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Wandering Around

Todd A

pfm Member
While working through a massive collection of an LvB sonata, why not simultaneously work through a smaller collection of a work by Schubert? No reason to go too big and heavy yet with a “late” sonata – though with the great Arcadi Volodos releasing a new D959 shortly, it may make sense to do so in due time – so I went sorta small. Well, not really. I sort of randomly settled on the Wanderer Fantasie, just because. Since I've got only about three dozen recordings, this should be quick.


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I decided to start with a heavy-hitter: Maurizio Pollini, from his 70s heyday. In the Allegro con fuoco opener one hears Pollini's command, with super clean fingerwork, extra-wide ranging dynamics - including some really rather effective pianissimo to go along with the hard, almost steely fortissimo - and an unstoppable forward momentum. It's quite pianistic and large scale in conception, and it's not until the Adagio that one gets a bit more of a sense of something else. Pollini's control and coolness is impressive, and he plays the variations with some distinction, though they remain cool. Throughout the Presto and concluding Allegro, the high energy coolness dominates, along with a brightness to the piano sound. A mighty fine recording.
 
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Julius Katchen. More rushed than Pollini in the Allegro con fuoco, and smaller in conception, the playing is exceptionally vigorous and of the moment, as opposed to cool and structural. As such, some individual passages emerge as especially communicative, but sections don't flow together as well. The dynamic range of the older recording, while not shabby, doesn't show Katchen to be Pollini's equal in that regard, either. The playing also can take on a hectic and hectoring sound. In the Adagio, however, the more bass rich recording and Katchen's style takes on an even darker hue, like an at times scaled up lied. It often sounds like the pianist is, in fact, accompanying a singer, whose part was just not recorded, at least until the fast, hectoring style returns. In the Presto and Allegro, Katchen keeps the high voltage playing up, and the sonics take a brief detour of sorts (different session?) in the Allegro. Overall, it's high energy but otherwise not my cup of tea.
 
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André Watts. Watts plays the Allegro con fuoco faster than Katchen, but there's never a sense of being rushed; the playing displays control as absolute as Pollini's. There's both a nice sense of scale and a feel that the music is very lied-like in places. Watts slows way, way down at the outset of the Adagio, and the bass heavy playing makes it sound almost funereal. The music becomes even more lied-like, and the right hand runs are dispatched faster than normal, and take on a water music vibe. Watts does go the full virtuoso route in the Presto, playing as quickly and thrillingly as he can, and he hardly lets up in the concluding Allegro. Subtlety goes missing, but as pianistic display, it's quite fine.
 
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Paul Lewis. Lewis rips right into the open, playing with pedal and legato sufficient to make the music a total blur. After the open, he backs off and adds some nuance and color, but the distant recording and Lewis' obvious desire to go big mean that the fast, blended playing dominates. In the Adagio, Lewis backs off, but the recording and playing combo render the music more chorus like than lied-like, and when the playing ramps up, Lewis hammers out the playing. His control is supreme and his tone never sounds ugly or hard, so the approach works. The same applies to the Presto, where Lewis moves back and forth between a lyrical, vigorous style and a thundering, vigorous style. The concluding Allegro is pretty much all thunder. If a pianist is gonna go for a humongous scaled, He-Man approach to this piece, this is how to do it.
 
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Giuseppe Albanese. Aided by high-end engineering, Albanese opens his Allegro con fuoco in a massive, grand manner, evoking a quasi-orchestral sound about as well as is humanly possible. Like Pollini, he sees no reason to press the music forward too quickly, rather letting it unfold like a symphony. Albanese goes for the long sustain and pause to end the movement before transitioning to the Adagio. Here he goes for a Schubert song cycle scaled up to an opera transcription. In one especially effective section, he creates an ominous, dark Des Baches Wiegenlied-like effect in one of the slow variations, gradually building up to the huge climax, before moving back to something more standard, though still large-scaled. When called upon to do so, Albanese unleashes a torrent of notes so well executed that not even the Biggest Name sounds any more controlled. In the Presto, as in the opening section, Albanese is less concerned with speediness than he is with grandeur and romance, which is all the more evident as he builds to a massive coda of the section before moving to a dark and dramatic opening for the Allegro, which he plays with notable heft. As I noted when I first heard this disc, the sound can be a little congested, but part of that seems to stem from the fact that Albanese clearly generates a huge sonority and probably could have benefitted from a bigger auditorium. I enjoy this recording more now than when I first heard it.
 
