having greatly enjoyed
Wu Han’s performance, I dug out some
competition in the form of Kempff (1968),
Tirimo (1996) and Brendel (a live recording
from Snape in 1999). Perhaps not surprisingly,
the sound is markedly preferable on
this new record to all the others (sadly,
Tirimo’s disc has a particularly unflattering
acoustic). Brendel and Kempff both provide
many interpretative insights but there
are downsides (for example the slow
tempo of Kempff’s scherzo just doesn’t
sound right) and, overall, I prefer
the less interventionist approach of
Wu Han and Tirimo.
There are also plenty
of alternative versions of the Arpeggione
Sonata and here the competition includes
Rostropovich and Britten recorded in
excellent sound in 1968. But it’s the
same story again with Rostropovich seeming
"larger than life"; Finckel’s
more reticent approach seems to serve
this music better. The veiled tone he
adopts in the slow movement provides
for an appropriately rapt atmosphere
and the transition into the finale is
beautifully executed. Wu Han’s contribution
is both important and highly sympathetic.
This is a most successful
disc – if you are looking for these
two works, don’t hesitate. Even if you
have other versions, it should not be
ignored. Looking at ArtistLed’s catalogue
and aspirations, I was unsure whether
or not more Schubert might be forthcoming
but I hope so.
Patrick C Waller
Wu Han (Piano) 