Schnabel Lohse

Artur Schnabel, identified above all with the music of Beethoven, was also a supreme interpreter of Schubert. Initially trained in Vienna, he played a crucial role in advocating the Austrian composer’s piano music at a time when such masterworks as the late sonatas enjoyed surprisingly little currency. By the time he started making these recordings, in the early 1930s, Schnabel was already a mature artist, and their essential lyricism is complemented by his characteristic rhythmic vitality and intellectual rigour. Newly remastered from original sources, these historic interpretations now benefit from audio quality of unprecedented truth and immediacy.

Das Ensemble setzt sich aus freischaffenden Musikern und Solisten diverser Schweizer Symphonieorchester zusammen. Seit 2009, anlässlich eines Gedenkkonzerts für Artur Schnabel in Schwyz, hat das Ensemble immer wieder die Kammerfassung von Mahlers 4. Symphonie aufgeführt. Die Musiker fühlen sich dabei in der Tradition der Gesellschaft für private Musikaufführungen, 1918 in Verbindung mit Arnold Schönbergs Kompositionsklasse gegründet. In der interessanten Kammerfassung von Klaus Simon wird das Werk auf genau die 14 Instrumente reduziert, die auch damals zur Verfügung standen – zuzüglich eines Solosoprans. Von besonderem Interesse sind auch die Lieder aus der Feder von Artur Schnabel, der ja eher als Pianist berühmt wurde.

Italo-German composer Ferruccio Busoni was a titanic piano virtuoso and an architect of European modernism. Best known for his transcriptions of J.S. Bach and for his Piano Concerto, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, and opera Doktor Faust, Busoni revolutionized piano technique and opened up new harmonic concepts within boundaries of functional harmony. Busoni's idea of junge klassizität (renewed classicality) served as a building block for neo-classicism and his book remains influential. Busoni led a Berlin-based master class, training composers and pianists alike. Busoni was the son of an Italian clarinet virtuoso who was a harsh and demanding pedagogue.

Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) was not only a gifted pianist, but also an accomplished composer who left behind three symphonies and five string quartets, among other works.

Featuring chamber arrangements of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and a selection of Lieder by Schnabel, this is an unusual but charming release from the youthful Myrthen Ensemble with soprano Rachel Harnisch and conductor Graziella Contratto.