Wilhelm Kempff plays Schubert 3 Piano Pieces D 946

[@marksmale827]

This is an extraordinarily unconventional set of pieces, even by the unconventional standards of Franz Schubert. WK’s superb survey of the Schubert sonata cycle will probably never be surpassed, even if other readings of some individual sonatas may be preferred. I hope that it remains in the catalogue forever.

[@josephlaredo5272]

What's marvellous about Kempff's playing is that he never plays merely 'loud' or 'soft'; there's always a quality to the sound he produces, and he can give the impression of loud or soft by a change of quality. His voicing of chords and his singing lines are simply magical. These are greatly underrated arts these days, and Kempff is (therefore?) a greatly underrated artist. Thanks for posting.

[@ЕленаОрловская-д7л]

1

[@berlinzerberus]

I have heard Kempff at the end of the 1970s live. He played Beethoven op.106 'Hammerklavier', great sound and technique the first movement and Scherzo. And after, the Adagio sostenuto: Ohhh mein Gott, ich hatte solch ein Klavierspiel noch nicht gehört, dieser Ausdruck, die Phrasierung, diese Klangsensibilität der Wille, die Poesie in Architektur zu formen, dieser gewaltige Interpret Wilhelm Kempff, da wurde es mir klar. Ich verlor zum Leidwesen meiner musikalischen Mutter die Fassung und weinte!

[@TiticatFollies]

So completely and utterly gorgeous. It takes the breath away. I can't stop sighing.

[@dayzen1512]

The best interpretation of 946 among several dozens I have been listening.

[@reinhardrossdeutscher5845]

Neben dieser (Londoner) Live-Aufzeichnung hat Kempff die "Drei Klavierstücke" Ende der 60er Jahre auch für DG im Studio eingespielt, auf gleicher interpretatorischer Höhe (LP zusammen mit den Hüttenbrenner- Variationen). War mal später auf CD gekoppelt mit einer Sonate; könnte noch im DG-Katalog vorhanden sein.

[@drs6884]

Thank you for posting this wonderful recording! Always wanted to hear these intriguing pieces played by the great Kempff. I agree with many enthusiastic comments here: it is absolutely magical!

[@marcap1000]

The "right breeze" was blowing that night, It is as with an aeolian harp, and here it works splendidly,

[@berlinman46]

Kempff-.One of the Greatest!!

[@Andy-xb5qg]

This is called Greatness! Kempff has always been great, but this is outstanding! Thanks for sharing

[@musicfanBRA]

Beautiful pieces, especially the beginning of the first piece. Thanks for posting!

[@SGregW]

What? Two thumbs down!? Really!?!?! The third part of No.2 is among the most mesmerizing parlando playing anywhere, and No.3 absolutely dances off of the page.

[@caginn]

SGregW Give a try to Yulianna Avdeeva for the same part and for the rest of the work:kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2KcdaKbe7qFY6M

[@AlexanderArsov]

It's now six thumbs down. Where is this world going?

[@rupert99]

Sorry Andeeva is excellent but her legato is not in the order of Kempff and Richter

[@scriabinist434]

Brendel's is the top to me, Kempff is a little boring here

[@friedrich1012]

Kempff genial 👌 gracias ☺️

[@paulprocopolis]

I love the sense of spontaneity that characterises Kempff's playing (here and elsewhere), not to mention the exquisite tonal beauty. His way with Schubert's guileless melodies in No.2 (at c.5.40" and c.10'20") is little short of miraculous. The audience must have been totally mesmerised - there is no coughing! The slowish tempo for No.3 gives the music a deliciously nonchalant playfulness. (Is this the 1969 BBC broadcast from London's Queen Elizabeth Hall?)

[@滝川岬一]

この曲は大好きでよく聴いています。A。ブレンデル。＆ユリアンナ、アヴデ-エワのCDを愛聴しておりますが。今日ケンプのノ演奏を聴き正直驚きました。７４歳の演奏とは信じられないような,明確で,濁りがなく一音一音が優しく包み込むような暖かさがあります。この音源は大切にしたいものです。

[@TiticatFollies]

SImply gorgeous.

[@annjeanmillikan]

Fabulous, superb!

[@Andy-xb5qg]

It is superb!

[@berlinzerberus]

Dear Gentlemen! [Nosh and Sir bloodgrss] I am of course not only touched and most grateful for those kind words but I feel also very honoured. Let me say that it was my pleasure to meet you, because both of you are experts in music and sophisticated partners with an immense intellectual background and witty eloquence...in a word I enjoy you wise men! ;-) Thank you very much I have got to know you! Sincerely K l a u s

[@AulicExclusiva]

Incomparable.

