Déjà Review: this review was first published in November 2000 and the recording is still available.

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D, D850
Piano Sonata No. 14 in A minor, D784
Mitsuko Uchida (piano)
rec. 1999
Philips 464 480-2 [62]

Mitsuko Uchida is very slowly working through a Schubert Sonata cycle which has been widely acclaimed, although some critics have not been happy with very slow tempi in certain movements. The present disc presents Schubert in two highly contrasting moods.

The Sonata in D major was written in the summer of 1825 when he had spent an extended tour of upper Austria and was written in the spa town of Gastein. It is one of the most brilliant and outgoing of all his piano pieces. The first movement is very rhythmic and sounds rather like Beethoven, it is played here with great verve and precision. Both the second movement and much of the scherzo are dominated by very slow and expressive playing, with considerable dynamic range. The finale has a charming “tick-tock” accompaniment which is very different in spirit from the preceding movements and which gradually fades into the distance with a slow hushed coda, making an unexpected end to this mainly extrovert work which is managed very well in this recording.

The A minor Sonata dates from 1823 and is a much bleaker work, overshadowed by his response to the syphilis which was to end his life. The work is exceptionally cold and austere. The very long opening movement opens with a slow mysterious theme which dominates the movement and alternates with short violent episodes, very well played in this recording. The slow movement is played softly and very slowly so that it almost comes to a halt. The last movement has a main theme played very quickly with a contrasting slow theme which looks back to the previous movement, the mood is defiant rather than heroic and this movement is particularly well balanced here.

Overall the recording, on a 1962 Steinway, is excellent in every way. The playing exemplary; every note exactly in place and carefully planned. It is very much a performance of the 21st Century with wild precision in the quicker passages contrasting with very slow and often very quiet andante passages. Many listeners, including this reviewer will prefer an older style of Schubert playing as achieved by artists such as Artur Schnabel and Clifford Curzon who can obtain magical effects without extremes in tempi or dynamics.

Arthur Baker

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