Search - Artur Schnabel :: Beethoven: Diabelli Variations / Prometheus Vars

A moving and great experience marred by poor editing

kreisleriana16 | Minneapolis, MN USA | 02/17/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Beethoven's Diabelli Variations requires more than just pianistic capabilities; it requires musicianship. Musicianship and sensitivity is what Schnabel gives us in this 1938 recording that was part of his Beethoven Society Set. This is the kind of performance that one must take as a whole; parts will simply not do. Schnabel understood the work and its often subtle complexities. All though he was often called the "Great Adagio Player" it is that adagio playing that is so very moving. Qualiton (Arkadia the 78's) should have been able easily edit this performance as a continuous one. After all, the days of 78's are long gone and in most cases it takes little effort to edit in between variations. That is not the case in this recording. There are abnormally long pauses where one 78 ends and the next starts. Where it really hurts is in one of those long adagio variations that has a transistion in the middle. We are treated to five to eight seconds of hissing before the performance picks up. Somewhat like taking in the Mona Lisa and adding her nose somewhere down the line. Will someone please choke the editor? Nobody performed this work as well as Schnabel. Nobody has ruined it as well as Arkadia.I give the performance five stars in spite of Arkadia's problems and no stars to the Arkadia. Those that want an unmarred performance can hope that is available on a more reputable label or if they have a CD writer and CD player make a private backup copy for their own use and do their own editing with any number of applications including any number of editing programs with sound waves. With a little work you can have a really moving performance of a great work by a great pianist.The other work is the "Eroica Variations, opus 35 which is again an exceptional performance and again ruined by sloppy long periods between each 78 by Akadia. Maybe this is a nostalgic touch but a needless one by today's standards where we can put 77 minutes on a CD and much more on a DVD without interuption."