Not having heard any of Michel Dalberto’s playing before tackling
this mountain of a box set, I did my little bit of online research
and read mostly positive things about these recordings in their
first appearance on the Denon label. All of these recordings
were made in the same location and with a fine sounding Steinway
piano, and any variations in recording quality between sessions
are quite minor if not entirely absent. This is a set which
is notable for its consistency throughout, and from the reassuringly
solid notes of the first piece on CD 1, the Sonata in A minor
D845 to Schubert’s last great sonata D960 there are
hardly any points of negative criticism. This is not to say
that the playing is better than all of the other versions of
these pieces one can find, but does indicate that, for those
wanting a one-stop package for most of Schubert’s entire output
for solo piano, this is a pretty good place to be.
In fact, there are relatively few places to find quite as much
Schubert in one place, though the sonatas are more often to
be found gathered together. My own little stable of references
includes the not quite complete set by Mitsuku Uchida on Philips,
and the playing of the likes of Alfred Brendel, Radu Lupu and
Murray Perahia. Of the sets against which this Brilliant Classic
box will have to compete is the attractively priced box on the
Capriccio label played by Michael
Endres. This is a fine set which will cater for most people’s
needs, but my opinion of 2006 remains the same today, and Michel
Dalberto’s performances certainly push it that bit further down
into a substrata of so-so Schubert. I would also tend to prefer
Dalberto’s consistency over the musical baton race which is
Brilliant Classics’ own alternative (see review);
not that I have this to hand for reference, but having sampled
a few of the recordings in the past I know I wasn’t inspired
to rush out and acquire a copy.
In the end, it is the inherent qualities of Dalberto’s performances
which will win or lose the day, and in my opinion he wins on
overall balance, even though taking a hard look at each of the
main masterpieces means running the gauntlet of greatness in
terms of comparisons. The Moments Musicaux D780 on CD
2 for instance, may not have quite the magic of Alfred Brendel’s
analogue recorded Philips performance or Radu
Lupu’s for that matter, but you can easily find yourself
caught up in the poetic grace of No.2 Andantino and the
good natured and dancing wit of No.3 Allegro moderato.
Dalberto always gives the impression of playing within himself
and isn’t a very ‘risky’ or dangerous sounding performer, but
he has a feel for Schubert’s idiom and reaches the heart of
the music with directness and disarming clarity. Talking of
dancing, these are a few places where I occasionally found myself
in mild disagreement with Mr. Dalberto. The Ecossaises D529
for instance are fairly disposable pieces, but there are
a few moments where the touch is rather heavier than I thought
necessary. It’s sometimes as if Michel Dalberto is playing for
actual dancers, and having to beat the notes out louder than
usual to keep everyone in step, which is I suppose also a legitimate
approach. Elsewhere his touch is usually lighter and more sympathetic.
There are little discoveries all over the place in this box,
and the Menuett D600 at the end of CD 2 is one such –
a strange pizzicato bass and interesting Bach-like progressions
and suspensions creating an unexpected effect.
The main work on CD 3 is the incomplete Sonata in C Major,
D840. I like Dalberto’s way of threading the disparate elements
of the vast opening Moderato movement together, keeping
an element of improvisatory surprise. He is less grandly symphonic
than Uchida on Philips, but none the worse for that, keeping
the huge musical ideas within a realistically chamber-music
framework and still managing to stretch the instrument to its
limits of dynamic in places, which is also the way things should
be. Dalberto maintains a more forward momentum in the following
Andante, while keeping the sense of enigmatic mystery
intact. Uchida almost goes into reverse in terms of tempo in
this movement, and even with her alchemic touch I prefer the
unity and sense of displaced logic which Dalberto conjures –
letting Schubert’s ideas speak more for themselves rather than
introducing extra layers of artificial wonder and reverence.
Michel Dalberto also gives us what Schubert completed of the
third and fourth movements which Uchida does not. There is some
cracking music in these remnants, but you can almost sense Schubert’s
impatience with his sketches – life just too short to perfect
or work out all of those ideas to completion. There are other
delightful ‘out-takes’ on this disc, like the Ecossaise D156
which someone could work up into a decent pop number.
