Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D850 & D784 [Import]

Franz [Vienna] Schubert (Composer), Mitsuko Uchida (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Mitsuko Uchida
• Composer: Franz [Vienna] Schubert
• Audio CD (May 9, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Philips Import
• ASIN: B00004TJUU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,533 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat studied but always musical Schubert, May 9, 2006

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D850 & D784 (Audio CD)

If this entire CD recital of two great Schubert piano sonatas were as good as the opening Allegro of D. 850, Uchida would have made one of the best Schubert recordings in a long time. In that movement she shows none of her all-too-characteristic self-consciousness, giving a whirlwind reading full of natural briO and very original phrasing-- a fascinating musical mind is at work.

But as the other movements progress, she does fall into her studied mannerisms, and the second sonata, D. 784, could use a good deal more vigor and less holding back for the sake of extra nuance. Despite this complaint, there is no doubt that Uchida is remarkably well-suited to bringing out the extra dimensions in Schubert's piano writing, which is at once as simple as water and as mystifying as fog. I intend to enjoy this CD one sonata at a time, which seems to be the best way to apreciate her fine-grained approach without growing tired of it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mitsuko Uchida's Schubert here good but not best, August 24, 2010

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P. Adrian "Adrian" (Arad, Romania) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D850 & D784 (Audio CD)

I must admit that - compared to companion volumes in Mitsuko Uchida's series of recordings devoted to sonatas and other piano works by Schubert - this very CD lacks something essential. I am not able to point out namely what, since her technical command is sparkling as ever, her beautiful tones get their proper nuances, her overwhelming finger-work amazes, her sense of narration follows the logical trajectory of each movement in searching the desired objectivity (though making a little bit too harsh and cold her approach) and the recorded sound is fabulous (masterly captured in that splendid golden hall at Musikverein in Vienna),.

Perhaps the lacking feature of Uchida's present rendition stems in the fact that she misses for a little the singing quality of this wonderful music, seemingly uninterested in that leisure play interconnecting notes and translating them into a floating cantabile so specific to Schubert (and so magisterially crafted by her in Impromptus, for instance). In trying to offer a completely unsentimental account of Schubert's sonatas in D major (D 850) and A minor (D 784), Mitsuko Uchida asks herself here to be insensitive to the playfulness of these scores. Everything seems too exact, too rigorous and grave with Uchida in these two sonatas. The small units seem not blend each other as to give rise to that fabulous main line, lightly singing and flowing naturally. They remain disparate, however much polished by Uchida's care for detail. If the expansive Sonata in D major allows for overweighed outbursts and sharp contrasts, even for brusque mood changes and discontinue sound isles in an outwardly-oriented discourse, the most lyrical A minor Sonata fails to become seductive under such a treatment.

All in all, this is a well-worthy recording for Uchida fans and for those who had no previous exposure to Alfred Brendels's or Radu Lupu's more refined versions of these sonatas. The comments above are nothing else than a short argument for giving only four stars to this valuable recording.

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Recording of These Two Schubert Piano Sonatas But......, December 27, 2006

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John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D850 & D784 (Audio CD)

Much to my amazement, Philips recorded this fine CD in the great hall of Vienna's Musikverein, offering some of the best, most realistic, sound I have heard for a recent classical piano recording. But this superb sound quality may not be a primary reason for those interested in acquiring this CD, which is, in of itself, an interesting study in contrasts between Schubert's most exuberant piano sonata (D major, D850) and most austere (A minor, D784). Distinguished pianist Mitsuko Uchida offers two compelling performances, especially of the D major sonata, which should be of interest to both her fans as well as passionate - and knowledgeable - students of Schubert's piano sonatas. But her performances will be infuriating to some listeners, since she tends to dramatize a bit too much, the accents present in Schubert's scores, especially in the D major sonata (Having heard both Alfred Brendel and Paul Badura-Skoda perform this sonata live in concert, I will note that I have more of a preference for their lyrical interpretations, which are quite dissimilar from each other, and yet, in their own distinctive ways, quite compelling.). Still, I hope that others will agree with me that Uchida has offered her own, thoughtful, interpretations of each score, which should be considered as noteworthy as those I've heard live or in recordings from Brendel, Badura-Skoda and the late, great Wilhelm Kempff. So I will concur with others, most notably the Penguin Guide, that this fine recording should not be regarded as a definitive recording of either sonata; however, it is one well worth listening.