This isn’t so much
"The Works" as "The Life",
illustrated by short music clips. Nonetheless,
it is an intriguing concept. The CDs
– four of them – are accompanied by
an interactive CD-ROM with plenty of
information. In other words, it’s a
book that talks, sings, plays music
and runs like a website. As such it’s
a good beginner’s guide, compact and
easy to use. It will appeal to the generation
brought up on information technology,
to whom books are a strange, archaic
means of communication. A good gift
for someone who might feel more comfortable
with a CD-ROM and be put off by a book.
Not only for teenagers but for adults
who might be intimidated by the "highbrow"
image of classical music. Naxos do their
marketing well and must know that this
is a huge, growing audience, perhaps
the future of classical music. This
set, and its companion volume, on Brahms,
will be on many shopping lists this
Christmas.
And an entertaining
introduction it is, too. Narrated by
Jeremy Siepmann, the writer and broadcaster,
it comprehensively covers Schubert’s
life. Quotations from letters and memoirs
of his time are read out, like a TV
documentary. Quotes in books don’t sound
quite the same! Schubert’s own "voice",
which is heard most frequently, is done
by the actor Tom George. Amusingly,
his voice is a high tenor, much like
Schubert’s own voice was. George doesn’t
sing, which is a pity because Schubert
did, but that would be stretching the
imagination too far. The narrative is
smooth and reasonably up to date, with
no contentious surprises. A bibliography
is given, too, to help the listener
who wants to learn more. This is set
out in conversational prose, describing
the recommended books in a straightforward
way. Since the narrative is based on
Schubert’s life and times, a good timeline
of events in his life and the world
around him is given. Understanding a
composer well does involve understanding
what made him, and how he stands in
relation to his times.
Even more usefully,
there is a glossary of musical terms
– something which many experienced listeners
could use, too. If new audiences are
to start out, it’s sensible to give
them a map for reference. This section
could prove to be the one most consulted
after the rest of the set is grown out
of. Because, pleasant as this set is,
it will be outgrown, hopefully, when
the listener moves on to the music itself.
The CD-ROM format, makes checking references
fairly simple. The full spoken text
is on the CD-ROM and on www.naxos.com/lifeandworks/schubert/spokentexts.
As music, however, the set is disappointing.
In four and a half hours there are thirty
one musical items ranging from 44 seconds
of a song to a whole eleven minutes
from Symphony No. 8. The writer says
"dismemberment" of the music
is "almost sacrilegious" but
that some might feel they "interrupt"
the "story". That’s a good
point. The extracts are enough to give
the listener a flavour, which he or
she can explore in much greater depth
with a good recording or visit to a
concert.
This leads to the next
stage. How does a listener go on? The
musical extracts are unfortunately pretty
poor – in one case, excruciatingly awful.
If a listener uses these as a guide
to further listening, they will not
get a fair idea of what Schubert’s music
really can be like. Nonetheless, it
would be far too much to ask of the
recording company to nominate recordings
other than their own. It is to Naxos’s
credit, therefore, that some of the
recordings cited come from their rival,
Hyperion, from Naïve and from Claves.
An alert listener will thus have a hint
that it might be a good idea to look
beyond the Naxos counter. There are
plenty of good Schubert recordings around.
No mention here, of course, of Brendel,
Pollini, or Uchida, and that’s just
the piano work.
The Naxos and Hyperion
Schubert series are quite different.
The Hyperion song series pioneered the
concept, and some early recordings feature
less than stellar performers. Some,
however, are among the best around and
very well regarded. Nonetheless, everything
is covered, even snatches of incomplete
works. The booklets alone are treasures
revered by people who know their Schubert
well. However, not everyone wants that
much depth, and the whole Hyperion series
of 45 full price CDs would be too expensive
for non-specialists. That is where the
Naxos series gets ahead. It’s much cheaper,
for one thing. Hyperion produces no
equivalent set like this Naxos set,
but they are appealing to very different
audiences. This set is as good a beginning
as any, especially if the gift package
contains a few other goodies like key
recordings. .
Anne Ozorio
Written and narrated by Jeremy Siepmann 