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Murray Perahia. Perahia does a creditable job of creating a quasi-orchestral sound in his take, with an Allegro con fuoco that is played at something close to a just-right tempo, with no overdone gestures. Where Perahia shines even more is in the more delicate, purely lyrical passages, which becomes more evident in the early going in the Adagio, which sounds lovely and somber and very lied-scaled. In the Presto and Allegro, Perahia steps on the gas again, playing with ample speed and vigor to deliver a powerful conclusion.
 
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Hideyo Harada. Despite the not particularly fast overall timing in the Allegro con fuoco, Harada's playing blasts at the listener, with the pianist hammering out the music in a potent, reverberant (probably augmented) opening that goes beyond flimsy fortissimo. After the opening barrage, she slows down, breaking the flow of the music, making it more episodic. Some of the slower, pianissimo music does sound attractive, but the transitions often sound disjointed. The Adagio is very slow overall, almost exaggerated a bit to open. The playing has a nice dark tone, but Harada stretches the music line all the way out in a few spots. When she builds up to the fortissimo climax, the playing becomes steely and a shade unruly. Both the Presto and Allegro are on the long side, but again Harada's extra-hard hitting style makes them sound quicker than played, but some of the transitions are stiff, and some of the playing, especially in the Allegro, is a bit ragged. An initially jolting and ultimately tiring recording.
 
Of the few I know, I found the 70s Brendel is the one to have. The 960 is nice too but there I prefer his last version.

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András Schiff. Pretty much at the opposite end of the spectrum from Harada, Schiff likewise goes for a slow overall approach, but that's the only similarity. Schiff's touch right at the start is more controlled, nuanced, and rich. He does not hammer out his fortissimos, so that may not be to everyone's taste, but his transitions are flawless, his tone beautiful, his playing unfailingly lyrical and at times quite gentle. Too precious? It's understandable how some could think so, but here's Schubert of an elevated, elegant sort. The change between the opening movement and the Adagio is remarkably uneventful, a seamless transition, and the movement unfolds within boundaries. Beauty is more important than just about anything else here. Schiff doesn't forgo energy entirely in the Presto or Allegro, and displays fine articulation and drive. It's just that the refinement level is rather marked, and purposely so, compared to some other versions. Superb. I know this is an ECM release, but I wonder if Schiff will re-record the piece on a period instrument. I certainly wouldn't mind as his first two HIP sets have been blockbusters.
 
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Alfred Brendel. Brendel starts off the Allegro con fuoco fast, but for fortissimo, it's kind of limited. Dynamics for the recording don't seem up to the best of the era he recorded in. Nonetheless, he manages to create a sense of immediacy and (almost) passion by driving forward almost relentlessly, but it ultimately seems like a calculated passion. Which is fine. A bit less fine is how the Adagio sounds more or less like the opening movement. Yes, it's a bit slower, at least in parts, but the dynamics are somewhat limited, and it doesn't contrast with the opening movement as much as other versions. That, in turn, means that both the Presto and Allegro sort of blend together into one almost entirely homogenous musical blob. Fortunately, some of the rumbly bass in the Presto does add a little something. Overall, the recording is certainly not terrible, but there are reasons I don't have a hankerin' to listen to Brendel's D760 very frequently, and revisiting this reminded me why. (Brendel's D959, well, that's another story.)
 
Superb. I know this is an ECM release, but I wonder if Schiff will re-record the piece on a period instrument. I certainly wouldn't mind as his first two HIP sets have been blockbusters.
Indeed, one of my favorite recordings of this wonderful piece.
Put me on the list for having Schiff re-record it on a period instrument!
 
