While this release
will be leapt upon by Schubert scholars
the world over for Brian Newbould’s
completion of Schubert’s D840 Sonata,
my initial response was one of delight
in both the quality of the playing and
that of the recording.
Todd Crow has made
acclaimed appearances in the US and
Europe, but this is the first time I’ve
encountered his name on CD, and his
playing is well up with the rest in
my rag-bag of Schubert piano sonatas
collected over the years. These include
the majestic Mitsuko Uchida, the live
and vibrant Alfred Brendel and, in D840
the improbably eccentric Sviatoslav
Richter, all on Philips. Crow is the
equal to all-comers, and while there
may be a touch more legato here and
a shade more poetic expression there
in some of the competitors, I admire
Crow’s sense of drama in this ‘Relic’,
and his unpretentious approach to some
of Schubert’s scattier passages. He
plays them as written, makes no apologies,
and imposes no reverential aura of mystery
where none is due.
One of the nice things
about hearing the Sonata D840
in this completion is that we get to
hear the third and fourth movements
at all. Most pianists tend to stick
to the 25 minutes or so of the completed
first two movements, and so we rarely
hear the extraordinary Menuetto
or the final, deceptively titled Rondo.
Brian Newbould has written the excellent
booklet notes to this CD, and explains
the problems and solutions to completing
the unfinished fragments. Detailed technical
arguments aside, the joins are as good
as seamless. Newbould takes the reasonably
safe route of re-hashing Schubert’s
own material as much as possible by
making the conclusion of the Menuetto
a near palindrome of the first half,
and this works very well indeed – straight
through the Trio which Schubert did
complete, and reprised according to
the style of the day. The final Rondo
gives a more open problem, finishing
after only 300 bars in a swift 2/4 movement,
and then leaving the question as to
how long to go on: the further one goes,
the less there is of original Schubert,
but maintaining Schubertian proportions
means a certain amount of substance,
otherwise you are left with a truncated
and malformed musical morsel. Several
of Schubert’s other sonatas are also
unfinished, but break off just after
the end of the development, leaving
just the recapitulation, which autograph
manuscripts and comparison with completed
works show would have differed little
from the original exposition. Cutting
the repeat of the first section in performance
helps, but Newbould has still had to
add more than 6 minutes of music. His
contribution starts at 4:12, and the
total movement timing is 10:52. I’m
sure there will be arguments for and
against, and I read with interest the
opinion of Paul Badura-Skoda in the
1979 Henle edition, that "Schubert’s
self-criticism ought to be respected,
and this movement should be left out
of public performances." My unscholarly
opinion is that it sounds pretty good,
and can now be left in.
The other main Schubert
work on this disc is the Thirteen
Variations on a Theme of Anselm Hüttenbrenner
D576, the theme being taken from
that composer’s String Quartet in E
Op.1. Both the rhythm of the theme and
its key, A minor, are shared by the
famous slow movement in Beethoven’s
seventh symphony, and the conjecture
is that this might have been Schubert’s
way of expressing his affection for
that work without resorting to direct
reference and overt flattery. In any
case, this is a fascinating set of variations
which explores a wide variety of pianistic
and musical textures and contrasts.
The circle which is
referred to in the title of this disc
is that of the brothers Hüttenbrenner,
Anselm and Josef. They were natives
of Graz and friends of Schubert, the
younger, Josef, furthering his interests
by acting as an intermediary on Schubert’s
behalf with publishers and promoters,
also writing piano duet transcriptions
of some of his orchestral works. Anselm
Hüttenbrenner’s Sonata in E
major Op.16 is lighter in texture
and content to most of Schubert’s sonatas,
but has plenty of lyrical charm. There
are some fascinating echoes of ‘almost’
Schubert such as the opening of the
second Adagio movement, and an
exciting moto perpetuo movement
in the final Allegro assai. Josef
Hüttenbrenner’s Tanz der Furien
is great fun, exhibiting a whole washing
list of stereotypical dramatic devices
in order to conjure up a demonic atmosphere
over its brief but energetic duration.
The inclusion of Schubert’s Deutscher
D643 dance is a logical pairing,
since both works appear in a fascinating
manuscript on which both works appear
on either side of the paper in the composers’
own respective handwriting.
While the D840 Sonata
and its completion is the main attraction
for this release, none of the other
works are mere makeweights, and both
of the Hüttenbrenner works are
given their first recordings here. That
we should also be given such rich rewards
in terms of performance and recording
is a bonus, and I would say that this
release is a must for all genuine Schubert
fans.
Dominy Clements
Comment received
In his review of Todd
Crow's performance of the Brian Newbould
completion, Dominy Clements doesn't
mention that Martino Tirimo recorded
his own completion of this work in his
EMI series (which also includes completions
of all the fragments). Tirimo boldly
caps the piece off by bringing back
the opening theme of the first movement.
It would have been nice to read about
the differences between the Newbould
and Tirimo completions.
My view is that this skeletal finale
is not up to the level of the magnificent
opening two movements and it's easy
to understand why Schubert gave up where
he did. CDs like these allow the listener
to make up his own mind.
Jonathan Zoob
for details
Todd Crow (piano) 