[@berlinzerberus]

Yes, he played the G major Sonata by Schubert marvellously, in particular the last movement!

[@pianopera]

So, Kempff is a poet without writing poetry, Brendel writes poems but remains a notary. ;-)

[@berlinzerberus]

Sir, listen to 10:30 - 13:23 ..Heaven, that´s what I mean!

[@bizbizo2988]

its Schubert and his friend Kempff in paradise making music for the gods and angels

[@bloodgrss]

"What a kempf here !? :)" Sharp 'bon mots'..... And, speaking of Kempff...he does play beautifully here.. Thanks for sharing it and giving this forum for our benign and self-righteous rants ! ;-)

[@jeremyd1021]

Revelatory playing. I had never really cared for these pieces as other Schubert masterworks before, but that was because my only exposure to them was the muscular playing of Zimmerman and Richter. Kempff was a master of all he played

[@berlinzerberus]

..I see, but let me say that Alfred Brendel would have been quite happy, if he had only a small part of Kempff´s imagination! ;-)

[@friedrich1012]

Esta música te hace inmortal.

[@dimitridemetriades2637]

I have been playing these marvellous pieces myself , and find Kempff´s rendering simply great and magical ! I grew up in a household where there was the box with all Beethoven sonatas , so that was i was accustomed to when I started studying music , back in the seventies . For quite a time then my attention shifted to the great virtuosos , and although I still revere some of them ( Richter , for instance ), later I found myself drawn to Kempff again, to my surprise , sometimes . I think Brendel is right i n what he says about Kempff. He could really have this poetic Quality , like only a few others. You can hear it also in Schubert´s f - minor Sonata , a live performance , too , where he gives the Music that poetic extra , and so , in my opinion, surpasses even Richter . I saw him playing only once , when he was 85 , and played Schumann´s Concerto in Munich , with R. Kubelik and the Bavarian RSO. I attended the rehearsal , too , and was impressed by how his tempi were well judged and never too fast , just for the showing off … He was , in fact , together with Artur Schnabel , one of the very , very few Musicians who played Schubert ´s Piano sonatas in the early 20th century. And , he was also a Composer , at a certain time he had , as a young man , more than a few operas that were performed !

[@Andy-xb5qg]

Kempff is certainly a wonderful pianist. No doubt about it!! It's just a pity to mention people like Brendel, as he is just not a reference at all... (to put it mildly)

[@englishfromatoz8970]

Thank you!

[@tomjung1067]

Magic

[@arturozeballos1]

tengo el cd original, una maravilla.

[@pianopera]

Kempff's live performances were precarious, but this is definitely one of the highlights! Is this from the Queen Elizabeth Hall recital? Beautiful singing tone.

[@Menurella]

Grazie mille!

[@pianopera]

Another example is the great Backhaus, who stated in the book "great pianists on piano playing" by James Francis Cooke: "It would seem that the science of music (for the processes of studying the art are undoubtedly scientific) left little territory for new explorers and inventors. Despite the great number of études that have been written, imagine for one moment what a desert the technic of music would be without Czerny, Clementi, Tausig, Pischna"...

[@jacopastorius319]

the best

[@chazinko]

Coming from Jaco Pastorius that is indeed a compliment!

[@Andy-xb5qg]

It's certainly great, but not THE best... The greatest is still Arrau.

[@morinoroba]

Very true!

[@pianopera]

With precarious I mean that his live performances were uneven, maybe more than with other great pianists. Maybe I was just unlucky that I heard a couple of those less successful recordings. Also Brendel said that Kempff could be quite "variable", and I agree with him!

[@U38066]

Thank you! Could you please tell where the recital took place? I have found this audio DIFFERENT to another live recording of Kempff, and of course, different to his studio recording at DG.

[@berlinzerberus]

In which way 'precarious'? A very good memory has served him, he didn´t suffer from stage fright at all combined with an extraordinary ability to improvise. Yes, as we all know, there was the unsteady technical aspect of Kempff´s piano playing as a result of NOT practising enough. I heard him live in concert many times and he was always well prepared, however wrong notes here and there, that´s true..but precarious...no I don´t think so!

