# Schubert sonata 21 in b flat D960



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I consider this piece as one of the sublimest creations of music ever made by a man. It has been described as the pianists Hamlet. About I was wondering who people thought that the best interpreters of this enigmatic music. So far in our CD collection with have kovacevich, brendel (last concert), richter, Lupu, Schnabel. These are all great performers of the peace in a different ways. How you any favourites.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

We´ve had this coming up a few times lately. But:

Yudina, Richter in Prague, Horowitz DG, Horowitz RCA and actually also the rather mainstream Damgaard are those I like the most. I´ve got Serkin, Haskil, Sofronitsky, Schnabel, Kempff, Arrau and a few more too.

Needless to say, Yudina´s is very personal and Horowitz/RCA is generally not popular, for instance it is unusually fast, and the broader and slower DG is usually preferred by critics.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

There is a thread on this subject around here somewhere. Anyway, Richter and Schnabel represent the 'poles of interpretation' of the work. Kempff is fairly near the Schnabel pole, You may want to hear him. Afannasiev(sp) is actually even slower than Richter, and he may be asking for more attention span than you are willing to give.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Richard Goode has an excellent and reflective reading...


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## Hausmusik (May 13, 2012)

DavidA said:


> I consider this piece as one of the sublimest creations of music ever made by a man. It has been described as the pianists Hamlet. About I was wondering who people thought that the best interpreters of this enigmatic music. So far in our CD collection with have kovacevich, brendel (last concert), richter, Lupu, Schnabel. These are all great performers of the peace in a different ways. How you any favourites.


Hello David,

I share your deep admiration for this piece, which seems to me possibly the finest thing Schubert wrote. Perhaps, also, the last of the great piano sonatas? Anyway, I have more than a dozen recordings of it, including:

Andsnes
Arrau
Brendel (on Philips Duo)
Goode
Fleisher (on Two Hands)
Hough
Klien
Lupu
Perahia
Pollini
Rubinstein
Schiff
Uchida

I've also heard, but don't own, the (in)famous Richter recording, among others not as worth mentioning.

Like Ken, I have a special fondness for the Goode performance, which I probably return to most often, although it skips the first movement repeat (and thus misses out on a few bars of additional great music in the transition to the repeat). I rate the Brendel (analog on Philips--I haven't yet heard his digital version) really highly too, though it also skips the repeat. Both performers have a real "feeling" for Schubert and these performances have a warmth and depth of feeling that draws me in every time.

A real sleeper is Leon Fleisher's performance (with repeat!) on the _Two Hands_ album; I don't even think the piece is even listed on the front cover, yet it's one of the most moving I've heard.

Rounding out my top six would be Uchida, Hough, and Pollini (all of whom include the repeat).

I find Andras Schiff, whose Beethoven cycle is often so terrific, surprisingly disappointing in this work, mainly on the basis of an enervated final movement. The first movement is nice and he handles the transition to the expo repeat especially well. But the slow movement is fussy in phrasing and emotionally aloof and the final movement is a letdown.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I'm a fan of Brendel for this one myself.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

If it's still around, Clifford Curzon's performance (originally on Decca) is good. Also, for non-mainstream pianists, there's an old Orion disc with Gabriel Chodos, and a relatively more recent CD with Andrew Rangell that are both worth hearing.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I know that Ludwig worked his whole life to arrive at the plumbed depths as far as the piano sonata is concerned, and Schubert's complete sonata output isn't of the highest level - but then he turns out his last 3 and they're of a quality unsurpassed even by Beethoven. Especially this last one. I have a recording by Arthur Schnabel and I adore this sonata. It's both accessible and profound, no trickery for trickery's sake, it's both large and intimate, disturbing and frightened. I love my old Schnabel recording and have no problem to recommend it to anybody...


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## Hausmusik (May 13, 2012)

Kieran said:


> I know that Ludwig worked his whole life to arrive at the plumbed depths as far as the piano sonata is concerned, and Schubert's complete sonata output isn't of the highest level - but then he turns out his last 3 and they're of a quality unsurpassed even by Beethoven. Especially this last one. I have a recording by Arthur Schnabel and I adore this sonata. It's both accessible and profound, no trickery for trickery's sake, it's both large and intimate, disturbing and frightened. I love my old Schnabel recording and have no problem to recommend it to anybody...


Hi Kieran,
I agree that Schubert's final three sonatas are unsurpassed, but that doesn't mean Schubert didn't reach this level in earlier sonatas. The two great A minor sonatas, esp. D.784, and the G Major "Fantasie" sonata are certainly masterpieces; arguably 664 as well, on a smaller, more intimate scale. I'd even suggest that his sonata cycle as a whole is surpassed only by Beethoven.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I have Uchida and Schiff, but Richter is my favorite. (I like Uchida's very much too.)

I'll look for the Fleisher that Hausmusik mentioned.


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## Hausmusik (May 13, 2012)

I admit, it's impossible for me to judge this performance remotely objectively, since my reaction is influenced by the story of his recovery from dystonia, which lends the performance a certain Heiliger Dankgesang quality.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Schnabel is superlative,Curzon,Serkin and Lili Kraus are not far behind.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

DavidA said:


> I consider this piece as one of the sublimest creations of music ever made by a man. It has been described as the pianists Hamlet. About I was wondering who people thought that the best interpreters of this enigmatic music. So far in our CD collection with have kovacevich, brendel (last concert), richter, Lupu, Schnabel. These are all great performers of the peace in a different ways. How you any favourites.


I was half asleep when I wrote this and missed off three performances I also have of this sonata. I also have the Kempff as part of the complete sonatas. Also a very personal reading by Geza Anda which is part of a Brilliant Box. Then I have it as part of the last three sonatas played by Pollini.

One thing I find amazing about this work is the number of different approaches pianists can take and still be convincing. Perhaps it is the enigmatic nature of the music. It is truly the pianist's 'hamlet' in this respect. Just what was Schubert's mood when he wrote it? If Richter is anything to go by his mood was utter despair. When I played Richter's recording my wife asked: 'What is that sad music?' It is all so bleak! Incredible playing. I heard Glenn Gould who said although he did not care for Schubert he was utterly gripped from start to finish when he heard Richter play this.

I love all the performances in my collection. I wouldn't be without any of them. But one which seems to combine most and get to the heart of the work is Kovacevich. In the slow movement he really plumbs the depths. But it is impossible to find a 'best' interpretation. They all show different aspects of the work.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Stargazer said:


> I'm a fan of Brendel for this one myself.


I have the performance that was part of his last concerts. Seems to sum up a lifetime's devotion to Schubert. I always felt it a pity that Brendel missed out the first movement repeat as did Schnabel and Curzon. But great playing.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

moody said:


> Schnabel is superlative,Curzon,Serkin and Lili Kraus are not far behind.


I learned this work from the Schnabel performance. We all owe him a debt for resurrecting the Schubert sonatas when no-one else rated them. Incredible that many people viewed his music as little more than salon music. But I think Schubert plumbed even more emotional depths that L van Beethoven. What would he have written had he lived another couple of years?
Brendel wrote: 'Nothing can reconcile us with the cynicism of a fate that took his life at the age of thirty-one.'


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

science said:


> I have Uchida and Schiff, but Richter is my favorite. (I like Uchida's very much too.)
> 
> I'll look for the Fleisher that Hausmusik mentioned.


I'll look for Fleischer too.


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

Richter at 25 minutes on the opening movement (Molto Moderato) is so gut wrenching slow that tears were flowing in my eyes.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I like Sokolov's.


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