With Radu Lupu as my reference, the 4 Impromptus D899 bear
up well under scrutiny. Dalberto has a good sense of melody,
and his lyrical lines sing out with expressive clarity. He is
perhaps a touch less sweeping in the diving lines of No.2,
but the rippling accompaniment for No.3 is done with
a kind of restless alertness which I found quite refreshing,
taking nothing away from the beauty of the lyrical line. Dalberto’s
subtlety and lightness of touch is also apparent in No.4,
the ‘raindrop’ right hand nicely balanced, ringing and present
but with a fine sense of horizontal movement. The structure
of these pieces is also a strong aspect in these recordings,
with no doubts about which direction Schubert is moving, the
harmonic wrong-footing moments of genius having all the more
impact as a result. This story continues with the Impromptus
D935 on CD 6, and I have absolutely no complaints with Dalberto
while still wanting to hang grimly on to my copy of Murray Perahia’s
playing of these pieces on my old CBS LP copy, now to be found
on the Sony label. The real magic is of course with Schubert’s
composition, and Michel Dalberto brings out all of the fine
qualities in this music. The sense of poignant regret in No.1
might come through stronger elsewhere, perhaps the almost
religious amores of No.2 a tad warmer, but left
on a desert island with only these recordings and I would certainly
have enough to be going on with.
The core and backbone of any such a Schubert survey has to rest
on the sonatas, and I’m glad to say that some of Michel Dalberto’s
most powerful performances are to be found in these incredible
pieces. The darkly funereal splendour of the Sonata in A
minor D784 suits Dalberto well, and he reaches deep into
the strings of the piano to transport us into places at once
heavenly and unsettling in the opening Allegro giusto.
The acidic dissonances of the central Andante are given
new life in this performance, and the slow emotional roller-coaster
ride on which Schubert takes us is quite hard to bear. The stained-glass
beauty of the Sonata in A major D664 contrasts well with
the A minor D784, and Dalberto does nothing to torture
or distort Schubert’s melodic charm in the first movement Allegro
moderato. This is in fact a very lovely reading indeed,
challenging Radu Lupu, whose faster tempo is not necessarily
always an advantage. The central Andante is like a prayer
in music, and Dalberto treats it as such – perhaps as a chorale
to unrequited romance, the same lover taken to an imaginary
ballroom for the dance of a lifetime in the final Allegro.
This is a recording to challenge all comers, and one of the
highlights of this set.
Dalberto’s Wandererfantasie is very good indeed, full
of dramatic contrast, and not allowing technical bravura to
take over from Schubert’s message. The excitement in the Allegro
con fuoco non troppo is in the storms generated by the composer’s
vivid narrative imagination: while the pianist by no means takes
a back seat nor does he create unnecessary layers by adding
pretentious pyrotechnics. The Adagio is particularly
impressive, almost Wagnerian in its forward-looking sonorities
and emotional span. I also like the bounce Dalberto gives to
the counterpoint of the final Allegro, which lifts it
beyond grim determination into something deeply rooted but also
highly entertaining and uplifting. The Sonata in D major
D850 is another key work, and comparing Dalberto with Uchida
I have to admit his clarity delivers a more visceral experience
in the first movement’s Allegro, the little details –
runs and built-in ornaments, all add up to something which takes
on quite a life of its own. Uchida is good too, but the more
distant perspective and aura of resonance hides some of this
all important detail. Dalberto is less legato in the strangely
broken lyricism of the Con moto second movement, bringing
out the explorative nature of Schubert’s progressions. I also
like the sharpness of rhythm he finds in the Scherzo,
accenting and separating the chords to create a whippy, agile
texture.
Glossing over vast areas of marvellous music and musicianship
is not my intention here, but there is just too much to cover
in one review. Rest assured that there are jewels to be found,
and any favourites I’ll have missed all receive excellent performances
in this set. I’ve had these recordings playing regularly for
quite a while now, and there were no moments at which I looked
up from whatever I was doing with negative thoughts about what
I was hearing.