[@bloodgrss]

Indeed---I have never advocated against Kempff ! ...at his best, one of the blessed spirits of the piano....! :-)

[@pianopera]

"Technique" derives from the Greek word "tekhne", originally meaning art, later craft, skill... no music without technique, no technique without music! For many centuries, music was considered a science, on the same level as mathematics... these dichotomies are quite new. Poetry needs structure, composers need clear shapes to express their poetic thoughts. An interpreter should always find "the right" (?) balance between a certain faitfullness to the score and personal expression and freedom...

[@berlinzerberus]

Exactly! ;-)

[@pianopera]

Some harsh words on Brendel, but let's not forget his important role in the rehabilitation of Liszt in the 60s/70s... also it's interesting to read his "Musical thoughts & afterthoughts" and other essays... one can agree with his views or not but at least he was/is no cultural or intellectual lightweight, unlike so many pianists of today...

[@Daniel_Zalman]

If Brendel is a notary, then all of you are what? Secretaries, I presume. Brendel also said that when Kempff was in top form there were non better than him. Brendel is superb in Schubert! Let's simply appreciate what all of these artists have to offer. They all have unique personalities and something worthwhile to share.

[@klausehrhardt4481]

Herr Berlinzereberus (Klaus), ich weis nicht ob sie damit zustimmen können, aber die falschen Noten sind immer leichter zu deuten wenn mann ein dichterish begabt Pianist hört, nämlich Kempff. Es geschieht so weil es dem alleine in uns eine spannung herforzurufen gelingt, die sich vor uns als ein lebendes Gestalt auswirkt, und zwar so klar, dass man selbst die vorliegenden möglichkeiten dessen innere Bewegung herforsehen kann. Der Dichter muss doch wohl auch dass alles im sinne haben. Dass kann leicht vernehmt werden, wenn mann Schubert D960 Aufnahmen zwishen Brendel und Kempff vergleicht. Wo der Stück nich so gespielt wird, ensteht keine Music, und wo keine Music ist, da kann mann kaum merken dass die richtigen noten nicht gespielt worden sind, sei es denn dass wir uns auf den akustischen Bereich beschränken sollten, doch, Gott sei Dank, es ist nicht der Falle. Da ist ein sehr guttes Buch der sich mit dem Thema auseinandersezt: Sound & Symbol von Victor Zuckerkandl. Ich halte auch Herrn Celibidache´s Zeugnis über Musik als einen der einsichtvollenden Dinge die schon darüber gesprochen wurden. Etschuldigen sie mir bitte den armen Brauch der ich von die Deutsche Sprache mache. Danke für ihre vielen uploads und für eure einsichtsvollen Wörte. Grüsse aus Brasilien, Klaus.

[@bloodgrss]

Thank you very much I have got to know YOU! :-]

[@bloodgrss]

I saw him in Beethoven and Haydn...yes, on the given day, he played with nobility and "golden glow", and in his early years even with technical flair and surprisingly 'impassioned' (i.e. Balakirew's Islamey) Our aesthetic tastes will differ and flow, no one pianist is the be all and end all (or should be in a healthy world). Both Kempff and Brendel should earn our respect for the length of their careers and dedication to them and music, whatever individual performance speaks to us or no.

[@pianopera]

I suppose you are right! I guess you would agree with the words of Novalis: "Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason." Though I have met people who were convinced that there is beauty, even poetry, hidden in a mathematical formula! ;-)

[@berlinzerberus]

I agree of course...like also his Mozart, Haydn and Schubert performances but in comparison with Wilhelm Kempff..I don´t know. I think Kempff was of a different calibre in many respects and btw. he always played what the composer may have intended but his approach to music has been ALWAYS determined by an incredible imagination and poetry. IMHO it is impossible to compare both pianists because they are on different levels. How about Kempff and Backhaus, that´s a completely different story!;)

[@berlinzerberus]

...interessant, berührend und ergreifend. Sein Anschlag und Klang sind präsent, ganz ohne Anstrengung und verleihen der Musik eine wunderbare Wärme. Kempffs Aura ist unerklärbar, das ist wahrscheinlich das Unerklärbare des Poetischen, was es bedeutet, wodurch es sichtbar oder hörbar wird, man wird in seinen Bann gezogen und auf eine Reise in die geheimnisvolle Phantasie, seine spezielle, mitgenommen. Ist das etwa das Geheimnis des Romantikers, einer der letzen, dessen Name Wilhelm Kempff ist?

