Imre Rohmann & Andras Schiff - Franz Schubert: Piano Duets (1994)

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Imre Rohmann & Andras Schiff - Franz Schubert: Piano Duets (1994)

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How poor the piano literature for four hands would be without Schubert! This musical form is indebted to him for its most significant enrichment — ranging from the popular marches to works of virtually symphonic size. The roots of the genre sprang from different soils. Schubert's musical invention was so prolific that often the two hands of a pianist proved to be insufficient, and thus the performance of complicated counterpoint, the countless subsidiary themes and delicate harmonic details demanded two pianists and four hands, resembling the four parts of a string quartet.

In this sense the Rondo in A major resembles a real string quartet. The four hands are "performers" in an extremely rich musical event, the intensity of the music, the beauty of its sound, transcending the possibilities of piano music written for two hands.

With his marches Schubert renders tribute to a war-like age. It makes one reflect that Schubert, with his lyrical disposition, averse to every form of militarism, wrote so much lovely music for the purpose of military ceremonies. Of these the March in D major has become world famous; musically, however, the two "Marches caractéristiques" are richer by far. Both works may actually be regarded as great symphonic scherzos, and it is almost incomprehensible why some later great composers did not orchestrate these pieces, which are really so orchestral in character.

"Lebensstürme" dates from 1828, the last year of Schubert's life. It is part of his last creative period of almost inconceivable richness, and it is quite possible that — like the Grand Duo — it was intended as the first movement of a monumental sonata. Or should we say instead, a symphony? At that time Schubert's symphonies lay in the archives of different Societies, and the composer never heard a performance of any of his symphonies. It may be presumed that he clad his ideas intended for orchestral use in the garb of less demanding four-handed piano music, because in this way the pieces were at least played by a wide circle of music lovers.

The Fantasy in F minor, dedicated to Countess Caroline Esterhazy, is undoubtedly one of the most important of all piano duet works. The extraordinarily expressive and noble melody in F minor — to a certain extent reminiscent of Barbarina's Cavatina from "The Marriage of Figaro" — is interworked throughout the piece as a leitmotif, and it is clearly perceptible that in a symphony sense the melody falls into four sections. The pathetic Allegro theme appearing mainly in canon also constitutes the core of the closing fugue, where it soars with an intensification that storms the heavens. Between these two F minor blocks appears the grandiose "Handelian" Largo in F sharp minor, with a dreamy F sharp major middle section, and a lengthy Scherzo also in F sharp minor, with its tender and delicate Trio ("con delicatezza" — Schubert indicates). The last word, however, is given to the plaintive opening theme. After a sudden interruption of the fugue, it is heard, now for the last time, with a resigned gesture, and is only followed by a plagal cadence of a beauty and depth unusual even in Schubert.

Jürg Demus

Among the miracles of Schubert’s output are the pieces he wrote for four hands. In a genre often intended for social delight with two performers engaged at one keyboard, Schubert produced some major masterpieces. This includes everything on this disc. Some years ago, Sony issued three two-CD sets and one CD that encompassed all the music the composer left for the genre. Unfortunately, they are no longer available. But for those unfamiliar with these works, this disc, produced in 1979, offers as fine an introduction to them as one might want. Contemporary with the composer’s last three piano sonatas, they are melodically rich, harmonically bold, and often ethereal in their otherworldly gentleness. Indeed, here is music that illustrates how Leonard Bernstein made a grave omission when he said, “Alone among all composers, Beethoven had a direct line to God.” He should have included Schubert. Everything about the playing here does justice to the music. Allegros are animated but never rushed; strange modulations are not spoiled by overstatement; and, where apt, as in the two marches, the playing crackles with vibrant energy. With Hungaroton’s fine reproduction, this remains an especially distinguished release that no one who cares about Schubert can afford to miss.

Review by Mortimer H. Frank, Fanfare

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Imre Rohmann & Andras Schiff - Franz Schubert: Piano Duets (1994)

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Imre Rohmann & Andras Schiff - Franz Schubert: Piano Duets (1994)

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Imre Rohmann & Andras Schiff - Franz Schubert: Piano Duets (1994)

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Imre Rohmann & Andras Schiff - Franz Schubert: Piano Duets (1994)

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Imre Rohmann & Andras Schiff - Franz Schubert: Piano Duets (1994)

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