Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Aeborsold & Neiweem Piano Duo, Claire Aebersold :: Schubert: Four-Hand Piano Works, Vol. 2

Four-hand playing of the highest caliber--delightful!

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's a sign of Victorian culture that so mnay homes had not one but two pianists, who spent evenings sitting together at the keyboard. A wealth of material was open to them, and Schubert's rises to the level of genius. On this 2-CD set the highlights are two acknowledged masterpieces, the Hungarian Divertimento and the "Grand Duo" Sonata D. 812. The rest isn't filer, but the various landlers and marches fall below these two great works, which are at the level of Schubert's more famous late sonatas.



The usual compliment paid to duo pianists is that they sound like one player, which is true here, but Aebersold and Neiween are also notably fine musicians. Compare their "Grand Duo" with the recent live performance by James Levine and Yeveny Kissin; it immediately becomes apparent how subtly and beautifully Aebersold and Neiween have merged into one voice. I am not a particular fan of four-hand music, which too often recalls parlor palms and antimacassars, but this double CD gave me great musical pleasure--it's one of the best I've heard in decades."

Glorious music!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 08/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The informal musical gatherings formed a very important part of Schubert's life. For these "Schubertiads" the Viennese master composed the bulk of his music for piano duet. No other composer wrote so may four-hand piano music like him. Sixty works for this medium would seem to evidence it.



Tovey asserted that the principal reason why Schubert turned so frequently to this type of music was that he had so little opportunity to hear performances of his orchestral works, so he transferred his orchestral writings to the piano duet.

But the difference that made the difference respect the rest of his fellow contemporaries, was the excel musicality, prodigal lyricism and gaiety that hovered. That Dionysian feature of these works gained him many adepts at that age.



Meanwhile, during the period of maturity of the Romanticism, the arrival of the Opera and the whole plenitude of the Symphonic genre, these arrangements made by Glinka, Liszt, Czerny , Thalberg, Rubinstein, Schumann or Tcherepin for instance, was for many audiences who lived far away from the great musical centers, the only way to know pieces of the operatic or symphonic repertoire.



Moreover, for many illustrious and refined spirits the possibility to hear (for instance) the performance of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in those first decades of the XIX century could be the only chance along their lives.



Somehow, Schubert's legacy was directed in other direction. He really found in this genre the chance to explore new sonorous horizons. The nuance and éclat these compositions achieved had not paragon until these days.



Fortunately for all of us, the notable and growing interest this genre has aroused in music and audiences overcame all the expectations after the first Centennial of Schubert's death. Musical personalities like Arthur Schnabel, were if I may, conspicuous heroes that made the audiences turned their attention around this almost forgotten genre.



In the recent past, the team Skoda-Demus, Walter and Beatriz Klien, Eden-Tamir, Ferrante-Teicher, Britten-Richter and Emil and his daughter Elena paved the way for these superb artists continued this admirable effort.



That's why this album must be part of your invaluable collection, because among other reasons, the presence of two renowned players of Schubert music like Claire Abersold and Ralph Neiweem add another reason to acquire this album.

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