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04/06/2023
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonatas in A minor, D537, & in A major, D959
Garrick Ohlsson (piano)
Recording: St. Silas the Martyr, Kentish Town, London, England (November 24 and 25, 2021) – 65’59
Hyperion CPA68398 (Distributed by [Integral]) – Booklet in English, French and German
 
Since he won the International Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1970, American pianist Garrick Ohlsson has been identified with the music of Chopin and other Romantics. Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Scriabin? Yes. Schubert? Not so much. Schubert is a difficult composer to play and sometimes to listen to. Many pianists who otherwise flock to the classical and romantic masters, make a quick curtsy to Schubert and then move swiftly on. “Let Uchida do it”, they seem to say, acknowledging the near‑monopoly on these performances by Mitsuko Uchida, the reigning queen of Schubertiana.
Who knows the reason for this tendency to Schubert avoidance. The piano sonatas are challenging with a level of complexity a listener can get lost in. But I think mostly it is the unforgiving sadness and sense of impending loss that drives good musicians and listeners alike away from the gem‑filled treasury of the composer’s keyboard works. When I saw Ohlsson’s new Schubert album, containing the composer’s earliest complete piano sonata and one from the miracle of his last year, I was eager to hear what the Chopin master would make of them.
The new Hyperion recording contains just two sonatas, both in keys near and dear to the composer’s heart: the Piano Sonata in A minor in three movements and the Piano Sonata in A major in four movements. From the first measures of the A minor, Ohlsson creates a mood of quiet strength that forms the foundation of each sonata. But there is a gentle halo of sadness shimmering over even the most cheerful moments. I often wonder whether we would hear these intimations of desolation if we didn’t know the composer’s life would be cut short so soon. Schubert certainly read the writing on the wall in the final years before his demise at 31. Yet, the whispers of a slight but penetrating sorrow seem to haunt even this early work, composed when Schubert was only 20.
Ohlsson’s touch throughout this selection is airy and light, yet at times marches forward with urgency alternating with moments of sweet tenderness. The pianist’s caress yields a gentle second movement, leading to a rondo of wistful memories. In this, the third movement, I would have liked to have heard a little more nuance, some of the pathos associated with the minor mode and the expressive power of rests. Like Beethoven, Schubert uses measures of silence to make a point; they can be shocking and are not to be quickly slipped through, but lingered on, breathlessly. The same is true of fermatas. Holding a chord beyond its value can enhance expression if used with discretion.
The album concludes with one of Schubert’s most affecting works, the Piano Sonata in A major from the last grand cluster of sonatas the composer penned before his death. Ohlsson’s playing reveals a universe of Schubertian ideas and feelings, with themes interweaving and tumbling after each other, and chromatic moments at times reminiscent of Bach. The wistful second movement is a personal favorite, cleanly conveyed, though there is room for more emotional expression.
The third movement, Scherzo, is bouncy and bright, with a sweet little trio. His talent undiminished by the years, Ohlsson sails through the fourth movement with the same measured consistency that characterizes his playing throughout these two sonatas. These are lyrical, if not emotionally challenging performances, revealing the composer’s quiet strength. Let’s hope this elegant American artist records more Schubert in the years ahead, and may we listen with appreciative ears and an understanding heart.
Linda Holt
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