Lumping the three last great sonatas D958, D959
and D960 together also seems a bit much, but for me the
idea of a ‘best’ performance in these pieces has become something
of a crock at the end of an all too elusive rainbow. If you’re
a real Schubert fan you’ll probably have more than one recording
of these pieces knocking around somewhere, and the one you bring
out is the one which you think will suit your mood of that particular
moment. Murray Perahia is decent enough in his 2 CD Sony recording,
but less inspired than you might expect. Apart from his D960
which I feel is overrated, Radu Lupu’s recordings are currently
the ones I’ll go for if I want the total immersion experience.
I used to like Uchida more than I do now, and while her recordings
are very atmospheric and the performances very good there are
a few quirks I find I’ve never become entirely reconciled with,
or indeed find I have lost patience with altogether.
Michel Dalberto delivers performances of high quality for these
last three sonatas, and they are by no means substandard in
comparison to the rest of the set. He could perhaps have been
a little more elegant in the third movement Menuetto of
D958, and maybe he tries just a little too hard with
the first movement of D959, an object lesson in which
can be found in Alfred Brendel’s live
recording. The stark simplicity of the Andantino movement
in this sonata is painted with striking abstract strokes by
Dalberto however. While he is never less than entirely involving
and stimulating to the senses, I do wish he’d kept more of the
lied quality in the final Rondo movement – some
of his articulations are just a little too picky for their own
good. The Sonata in B-flat Major, D960 is one of the
greatest pieces ever written for the piano or any other instrument
for that matter, and I still feel the definitive recording has
yet to be made, and perhaps never will or ever should be. Like
trying to find the actual origins and boundaries of the universe,
perhaps this is a piece we can only aspire to ‘finding’ or perfecting.
Michel Dalberto does a very good job indeed, bringing out the
massive dynamic contrasts and timeless depths of the opening
Molto moderato, giving those bizarre low trills plenty
of space and allowing them to resolve properly rather than fade
into mush. I like his Andante sostenuto second movement,
which suggests infinite slowness while actually being at a quite
respectable tempo. The Scherzo is full of life and energy
while maintaining that essential sense of lonely isolation –
a quality in which it could vanish in a whiff of smoke at a
moment’s notice. Not everyone will like the stresses Dalberto
introduces in the second section at 1:53, but this is another
element in a voyage of discovery with this piece and something
on which to ponder. He does something clever with half-pedalling
or some such technique with those funny suspended notes in the
opening of the last movement. This is Dalberto’s interesting
solution to Schubert’s ‘impossible’ fp marking
for these notes and with most pianists giving up any hope of
achieving such an effect you’ll either love or hate it. I admire
the attempt, but ultimately find this more of a distraction
than a solution to what in the end is a somewhat academic problem:
like crescendo markings on a single note it’s more often than
not only elbow action or other non-CD communicable visual effects
which work on your modern Steinway.
Presentation is good for this box, with useful essays in the
booklet and full track listings on each cardbard sleeve for
the discs. The only minor error I came accross was on CD 1,
the Valses Sentimentales Op. 50 marked D770 instead
of the correct D779. To conclude, this is a valuable
set which deserves plenty of attention. As a single resource
for Schubert’s sonatas and other piano works it is hard to beat,
though individual pieces will of course reward further exploration
by different interpreters. Seasoned Schubertians probably won’t
find their favourites too threatened, but Dalberto frequently
shows us things we hadn’t noticed before. The greatest of works
of this kind are like good sculpture: they respond differently
to light, changes in setting, and one’s own willingness to look
beyond the surface into the complex depths of structure and
tension beneath. Michel Dalberto has looked deeper than many
into the soul of Schubert, and at his best his playing the equal
of all comers. This and the myriad other little discoveries
to be made throughout this box make it well worth the asking
price.
