Brahms Schnabel

The Odeon Trio go for gold. Unlike either the Beaux Arts (Philips) or the Fontenay (Teldec), they use three CDs to include everything by Brahms that could possibly be called a piano trio, not forgetting the Op. 114 and Op. 40 wind trios, whose wind parts can well be rendered by strings. They decide, too, that the original 1853 version of the B major Trio is for them, rather than the revised version of 1889 which is more generally favoured.

In 2006, Nicholas Angelich released his first disc of Brahms' solo piano music: a coupling of the ballades, the rhapsodies, and the Paganini Variations. He followed that up in 2007 with a two-disc set containing Brahms' four sets of late piano music. Both releases were simply fabulous. Blazingly virtuosic, deeply expressive, and immensely powerful, these were Brahms' performances to treasure.

Recorded for two different record companies over 14 years in five different locations, Emanuel Ax's Brahms concertos plus his Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79; Three Intermezzos, Op. 117; and Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119, are joined together for the first time here on two discs. Given the span in space and time, Ax is surprisingly quite consistent in his approach. The same emphasis on content over form, on heart over mind, on lyricism over drama is equally present in both concertos as well as in all the solo works.

There was not then & there is not now a more profound interpreter of the piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven than Artur Schnabel, & his 1930s recordings of them are now as they have always been & as they will always be the greatest recordings of the works ever made. Schnabel’s Waldstein Sonata is pure joy, his Appassionata is dark despair, & his Sonata in E minor is complete consolation. Schnabel’s Sonata in E major is radiant bliss, his Sonata in A flat is luminous ecstasy, & his Sonata in C minor is numinous spirituality. Generations of critics have carped at Schnabel’s technique &, in truth, he does lack the technique to play the closing movement of the Appassionata at tempo. But generations of listeners have heard Schnabel’s deep soul & his sublime musicianship & have therefore cheerfully disregarded any critical quibbles in gratitude for Schnabel’s transcendent performances. EMI’s remastering of the 1930s monaural originals is obviously antique but nevertheless clear enough to let the lucid light of Schnabel’s performances shine through. Anyone who values their immortal soul should listen to these recordings.

Pierre Fournier was born in Paris on 24 June in 1906 the son of a French army general. He was known for his lyrical playing and his impeccable artistic sensitivity and this, during his lifetime, earned him the title 'the aristocrat of cellists'.
Fournier was first taught piano by his mother but at the age of nine he suffered a mild case of polio and lost some of the agility in his legs and feet. He was no longer able to master the use of the piano pedals and so turned to the cello.