[@pianopera]

If Brendel (whose writings I enjoy more than his playing) is already a notary, then what are the younger generation of German pianists such as Martin Stadtfeld and Olga Scheps? Well, at least they don't look like notaries! ;-)

[@_PROCLUS]

10:15

[@ADGO]

It's so beautiful

[@sanfransoho]

Amazing interpretation

[@berlinzerberus]

seine suggestive Spielweise bleibt ohne Wirkung, weil der Funke akustisch nicht überspringt. Er möchte seine Emotionen dem Publikum vermitteln, jedoch wirkt das durch seine Kopflastigkeit wie eine Parodie, et cetera. Hinzu kommt seine Physiognomie, die ja alles andere als 'einladend' ist. Nicht so Kempff, er hat das GEWISSE, man wird ergriffen durch seine überragende Persönlichkeit, seine Musikalität, die durchaus geheimnisvoll und unerklärbar ist. Er spielt nicht immer perfekt, aber stets...

[@bloodgrss]

Well, I respect gullivor and berlinzerberus greatly, so if we do not align precisely with their thinking, they will forgive us for differing opinion, however foolish they think we are! I agree on Phillips; but we know it was a function of what was available in their catalog for financial reasons, and he has many fans less lukewarm than we. As for 'Great Pianists' series; well, YT effectively takes care of having to bother with that-we can enjoy or troll our gods/devils for ourselves. (;-)

[@Menurella]

I am sorry it was not to this particular comment I wanted to answer. It is very pythagoritian too, by the way! And a beautiful perception of mathematics. Aldo, I made a mistake : music is not ONLY bases on intervalls. But of course, there is always a (regular or irregular) rhythm.

[@bloodgrss]

If read by a Gielgud or Barrault we might even then quibble about too much of the performer or performers 'individual vocal 'technique' imposing between us and the words. Yet if we in fact respond to that individuals particular timbre and range, then we listen again to the words and they may become transcendent. Alec Guinness said Olivier was thrilling in Shakespeare with phrases that, once you went back to the text, were emphasized by him in ways out of context with their meaning...

[@bloodgrss]

But in much repertoire, I agree with you...Brendel leaves me, not deficient in skill, but rather cold. So I am inconsistent in my scientific/poetical tastes as much as anyone ! ;-)

[@pianopera]

I don't believe science and poetry are antagonists, on the contrary they can help and supplement each other! And Josef Hofmann is the greatest example... He was a great artist who had, at his best, a lot of poetry in his playing, but at the same time he was a scientist, some of his inventions were patented...and surely this scientific approach helped him solve problems in the art of piano playing...

[@bloodgrss]

Yes..yet not so new a contretemps. Part of the wary antagonism between Berlioz and Wagner was a fundamental difference in approach to conducting. Berlioz being one of the first sticklers for fidelity to the score, Wagner's famous 'melos' prepared not just to edit Beethoven symphonies but often re-orchestrate part's. This will always be the 'dilemma'...and rightly so. We individually decide who's mix of musicology and poetry we respond best to...like the amount of spice in our food. Tastes...

[@morinoroba]

Sometimes his sense of rhythm and accent is not my taste though, the pieces are beautifuly and warmly played here! Probably his playing was inspired by nature too I guess, in contradiction to Brendel's approach to nature.

[@bloodgrss]

I respect Brendel for the very reason of his 'scientific' approach. I don't listen to a man restraining music from 'poetry', but playing what he sees in the composers score. Whatever personal preference, this seems to me far from an ignoble approach, any more than lauding interpretive liberty is inherently artistic. To each his own. It's also a LITTLE hard on pianists of today as 'intellectual lightweights'. Youth is youth, and there are few Brendel's or Rosen's or Aldwell's at any time. :-]

[@pianopera]

I agree. But Brendel, as can be heard on your Schubert post of the G major Sonata, could play the Viennese Classics nicely though always a bit stiff, or too intellectual (lacking poetry indeed), or too cold... but as you put it, "quite professional with a high musical standard".

[@bloodgrss]

Is the 'poetry' or 'poetic expression' coming from the score, or the performer? The amount of this, and our own individual prejudice, is also the 'dilemma'. As for facial expressions:"Today more than ever, audiences mistake the excessively tense muscular activities of the performer for an intense musical experience, and all too often we see the public impressed and awed by convulsive distortions and spastic gyrations." Gyorgy Sandor Alf's seem pretty tame compared to most from Gould on !!!

