Mitsuko Uchida Schubert Live in Concert 23.4.12

[kernelbogey]

I heard this in not the best of circumstances - the performance nonetheless sounded wonderful, and I look forward to listening again.

Usually I find interviews with the artist irritating, but Uchida is such an articulate and passionate musician that I find her always worth listening to. She talks very interestingly, at the beginning of the second half, about Schubert's perception of his coming death as expressed in the slow movement of D960 .

[aeolium]

I'm afraid I didn't enjoy this concert, at least the first part - I didn't listen to the second part. Unusually for someone of Uchida's technique there were a lot of errors, especially in D959, as well as excessive rubato and sharp gear changes where the music was almost brought to a standstill. It is an immense challenge to technique, stamina and musicianship to play all these sonatas in one concert and I have rarely heard it brought off successfully. I can understand why pianists want to attempt to play them all at once but I'd rather hear them played separately, in programmes which allow each one to be given full attention.

[Pianorak]

Aeolium - I do agree with you entirely - and yet cannot bring myself to say I didn't enjoy it, being a sucker for highly personal interpretations which I thought we heard last night. The biggest surprise/shock for me was the c minor which I almost didn't recognize. In fact, I vaguely began to wonder whether it sounded more like one of Schumann's more wayward/bipolar creations. As to the A major I would have liked still more grit and force in the "nervous breakdown" section of the second movement. I don't think Uchida knows how to produce an ugly note but felt she overdid the pp in the B flat, a fair number of which didn't make it across the airwaves. The finale seemed rushed and superficial, but maybe by that time my mind had begun to wander just a bit. That said, Uchida is still among my favourite pianists, especially when heard live.

[John Skelton]

As to the A major I would have liked still more grit and force in the "nervous breakdown" section of the second movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE4RNdwrWxM

[Pianorak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE4RNdwrWxM

Thanks for the link. Who would have thought, a fortepiano outdoing a pianoforte.

[Bryn]

Thanks for the link. Who would have thought, a fortepiano outdoing a pianoforte.

Go on, treat yourself:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Sons-D958-960-Andreas-Staier/dp/B000005BZT/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1335262405&sr=1-3

[salymap]

I switched on when it should have been the interval and didn't atfirst recognise the D959 which was 'running late' according tothe RT.

I think I'll listen to her recordings of these on CD if the sound wasn't altogether clear in D960. I have tinnitus and often can't hear the radio clearly by the evening.

[Pegleg]

I switched on when it should have been the interval and didn't atfirst recognise the D959 which was 'running late' according tothe RT.

I think I'll listen to her recordings of these on CD if the sound wasn't altogether clear in D960. I have tinnitus and often can't hear the radio clearly by the evening.

So sorry to hear you suffer from the curse of tinnitus, a nightmare for any music lover. It seems to run in the paternal side of my family. My late father, his twin sister and his younger brother all had it to varying degrees, and sometimes it was very severe. My own is at a very low level, and I don't like to think about the future.

I don't know enough about the Schubert sonatas to pass comment but I respect Mitusko Utchida as a player, so I accept hers was just one possible interpretation.

The great thing about this forum is the links that get posted. I'm happy to listen to Andreas Staier anytime.

[Sir Monty Golfear]

I stopped listening after an hour . I was bored!.....I never thought I could say that about a performance by Uchida . I will go to listen again. Perhaps it was me !.

[Pianorak]

Go on, treat yourself:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Sons-D958-960-Andreas-Staier/dp/B000005BZT/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1335262405&sr=1-3

Bryn - you shouldn't shock people like that. Nearly had a cardiac arrest!

[Bryn]

Bryn - you shouldn't shock people like that. Nearly had a cardiac arrest!

Did you read the comment appended to the one customer review?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000005BZT/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

As it happens, I got D 058 and 959 for £4:



in an HMV sale a couple or so years ago. D960 I have as a flac download. They are indeed particularly fine performances.

Unfortunately they still await a much desired further re-issue.

[John Skelton]

Go on, treat yourself:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Sons-D958-960-Andreas-Staier/dp/B000005BZT/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1335262405&sr=1-3

I've just put a padlock on my copy .

[Pianorak]

Did you read the comment appended to the one customer review?

Yes, he does indeed appear to be keen.

I've just put a padlock on my copy .

Eminently sensible!

[amateur51]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE4RNdwrWxM

Astonishing writing, staggering performance. I'm living in a Golden Age

[vinteuil]

Go on, treat yourself:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Sons-D958-960-Andreas-Staier/dp/B000005BZT/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1335262405&sr=1-3

... does anyone know why Staier's D960 has become so mythically unavailable? Is it that the man himself has had second thoughts and prevents reissue??