One highlight of this week on R3 so far is the Schubert Piano Sonata D850 from Emil Gilels played by by Rob Cowan on Tuesday. I first got to know this work hearing it played by Clifford Curzon on Radio Three nearly 50 years ago. It is a favourite piece and I know many versions, but had not previously heard Gilels. Most take about 11 minutes over the Con moto slow movement. He allows himself 16.27 and the result is for me entrancingly convincing.
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My favourite Schubert Sonata.Originally posted by gurnemanz View Post
Sounded a bit clangy and distorted in a couple of loud passages,climax of the slow movement and 3rd movement for example,don't know if due to the instrument,sound or heavy handed playing or a combination of all three,like I'm an expert
Totally agree about the slow movement Gurney.
Wish RC wouldn't sit on the fence and instead just tell us if he likes it
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There'll be more opinion expressed about Gilels tomorrow, by David "Marmite" Owen Norris...Originally posted by EdgeleyRob View PostWish RC wouldn't sit on the fence and instead just tell us if he likes it
1030
David Owen Norris joins Andrew to discuss the recorded legacy of Emil Gilels, born a hundred years ago this week.
One of the few Soviet musicians allowed to tour the West, Gilels had an extensive repertoire which ranged from the Baroque to the works of Debussy, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. David Owen Norris picks highlights from Deutsche Grammophon's 24-CD 'complete' recordings, a 7-CD set of RCA Red Seal and, more recently, a bumper 50-CD set from Melodiya.
I for one am a big Marmite fan...
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Rob, a big relief that somebody else thought that - see my comment here. I was going to listen again at home before responding to gurnemanz.....Originally posted by EdgeleyRob View PostMy favourite Schubert Sonata.
Sounded a bit clangy and distorted in a couple of loud passages,climax of the slow movement and 3rd movement for example,don't know if due to the instrument,sound or heavy handed playing or a combination of all three,like I'm an expert
I look forward to hear what DON has to say - what he says goes, around here
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"I'll make him a record he can't refuse"Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View PostI look forward to hear what DON has to say - what he says goes, around here"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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The inexpensive (under £20) 7-CD RCA set including D 840 arrived at the beginning of the week, and I too have been entranced by the Schubert Sonata and much else in this box. More muscular than the crystalline and fastidious Curzon in the opening allegro vivace, a beautifully sustained con moto that doesn't drag at the slow tempo chosen, followed by a powerful scherzo and magically otherworldly trio, and finishing with a poised and perfectly judged rondo. Ideal Schubert playing IMO, which must surely be counted equal among the greats. All I want to do after hearing this is to hear it all over again - always a good sign.Last edited by Keraulophone; 21-10-16, 08:31.Comment
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Absurd, of course, to ask anyone to cover the contents of 80 CDs in such a short time, but here are some points from memory:-
Schubert was not Gilels's strong suit (no examples played);
Of the two Tchaik 1s on the RCA/Columbia set, the live one with NYPO/Mehta is superior to that with CSO/Reiner;
Gilels sometimes approached Beethoven in an inappropriately 'epic' way. Thus he misses the pathos of the 'Moonlight' first movement. However the Appassionata is tremendous, and Op. 79 succeeds because he avoids the epic approach;
His authority in Prokofiev is unsurpassed (part of Third Sonata played, I think from the Seattle recital);
The pinnacle of his recording career was the Brahms concertos with Jochum (no surprise there).Comment
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The Gilel's recording of Greig's Lyric Pieces remains a personal favourite and has, I think, received critical acclaim over the years. I don't know about the missing pathos of the Moonlight recording but the Greig shows that he was a pianist capable of great refinement and understood simplicity of style as well as thundering virtuosity.Comment
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DON: "...his off days of Schubert solo sonatas... not his strong suit at all"
I humbly beg to differ, especially in the case of the D major sonata.Comment
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