[@bloodgrss]

As we would say here...Ditto ! ^_^

[@bloodgrss]

Well, I differ somewhat with you as we have seen...but not entirely. So your quote brings me to one of my favorites attributed to Schnabel...who did bring a new 'fidelity' to Beethoven in his day, but never lost the 'poetry' "The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes-ah, that is where the art resides." A good motto for any pianist of whatever persuasion or style. :-)

[@berlinzerberus]

Aber Bitteschön, Brendel hatte weder Kempffs Phantasie noch seinen Gestaltungsaura. Was Kempff zufiel, musste sich Brendel mühsam erarbeiten. Vom Klang wollen wir erst gar nicht sprechen, Brendel hatte einen verkrampften dünnen, manchmal flüchtigen Klang im Gegensatz zu Kempff, der unglaublich schöne Kantilenen bilden konnte, vollkommen ohne Anstrengung. Bei Brendel war fast alles gewollt, bei Kempff blühte und reifte alles und er musste nur noch ernten.Hier der Buchhalter dort der Poet,klar!

[@Menurella]

Brendel's ironical poem demonstrates his critical thinking ... Very interesting to know. Have you been the victim of censorship?

[@berlinzerberus]

Brendel jabbered pretty often without taking care seriously of the content. For example his odd theory of orchestration of any piano piece, mostly pseudo-intellectual nonsense pretty often, follow the link of certain KZbin clips. Kempff was much more talented in every respect!

[@SandroIvoBartoliofficial]

berlinzerberus, the more I read your comment, ,the more I like you! Besides, your channel is marvellous. Thank you!

[@Menurella]

Much pythagorism here! Music itself was an art when ors harmony was supposés to be the same as the universe itself : them, music was a means to know the Truth, Beauty, and the Divine all at once. It lost its meaning with the discoveries of chaos and unpredictability. Moreover, music can not always be defined on the basis of intervalls and measure. There is a knowledge of musical tradition. There is a technical knowledge fundamental in interpretation. But music itself is by no means a science.

[@c.g.marseille4510]

yes ! I agree so this is always the way I am thinking about Music

[@berlinzerberus]

No, you are not, I agree, Brendel was too 'prosaic' for being 'poetic' ;-) Sometimes i was totally convinced that he used to play by simple patterns of emotions, thus patterns of poetry without being inside the feelings...huhhh, too difficult to explain for me in English!!! My conclusion is: I was never very touched by his piano playing!

[@SandroIvoBartoliofficial]

berlinzerberus, neither was I. But, at least in the Nineties, one was not allowed to say anything less than adulatory about that Austrian pianist. Very sad, methinks... Kempff, on the other hand, what a musical genius! WHO cares about a few split notes, here and there? Are they truly sooo disturbing? The fact is that no-one alive today (I write in 2020) can make the piano "sing" in quite that way, nor sustain the cantabile parts in No. 2 as Maestro Kempff does here. No-one. Eternal gratitude to Shubert for writing the music, and to Signor Kempff for playing it like this...

[@bloodgrss]

So, as pianoopera alluded, we must choose between the extremes that need not, outside of strict allegiance, be mutually antagonistic. Poetry is great on the page-the minute a speaker speaks it we enter how much or little that individual distorts it. If they ignore the prosody, it will come out, interesting perhaps, but just as likely nonsense--certainly far from the poets intent. If read by a computer generated voice, we get the structure and words, but lose emotional connection with them...

[@bloodgrss]

This is the endless 'debate' today. Even if a Brendel plays with musicological 'science' (I am sorry I introduced the term here!), it still must allow for matters of weight, piano tone, room or hall dynamics, rubato etc...that each performer must judge out of their own ability and spirit. I agree that we can put the cart before the horse with slavery to form-but the 'ur-text' or 'ur-praxis' ARE-idolatry toward pianistic "freedom" and INDIVIDUAL imagination can be just as wrongheaded.

[@Menura91]

Each and every artist has to take sides. There is always a choice. Blindly following what most people think is the right interpretation demonstrates a lack of artistic intelligence and sensibility.

[@bloodgrss]

SO

[@berlinzerberus]

Es muss doch noch was anderes sein, es ist ja nicht so, dass Brendel ohne poetisches Feeling spielt [poetisch nicht im Sinne von 'der Dichtkunst zugehörig', sondern in der erweiterten Bedeutung, beseelt, atmosphärisch, stimmungsvoll und zauberhaft berührend]. Brendels Spiel hat keine Geheimnisse, er spielt technisch eigentlich mittelmäßig, jedoch hört man fast nie falsche Töne. Sein Ausdruck ist oft übersteigert, unterstützt durch die furchtbaren 'facial expressions', aber voller Stereotypen...