Dominy Clements
Complete tracklist
CD 1 [67:11]
Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42 D845 (1825) [36:38]
Sonata in E major, D157 (1815) [20:40]
Valses Sentimentales Op. 50 D779 (c.1823) [9:47]
Walzer in A flat major, D978 (ca1825) [1:05]
CD 2 [57:29]
Moments Musicaux, Op. 94 D780 (1823-28) [27:48]
Sonata for Piano in A minor, Op. post. 164 D537 (1817) [21:38]
8 Ecossaises D529 (1817) [3:06]
Menuett in C sharp minor, D600 (ca1814) + Trio in E major, D610
(1818) [5:45]
CD 3 [57:38]
Sonata in C Major, D840 (Reliquie) (1825) [37:33]
10 Variations in F major, D156 (1815) [13:31]
Ecossaise in D minor/F major, D158 (1815) [0:17]
Andante in C major, D29 (1812) [3:51]
2 Deutsche, D841 (1825) [1:54]
Walzer in G major, D844 (“Albumblatt”) (1825) [0:55]
CD 4 [76:39]
Sonata in G Major, Op. 78 D894 (Fantasie - Sonate) (1826) [40:56]
12 Waltzer (Valses Nobles) Op. 77 D969 (1826) [12:58]
Waltzer in F major, D979 (ca1826) [0:42]
2 Waltzer, D980 [1:39]
Sonata in C major, D279 (1815) [16:54]
Allegretto in C major, D346 (?1816) [4:19]
CD 5 [69:35]
4 Impromptus, Op. 90, D899 (1828) [27:58]
Sonata in E major, D459 (Fünf Klavierstücke) (1816) [28:17]
3 Menuette mit je zwei Trios, D380 (1816) [8:26]
Allegretto in C minor, D915 (1827) [5:35]
CD 6 [61:59]
4 Impromptus, Op. 142, D935 (1828) [36:59]
Sonata in A-flat major, D557 (1817) [10:52]
13 Variations on a theme by Anselm Hüttenbrenner in A minor,
D576 (1817) [14:38]
CD 7 [76:18]
Sonata for Piano in A Minor, D784, Op. 143 (1823) [24:46]
12 Deutsche, D790, Op. 171 (1823) [11:33]
Sonata for Piano in E minor, D566 (1817) [27:42]
2 Scherzi, D593 (1817) [9:29]
11 Ecossaisen, D781 (1823) [4:01]
Ecossaise in D major, D782 (ca1823) [0:22]
CD 8 [69:51]
Sonata in B Major, D575, Op. 147 (1817) [25:08]
Adagio in G Major D178 (1815) [6:43]
6 Ecossaisen, D421 (1816) [1:58]
Cotillon in E flat major, D976 (ca1825) [0:37]
Sonata in A major, D664 (1819) [25:18]
From Originaltänze, D365, Op. 9 (1816-21) [10:29]
CD 9 [55:17]
Fantasie in C Major, D760, Op. 15 Wandererfantasie (1822) [22:43]
16 Deutsche und 2 Ecossaisen, D783, Op. 33 (1823-24) [11:25]
Kupelwieser-Walzer Anh 1-14 (1826) [1:21]
Sonata in C Major, D613 (1818) [15:50]
Marsch in E Major, D606 (?1818) [4:24]
CD 10 [65:05]
Sonata in F Minor, D625 (1818) [22:13]
Galopp und 8 Ecossaisen D735 (ca1822) [4:05]
Sonata in D Major, D850, Op. 53 (1825) [39:17]
CD 11 [59:22]
Ungarische Melodie in B Minor, D817 (1824) [3:19]
Sonata in F-sharp minor (1817) [19:08]
Drei Deutsche Tänze, D971 (ca1822) [2:35]
Variationa über einen Walzer von Anton Diabelli, D718 (1821)
[1:28]
Sonata in E-flat major, Op. post. 122, D568 (1817) [33:42]
CD 12 [62:37]
3 Klavierstücke, D946 [31:13]
Sonata in C minor, D958 Op. posth. (1828) [32:01]
CD 13 [42:47]
Sonata in A Major, D959 (1828) [42:37]
CD 14 [42:53]
Sonata in B-flat Major, D960 (1828) [42:53]
Michel Dalberto (piano) 