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Wilhelm Kempff. Kempff was past his digital dexterity peak when he recorded the Fantasie, and one can hear it in the less than ideal fast passages, and his fortissimo isn't particularly formidable, but Kempff brings something else. There's a sort of poetry in the faster movements, and a serenity in the beginning of the Adagio, that most other versions don't capture. To be sure, his Allegro con fuoco is hardly hazy or dreamy, and he still generates oomph in loud passages, but, as with the Schubert sonatas, his playing just seems to be elevated, floating along. Some of the right hand playing the Adagio more than reinforces that, and if perhaps – meaning definitely – the playing in the Presto and Allegro could be cleaner, faster, more accurate, and more energetic, all of the shortcomings fade away and the listener is left with a masterpiece of a recording, even if flawed.
 
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Gary Graffman. Gary Graffman's first recording is of the super-speedy variety in the Allegro con fuoco, coming in at a trim 5'32". The aged mono sound of course means that dynamic range is limited, but even so, it's clear that Graffman is all about clean, clear, entirely de-romanticized playing. There's no sentiment, less poetry than some other versions, and the entire thing takes on an aggressive feel. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Adagio finds Graffman backing off quite a bit, and his playing takes on a cool sound. It's hard to label it poetic or focused on lyricism though it does sound nice enough in the quieter music. That written, Graffman isn't about the quieter music, not really. No, he's more about the fortissimo playing, which has some heft, but nothing ear shattering, even accounting for the recording quality, and he's also about that super-fast right hand playing later in the decidedly un-lied like movement. The playing becomes downright frantic. In the Presto and Allegro, Graffman goes back to the fast and aggressive styling of the opening, and, especially in the Presto, plays with an impressive clarity of voices. The disc pairing of Prokofiev ends up the perfect complement in this instance. Not a whole lot changes between the 50s mono and 60s stereo version. Graffman slows down just a bit in the opening - but he still plays fast, he still plays aggressive. The crappy, almost fake stereo effect does allow more of Graffman's dynamic range to emerge, and it is wide, resulting in an even harder hitting take. The same applies to the Adagio, which, despite its slightly longer timing, may actually sound more frantic in the final climax, as well as in the Presto and Allegro. The playing is superior to, and the work holds together better than, in Harada's hard-hitting take, but it's too much a good (?) thing.
 
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Michel Dalberto. Dalberto deploys his standard, hard-hitting, steely playing to open the Allegro con fuoco, creating a nice sense of scale, and then he uses a most effective pause before moving past the opening material. His tempo selection is not fast, and indeed much of the playing has a relaxed feel in terms of tempo. Some of the pianissimo playing, while not of the most colorful and delicate playing, is strikingly subdued, and lends itself to a movement of stark contrasts. The Adagio starts off slow with a rich, dark, heavy, almost organ like bass orientation. The playing also, somehow, sounds more like a theme and variations than most other versions, and of course the pianist's tendency to play loud passages real, real loud makes the fortissimo passages sound fortissississimo, and the broad tempo adds heft. Dalberto plays the Presto in a style like the opening, but with near- or actual-ear splitting power. Paul Lewis sounds kind of puny in comparison. Dalberto then revs up his playing for an aggressive, pushed through to the end Allegro. Not a version high in nuance, perhaps, but superb.
 
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Michael Endres. Endres sort of serves as a middle way between more purely soft-edged playing (eg, Schiff) and something harder hitting (eg, Lewis). He plays the Allegro con fuoco as a relatively rapid pace, but he lacks the massive dynamic range and power of some versions. It's fast and poetic, a sort of compact luxury sports car take. The Adagio starts off slow, but Endres otherwise makes fairly swift work of the movement, playing with not a little nervous energy, and if the dynamic swings are contained, the appeal is not. The Presto keeps the forward moving feel, but lightens up in tone, often sound tuneful and fun, while Endres zips through the concluding Allegro. Excellent.
 
