Customer Reviews

Schubert: Sonata in B flat, D. 960 / Allegretto in C minor / Impromptu in A flat

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Goode is at his best in this extraordinary performance of this extraordinary sonata -- written shortly before Schubert's death. The andante -- with its rumbling, ominous, resonant and (above all) beautiful bass -- is heartbreaking. Goode plays with an understanding of the nuances of the sonata that seem to me to be more sensitive than any other performance I've heard.

Goode plays Schubert's Sonata in b flat with superb contol and grace. I believe this to be the best recording of this sonata that is available. It is absolutely beautiful.

This is a great recording! If a piano can ever "sing" its phrases, Goode's piano does. The critical balance in any Schubert performance is between sentiment and structure (musicality, sonority). Goode finds the perfect balance here.

I generally leave Richard Goode out of my calculations when searching for excellent Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. He's widely admired, but where others hear correctness and proportion, I hear timidity and lack of personality. In the case of Schubert, I don't necessarily want the music to sound like Beethoven, but it shouldn't sound as if Beethoven never lived. On the advice of a fan, I went back to this CD of the last, greatest Schuber sonata. For some old hands, nothing will ever surpass Schnabel's historical recordings of Schubert (on EMI). I don't agree: later pianists with more technique and equal imagination have risen to the challenge, among them Richter and Pollini.

Goode's B-flat Sonata is more restrained than either of them, and much more subdued than Serkin's craggy account, which attacks the piece like late Beethoven. Goode seems to feel that the first movement is neither mysterious nor conflicted -- he makes it all one smooth, lyrical flow. The result is pleasant and accomplished but lacks temperament. The second movement Andante begins with a heartbreaking melody, and here Goode finds a lovely tempo and just the right touch -- it's hard to balance forward motion, lyrical simplicity, and underlying sadness. The quicker, more turbulent second subject is smoothed out too much, but this movement kept my interest throughout.

The Scherzo benefits from a performer who can dramatize all the small possibilities for sudden accents and changes of touch. Goode, true to form, homogenizes the melodic line instead, turning it into one agreeable flow. There's more to find than he does. It's no surprise, then, that the finale, taken fairly moderately, lacks tension, surprise, and thrills. It must be said that Nonesuch's piano sound is gorgeous and full; it's a major asset.

In all, my impression of Goode as a safe pianist who favors clarity and classical restraint wasn't changed, but neither was my sense that he is a musiccal and appealing interpreter, within his limits.