COMPOSERS: Schubert
LABELS: Bridge
ALBUM TITLE: Schubert
WORKS: Impromptus, D935; Sonata in B flat, D960
PERFORMER: Inon Barnatan (pianoa)
CATALOGUE NO: 9197
Sooner or later, most pianists feel
obliged to record the Sonata which
was Schubert’s musical last will and
testament. While Inon Barnatan
makes clear in his liner note that
he isn’t setting out to supplant
Schnabel, Lupu et al, he precedes
the B flat major with four
Impromptus which he argues
should be seen as a sonata too; and
his performance, in which they
complement each other gracefully,
lends substance to that argument.
Barnatan has an instinctive feel for
the poetry of the soprano/bass duet
in the Allegro Moderato; his tempo is
relaxed, as it is in the second piece,
whose major melody he infuses with
minor regret. But in the variations his
pace becomes so slow and tentative
that momentum and shape are lost.
What we need here is something
akin to the glowing lyricism of Radu
Lupu’s 1982 recording for Decca.
Embarking on the B flat major
itself, Barnatan’s playing has a
honeyed softness, but as the first
movement progresses, something
seems amiss. Either because he wants
to stress the left-hand line, or because
of the miking, the whole thing sounds
bass-heavy, and Schubert’s complex
structure feels askew. Paul Lewis’s
recent recording for Harmonia Mundi
makes a formidable comparison here,
with its exquisite balance throughout.
And where Lewis’s second movement
is silky-smooth, Barnatan’s plods
slightly, while his third movement
lacks the requisite mercurial quality,
and he makes Schubert’s crashing
fortissimo surprises in the finale
too crude. Yet Barnatan does give
pleasure: his sincerity charms, and
he skilfully deploys a wide palette of
colour, from pastel shades to imperial
purple. Michael Church