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Vladimir Feltsman. Broad of tempo, large of scale, and exact in execution, Feltsman launches his Fantasie with some steely fortissimo playing and backs off to calm, attractive but not especially lovely pianissimo playing, and he alternates between the styles deftly. Missing is a sense of, well, fantasy, great lyricism, or something beyond supreme control. (The first time I heard Feltsman, a couple decades ago, was in person playing Mozart, and I was struck by the awesome command then, too.) Not a note, not an accent, not a dynamic gradation is out of place. In the Adagio, Feltsman goes for the slow open to start, sounding nearly grim, and he predictably plays the first fortissimo climax with striking power. The playing that follows is where it's at. That astonishing control keeps the gentle music almost rarified in a late LvB (read: Op 111 variations) sort of way, which allows the pianist to shatter the sense of calm with more powerful playing. The Presto is delivered with more precise playing, and Feltsman plays with real drive in the fastest passages, and then he opens the Allegro with heavy playing, almost making it sound like a Schubertian Bydlo, but then after some subdued playing, he picks things up for an exciting end.
 
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David Fray. Young David Fray's Schubert displays one of the pianist's greatest strengths - his beautiful tone - without having him indulge in one of his potentially less appealing traits - tinkering with every detail just because he can. The opening Allegro con fuoco sounds rich and beautiful and rhythmically solid, and Fray attends to details quite nicely, without tipping into indulgence. While he has no difficulty hammering out louder music, one can indeed hear how much attention he lavishes on quieter playing, something he does more in his later Schubert recordings. The dynamic range of the recording is a bit constricted for such a modern recording – it's no match for Lewis or Albanese, for instance – but it satisfies. The Adagio opens slow, dark, and reminiscent of the darkest moments of something like Winterreise. The slowest playing in the movement is meltingly beautiful, rendering time irrelevant, if only briefly, and the stormy outbursts interrupt the heavenly Schubertian goodness in a most satisfying manner. The smoothness of the transition to the Presto is about as good as it gets, and he keeps the playing uncommonly tuneful; one can almost imagine a baritone belting out a tune to the music, even in the loudest passages. Fray ends with an Allegro that sounds, well, fantastic. Neither slow nor rushed, with no outsize gestures, he creates a perfectly realized, perfectly proportioned end that glides along to the coda. I admit to being rather taken with Mr Fray's artistry, so it's no surprise that I do enjoy this.
 
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Jamina Gerl. Gerl starts off with rhythmically steady and catchy playing, with the left had adding a slight hint of grooviness, and while Gerl's playing isn't as large scaled as some, in the fortissimo passages there's a satisfying sense of quasi-orchestral scale. At least as good is the quieter playing that, while not possessed of smoothed out legato, manages to nonetheless sound smooth. The clarity of voices is quite fine, and the movement moves forward with inevitable momentum and appealing tunefulness. In the Adagio, Gerl goes for less of a lied-like sound where one can envision a singer joining in and for more of a fantastic sound, and it also sounds like she's setting up a theme and variations movement. The fortissimo sections have bite and edge, but not too much, and otherwise Gerl keeps the playing tense without overdoing the effect, all the while she keeps things suitably lyrical. She also blazes through the last fortissimo section, seeming to play right up to the edge. In the Presto, she plays with more aggressiveness and rather nifty scale, and she closes out with a fast, weighty, big sounding Allegro with souped-up march like rhythm in places, and she again pushes things right up to the edge, generating oodles of excitement. High end stuff.
 
Thanks for all this information, Todd. I do hope Jamina Gerl can play the piano, because God does this cover look naff.
 
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Evgeny Kissin. Kissin goes for a quick opening, and one with plenty of oomph but something seemingly also held back. His playing is clean, but it doesn't really flow as well as others. That written, when he decides to play some of the fast music at a manically fast pace, he doesn't even break sweat. The Adagio starts slow and somber, and Kissin shows himself a master at playing pianissimo, and of course the fortissimo playing is well executed. Kissin doesn't rush the Presto at all, imparting some ease into some of the playing, though the fast, hard hitting music is fast, hard hitting, and ridiculously easy sounding, as is the fast Allegro. While not the best version out there, and while Kissin seems occasionally informed by a youthful desire to dazzle, there's no real complaining about the playing.
 
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