Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor, D. 845 (1825) [34:41]
Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D. 960 (1828) [35.56]
Wilhelm Kempff (piano)
rec. Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, November 1950 (D. 960) and March
1953 (D. 845)
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 9913 [70:45]
The Eloquence catalogue is an extraordinarily rich collection of archive material,
and fortunate indeed is the person responsible for compiling it. I want that
job! I reviewed recently a disc of Arthur Grumiaux playing the Berg Violin
Concerto, and that is only one example chosen from countless indispensable
discs available at an almost laughably low price. And if not all the issues
are of such importance – how could they be? – each one has some serious claim
on the collector. Here we have Wilhelm Kempff playing two Schubert piano sonatas
in recordings originally issued on Decca. The A minor Sonata has apparently
been issued on CD before, but this is the first appearance on CD of the B
flat major. Neither performance should be confused with the pianist’s later
recordings, a complete cycle recorded by Deutsche Grammophon.
The sound is inevitably showing its age, particularly in louder passages where
there is some distortion, harshness and congestion. The playing completely
eschews any suggestion of sensationalism. It is sober, considered, weighty
and serious. The pianist seems to lay the music before the listener in an
almost dispassionate way, inviting us to make of it what we will. I feel this
particularly in the first movement of the A minor sonata, where the often
sparse textures, uncompromising as they are, are allowed, as it were, to speak
for themselves. Indeed, there is very little that can be termed interventionist
in these performances. Yes, he makes a slight accelerando in the final
bars of this same movement, but that is little more than a nod in the direction
of surface drama, and the development section is almost classical in its emotional
restraint. It is more fruitful for the listener to seek out the subtle differences
in phrasing and dynamics in the repeats of the variations in the slow movement
than it is to search for drama in the scherzo. The lilting, lulling trio is
most affectingly done, however. The extended two-part writing in the finale
is again presented to the listener unadorned, and here one might wish for
something more impetuous, more passionate, though Kempff royally does the
honours in the very final bars.
The sublime opening of the D. 960 sonata is wonderfully poised in Kempff’s
hands, which makes it all the more of a pity that the sound is so poor here.
This is due, I imagine, to deterioration of the master tape, and it settles
down after only a few bars. All the same, there is a fair amount of background
noise and print-through from the original tapes, and fortissimo passages,
particularly the two in the finale, make for less than comfortable listening.
Kempff is quite free with pulse in the first movement, markedly more romantic
in his approach here than he was in the earlier sonata. This is a view with
which I concur in this most songlike of sonata movements. He does not observe
the exposition repeat, which for some will be a relief – the movement is already
a very long one – but for others will be a serious drawback, bearing in mind
that this means omitting nine bars of music that Schubert composed expressly
for the purpose, and which features, incidentally, one of the low, left-hand
trills that occur throughout the movement. The slow movement is beautifully
played in Kempff’s now familiar, rather straightforward – though far from
anonymous – manner. The scherzo, too, is similarly clear-cut, and here as
elsewhere one admires the pianist’s skill in bringing out melodic lines while
never allowing the often repetitive accompanying figuration to sink into insignificance.
Kempff launches the finale at a tempo as rapid as one is likely to hear it
nowadays, and the effect is robust rather than playful, a perfectly valid
view given the triumphant close, though the final crescendo can hardly
be said to begin piano as the score demands.
Admirers of Wilhelm Kempff, who died only in 1991 at the age of ninety-five,
will want this issue, particularly for the otherwise unavailable performance
of the D. 960 Sonata. Schubert lovers, too, will welcome the serenity and
wisdom of Kempff’s Schubertian vision. The pianist made a more beautiful sound
than one gathers from this disc, and those for whom this is an important consideration
will prefer to seek out one of the many more recent performances. The historic
nature of these performances makes comparative listening irrelevant, and the
quality of the readings is in any event beyond serious criticism.
The attractiveness of this issue is enhanced, as is customary, by a friendly,
readable and informative booklet note by Jed Distler.
William Hedley
Fine, wise performances by a master pianist, in variable sound.