Brahms, Rhapsody in G minor Op. 79/2 played by Artur Schnabel

Schnabel recorded this sturdy performance of Brahms's G minor rhapsody in 1947, four years before he died. Brahms's idea of what constitutes a rhapsody seems to have been very different from Liszt's!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Brahms
• Rhapsody
• in
• minor
• Artur
• Schnabel
• paulprocopolis

[snaaptaker]

And yes, Friedman was certainly a "Pole" apart from Schnabel! :-))

[paulprocopolis]

@snaaptaker Ha ha - a very german(e) comment I think!

[shelver93]

For some reason, this is really good music to write an essay to. Beautiful music that seems to be quite inspiring!

[paulprocopolis]

@shelver93 What's your essay on??

[Sinfoniette]

Love Schnabel's Brahms....thanks.

[snaaptaker]

Technique, Schmecnique!! This has been just about my all-time favorite recording of this Rhapsody for the past 40-or-so years. I don't think you will ever hear it played better.

[nozeadinpencizx]

@snaaptaker I agree with you! This is indeed a "sturdy" performance and beautifully executed. Thank heaven it was recorded (and saved) before Schnabel died.

[Pianoplayer002]

could somebody enlighten me, what are some of the technical errors in this wonderfully musical recording that makes it sooo bad for some of you people around here?

[downtoearthwildguy]

Friedman was a subtle and brilliant Chopin pianist. Schnabel was expert at the central German repertoire (Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms Schubert). They both studied with the same teacher, Theodore Leschetisky--a direct musical descendant from Beethoven. It's ironic that Freidman studied with him since he was a "Beethoven"/German tradition teacher. I don't think Schnabel recorded any Chopin? They are utterly different pianists.

[ayso78]

On the contrary, most piano rolls don't even come close to accurately representing artists, and there is a famous Schnabel quote as to why he chose not to make them himself. I've heard the Friedman rolls on Nimbus, and they leave much to be desired. No, I don't consider it to be a "recording," and agree to disagree with you with regard to tempos, which are often up to the person playing back the roll.

[uhartchristian]

So you finally changed mind and accept that he did record this 4th ballade.... about the tempo in general the piano rolls do reflect the right tempo as it was recorded. They did not change the tempo artificially. I feel that you don t like this pianist who really had incredible possibilities and who was a great musician too.... His recordings of Chopin Mazurkas are still "the" reference,,,,