Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Sonatas Volume 1
Martin Helmchen (piano)
rec. 2024, Casals Forum, Kronberg Academy, Germany
Alpha Classics 1174 [2 CDs: 146]

A decision to record a complete cycle of the Schubert Piano Sonatas requires more than the ordinary degree of forethought from an artist. There is a question about when they feel truly ready to do it – more a matter of emotional maturity than technical issues. The Piano Sonata No. 1, written when Schubert was 18, may feel straightforward enough, but it’s not long before the performer is plunged into the world of Schubertian extremes, which Arno Lücker in his booklet notes characterises as ‘familiar, but not unnecessarily complicated virtuosity versus simple inwardness, cheerfully lilting Ländler versus dramatic bursts of madness.’ Then there is the related issue of how to plan each instalment, and how to make any one volume digestible as a recital, given the huge Beethovenian-like gap between early and late works, with the added complication that early Schubert might have less to recommend it than early Beethoven. And there is the question of what is meant by ‘complete’. Three of the sonatas in the first volume of Martin Helmchen’s planned cycle pose problems here: that first Sonata in E major lacks an entire last movement; the final movement of the Sonata in C major was left unfinished; and the first and last movements of the Sonata in F sharp minor were not completely notated. Finally, there is the perennial topic of how to approach exposition repeats, which are key to the balance and substance of the sonatas.

How has Martin Helmchen tackled these various conundrums? Well, he is now 43 and has been playing Schubert since his teenage years. His distinguished discography includes a Schubert Trio. I think one can safely say he hasn’t rushed into the undertaking. He has sensibly selected sonatas from throughout Schubert’s compositional career for this first volume and given careful consideration to impact and ordering. As far as ‘completeness’ goes, Helmchen has followed the pioneering approach of Paul Badura-Skoda, whose writings and performances have been influential. So, where possible, Helmchen has chosen to give us informed integrity rather than simply presenting the music Schubert left in its incomplete state. He uses Badura-Skoda’s completion of the C major Sonata, and has provided his own additions for the one in F sharp minor. Finally, following Badura-Skoda’s example, exposition repeats are played.

The results are a set of thought-provoking performances. If I don’t completely share Helmchen’s view of the extent to which the E major Sonata shows the young Schubert as a distinctive writer of piano music, his performance of it is as entertaining and engaging as it could be, suffused with clarity and attack. Without that missing last movement, concluding with the Minuet does sound odd, but Helmchen sensibly doesn’t strive to make it more weighty or ‘conclusive’. His filling out of the score in the F sharp minor Sonata seems wholly effective to me, and if you want evidence of the extraordinary and rapid development of the composer, then surely the first movement of this Sonata provides it, especially in Helmchen’s performance, where its opening pages have an otherworldly quality. The first CD ends with a riveting performance of the Sonata in D major, D.850. In some performances, this can feel a slightly unbalanced work, with the brilliance and risk-taking of the first movement tending to overshadow what follows. Not here. There is undoubtedly plenty of brilliance in Helmchen’s dispatch of that opening Allegro movement, where he is able to make the contrasts coherent and vital. There is joy and effervescence, but also something much darker and a real relish of its virtuosic demands. His second movement Con moto has lyricism and warmth with the feeling of something monumental just below the surface. The Scherzo flies by, but with a beautifully contrasted middle section, and then the extraordinary way Helmchen allows the last movement Rondo to fade into nothingness, really testing how far to take the triple piano marking at its end, is a demonstration of musicianship of the highest order.

There is another early sonata at the start of the second CD, the C Major D279, which, in Helmchen’s reading, is at times charming, at others scintillating. Badura-Skoda’s approach to the final movement Allegretto also seems entirely congruent and satisfying in performance. I liked what I take to be the deliberately effortful feel Helmchen adopts for the first movement of the A Minor Sonata that follows: there is strength and struggle and an interesting suggestion of Schubert the stoic in his reading. His approach to the Allegro vivace finale I found utterly compelling, indeed immersive, with what Lücker describes as a ‘crazy canon’ of thirds and triplets played off against a heavily contrasted second theme. In some ways, it’s simple music, but it requires a concert pianist’s technique to bring off the double challenges of embracing and communicating the movement’s sensibility whilst making light of its technical demands.

The Sonata in A major feels the perfect way to end this first, very well-recorded volume. The first movement has to sing, but projecting that fey, slightly naif melody is more difficult than it seems. It is so easy for its line to be broken up or overplayed, but Helmchen gets it just right. His second movement has just the right dash of contrasting melancholy, and there is again a lovely line to his playing of the Allegro finale.

I have learned a lot from these performances. Not just about the earlier sonatas, which I hardly knew, but Helmchen’s interpretations of the much-recorded later works have an insight and freshness which is instructive and illuminating in the best possible way. I’m happy there is more to come.

Dominic Hartley

Contents
Piano Sonata in E major, D157
Piano Sonata in F sharp minor D571
Piano Sonata in D major, D850
Piano Sonata in C major, D279
Piano Sonata in A minor, D784
Piano Sonata in A major, D664

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