Latest / The Piano Maven with Jed Distler / The Prague Piano Duo Plays Schubert

Transcript

The Prague Piano Duo Plays Schubert · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

• 0:07
  This is Jed Disler, and welcome to The Piano
• 0:11
  Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
• 0:16
  I've recently reviewed several releases devoted
• 0:20
  to piano duets by Franz Schubert, and in the
• 0:29
  I came across this disc that I had not thought
• 0:31
  about in some time, and it turned out to be one
• 0:35
  of the best examples of Schubert duet playing
• 0:38
  on disc, in my experience, and I can explain
• 0:43
  this in several respects. This is a disc on the
• 0:47
  Praga label, and it features the Prague Piano
• 0:51
  Duo, who are the husband and wife team of Zdenka
• 0:55
  and Martin Herzl. And listening to their Schubert
• 1:00
  disc, you can tell that they have played this
• 1:03
  repertoire for years and have pondered over and
• 1:08
  prepared each work in the finest of details.
• 1:13
  open the disc with the Schubert F minor Fantasy,
• 1:16
  which has been recorded a hundred gazillion times.
• 1:19
  And it's a fascinating performance and really
• 1:22
  quite convincing. They open the piece very deliberately,
• 1:27
  almost hesitatingly, as if the music is too sad
• 1:31
  to be heard. That's kind of what came to mind
• 1:34
  when I was listening. But then a palpable...
• 1:38
  urgency sets in as the textures grow denser and
• 1:44
  the pianists wind up shaping their phrases in
• 1:48
  long lines but with minimum pedal so as not to
• 1:52
  muddy up the texture. There's both a sense of
• 1:57
  groundedness and flexibility in that Largo where
• 2:01
  both pianists controlled the direction of their
• 2:06
  long back and forth trills with the greatest
• 2:11
  of finesse this is something that's really hard
• 2:14
  to do because i've played this piece a lot and
• 2:17
  these trills are a real horror point for me i
• 2:22
  always obsess over oh my god is it going to be
• 2:26
  even am i going to be able to sustain the tension
• 2:29
  but this duo really controls the trills amazingly
• 2:34
  well and then the fast triple meter section goes
• 2:39
  like a breeze but the suppleness and the intricate
• 2:44
  interplay between both pianists never makes the
• 2:50
  music sound too glib or too fast. And they leave
• 2:54
  a lot of room for tonal shadings. It's really
• 2:57
  quite an interpretation of this section. And
• 3:01
  the same goes for that final fugal episode. And
• 3:05
  again, this is music that can really bog down
• 3:08
  in thickness and just get so loud and heavy.
• 3:13
  But the pianist's superb balances and their transparency
• 3:18
  of texture really keeps everything moving. And
• 3:22
  certainly in terms of pianism alone, I think
• 3:26
  this is one of the best versions in the catalog
• 3:28
  of the F minor fantasy. And I think it's also
• 3:32
  a very convincing interpretation. They also play
• 3:36
  the Andantino Varie in B minor with tremendous
• 3:40
  polish and sophistication. This is one of my
• 3:44
  all -time favorite Schubert duos, and I remember
• 3:49
  imprinting on this through the recording of Artur
• 3:52
  and Karl Ulrich Schnabel, which I still think
• 3:55
  is pretty extraordinary. Now, I think the Prague
• 3:58
  piano duo's tempos in this piece tend to be a
• 4:02
  little too fast for my taste, and I miss some
• 4:06
  of the music's tenderness. But I really do like
• 4:10
  the surface glitter that they bring to the eight
• 4:13
  variations in E minor on a French song. And in
• 4:19
  this interpretation, the tempos easily blend
• 4:22
  from one variation to the next. There's a real
• 4:26
  unity about it. the interpretation that I like.
• 4:29
  They also play the rondo in D major. This is
• 4:33
  a great performance. It has wonderful rhythmic
• 4:36
  pointing, and there are little expressive gestures
• 4:40
  like a momentary breath mark or a slightly delayed
• 4:45
  downbeat that... really add to conveying character.
• 4:50
  There's a real lightness and wit that the duo
• 4:54
  brings to this piece that I think is completely
• 4:56
  fitting. And finally, they play the Allegro in
• 5:00
  A minor, the Lebensturm. And this is a piece
• 5:04
  that can easily drive you crazy and sound like
• 5:10
  it goes on too long and overstays its welcome.
• 5:13
  However... The prog piano duo maintain real horizontal
• 5:19
  clarity at all times. They don't lay heavily
• 5:23
  into those massive forte chords. And the way
• 5:27
  that they align imitative phrases is so precise
• 5:31
  and so beautifully worked out. It's almost like
• 5:35
  you are hearing motifs that are passing. from
• 5:39
  one member of a string quartet to the next in
• 5:42
  the most assiduous kind of way. And that theme
• 5:47
  in triplets in A major. in this piece. It just
• 5:51
  floats over the bar lines. It's really beautiful.
• 5:54
  It never falls into square patterns as it tends
• 5:59
  to do in many performances. What else? Oh, that
• 6:03
  lyrical A -flat major section. It almost sounds
• 6:07
  as if a great leader singer has joined forces
• 6:10
  with the most sensitive and responsive accompanist.
• 6:13
  What I'm trying to say is that this is A beautifully
• 6:17
  integrated interpretation that has obviously
• 6:21
  been worked out to the nines. It's been worked
• 6:25
  out like crazy and thought about and planned.
• 6:28
  But it still sounds spontaneous and just as natural
• 6:32
  as breathing. I am not sure if this release can
• 6:37
  still be found in physical format, but it is
• 6:41
  available for download. And I did see it on the
• 6:45
  Prague Piano Duo's Bandcamp page, where one can
• 6:49
  find just about all of their Praga releases,
• 6:53
  and they do have a terrific discography. In fact,
• 6:57
  I would love to see a... box set comprising the
• 7:00
  complete Prague Piano Duo recordings on the Praga
• 7:03
  label. I guess that's wishful thinking. Anyway,
• 7:07
  do check out the Prague Piano Duo's Schubert
• 7:11
  release on Praga, and I know you will be glad
• 7:15
  that you did. I'm going to talk very soon, by
• 7:18
  the way, about another fabulous Schubert four
• 7:21
  -hand release that I reviewed for Gramophone.
• 7:25
  featuring Leif Ove Ansnes and Bertrand Chamayou.
• 7:30
  And, in fact, Gramophone made this their Disc
• 7:34
  of the Month in the January 2026 issue. This
• 7:39
  is Jed Disler, and you've been listening to The
• 7:41
  Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano
• 7:46
  recordings. Thanks so much for listening, and
• 7:48
  I look forward to being with you for our next
• 7:51
  episode.