Andras Schiff, Yuuko Shiokawa - Schubert: Fantasia for Piano, Fantasia for Violin and Piano (2000) CD-Rip

Despite their basic differences, these two Schubert Fantasies share certain characteristics: the title, the tonality, a set of variations on a song, and a somewhat uneasy combination of flamboyant virtuosity and intimate introspection. Both require utmost brilliance as well as profound inwardness of expression, and both are ferociously difficult to perform. Indeed, the duo Fantasie's violin part, as originally written, contains passages that are impossible to execute; Shiokawa adopts certain traditional, only recently discarded simplifications. The piano Fantasie, later nicknamed "The Wanderer" for its variations on the song of the same name, was written in 1822, the duo six years later. The former is a popular favorite; the latter is seldom played. Though he's renowned for his Schubert interpretations, this is András Schiff's first recording of the "Wanderer." Schiff previously admitted that he felt no kinship with its "two-fisted piano writing," so different from Schubert's usual style, but he has obviously found a way to make it his own. His approach, unlike most other pianists', is essentially lyrical, singing, gracious, poised, and unusually expansive, with plenty of time to caress every melody, every harmony change and modulation with loving care. Though it has plenty of power and vitality, there is nothing "two-fisted" about this extraordinary, uniquely personal performance. The duo Fantasie is also played extremely well, but the Variations are too fast, intense, and restless, and the violin sounds remote and subdued, almost turning the work into a piano piece and undercutting its chamber-music quality. -- Edith Eisler