GREAT PIANISTS SCHNABEL (1882-1951)

1936-1950 Recordings

 

J. S. BACH

 

Italian Concerto in F, BWV 971

Recorded 11th November 1938, London

 

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903

Recorded 15th-16th June 1948, London

 

Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 850

(from Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier)

Recorded 13th June 1950, London

 

Toccata in C minor, BWV 911; Toccata in D major, BWV 912

Recorded 24th November 1937, London

 

Concerto No. 2 in C major for Two Keyboards, BWV1061 with Karl Ulrich Schnabel (piano)

London Symphony Orchestra / Adrian Boult

Recorded 28th October 1936, London

 

Artur Schnabel (piano)

 

This release contains all of Schnabel’s commercial disc recordings of the works of J. S. Bach, a composer whose keyboard music the pianist felt was too intimate for performance in the concert hall. One of Schnabel’s greatest talents was the ability to employ not only seemingly natural tempos but, more importantly, the perfect tempo relationship between sections and movements.

 

Of the recording of the Toccata in C minor, BWV 911, one critic wrote upon its release, “Schnabel has rarely made a more satisfying recording than this. He refuses speed and brilliance to the opening Allegro moderato, taking it more slowly than is usual… he makes the transition to the Adagio seem inevitably right.”

 

The Prelude and Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier was the last recording Schnabel made before his death in 1951.

 

“...his [Schnabel's] musical conduct is impeccable: his rhythm alive as fire, his line ringingly clear, his articulation acute but unfussy, his ability to convey a work's formal plasticity unrivalled.” The Sunday Times

 

“Schnabel's performances…emerged fresh and spontaneous with a raciness and eloquence all his own.

[The next volume] is eagerly awaited.” Gramophone

 

Naxos Historical 8111286