Hiatus

There will be a hiatus on this blog while I go to Portugal to look for a house, might be a couple of weeks or more. See you soon.

246.Franz Schubert - Piano Trio in B flat major (1827)

Recording

Title: Historical Recordings 1926 and 1927
Performers: Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals
Year: 1926
Length: 31 minutes

Review

Talk about old recordings, this one is from the 20s, only 99 years removed from Schubert's composition, that is quite impressive in itself. Also all the members of this trio are real mythical characters of their time, and the playing is pretty good even with the different standards we have today.

The music is again some great Schubert chamber music. Each instrument really has its own voice and with such stellar performers it comes out beautifully even in such a muffled recording. In fact the muffling gives the album a certain charm, and while the clarity of sound might suffer the brilliance of the composition is perfectly discernible.

The great highlight for me here is the Andante. Schubert always seems to be at his consistent best in the slow movements, where his romantic spirit can come to full fruition. Not only a great piece but also a very interesting recording.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The composer finished the work in 1828, in the last year of his life. It was published in 1836 as Opus 99, 8 years after the composer's death.

First five minutes:

245. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in G major, D894 (1826)

Recording

Title: Solo Piano Works
Performers: Arcadi Volodos
Year: 2001
Length: 39 minutes

Review

A beautiful piano sonata by Schubert which really stands out for its slowly developing and very affecting first movement. The structure of the piece is also somewhat uncommon. Instead of alternating moods the piece seems to become increasingly cheery as it goes on. From the slow and melancholy first to the allegretto at the end.

A thing that Schubert manages to do unlike anyone before him is to give a sense of unity to his multiple movement pieces, and this one is another good example of it. The whole sonata seems to be one big developing work, and a great one as well.

Now that Beethoven is dead the crown of the Sonata has appropriately been taken by Schubert, as have many other crowns in fact, he is for a short time the greatest living composer in Europe.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

This sonata is often called the Fantaisie.

The first part of the very long 1st movement:

244. Felix Mendelssohn - A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826, 1843)

Recording

Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Performers: Seiji Ozawa, Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Judi Dench
Director: Seiji Ozawa
Year: 1992
Length: 58 minutes

Review

There are few pieces as evocative and delightful as Mendelssohn's overture to Midsummer Night's Dream. Composed when he was only 17 it evokes the sound of fairies feet near the beginning and it's chorus incorporates a sound very much reminiscent of donkey braying as a representation of Bottom. And it is very catchy, I've had it stuck in my head all day long.

But the composition does not end here, Mendelssohn also produced his most famous composition for this work, the Wedding March which has been used endlessly in weddings since this was composed. Unfortunately it is hard to separate the music from the function it has been used in, still, it is a pretty powerful piece of music.

But a great highlight is the Notturno with its dreamy feel and its use of brass in a completely beautiful way. And it is all surprisingly cinematic. This is highlighted in this recording by having Judi Dench contextualising the music in hte relevant parts of the play, and what Mendelssohn managed in terms of evocation is splendid.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Felix Mendelssohn composed an overture inspired by the play in 1826, intended for concert performance. In 1843, because of the fame of the overture, he was commissioned to write incidental music for a German stage production of the play. He added the Overture to it, and both were used in most stage versions through the nineteenth century. Among Mendelssohn's incidental pieces is his Wedding March, used most often today as a recessional in Western weddings. Between 1917 and 1939 Carl Orff also wrote incidental music for the play Ein Sommernachtstraum (performed in 1939). Since Mendelssohn was a Jew, his music had been banned by the Nazi regime, and the Nazi cultural officials put out a call for new music for the play: Orff was one of the musicians who responded.

Leibowitz conducts the overture:

Part 1:



Part 2: