CD Review - Grad Keyboard Skills

The piece I have chosen to review is the Erlkonig, D. 328 by Schubert.

The first recording I chose was titled Great Artists of the Century – Schubert: 25 Lieder with artists Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake. In this recording from 2005, the running bass line is sometimes uneven at the beginning of the piece. As the piece continues it becomes more connected, flows better and is much less choppy. For much of the piece, however, it is still the choppiest of the three recordings. This pianist uses the greatest amount of dynamic contrast of the three. The moderate tempo falls somewhere between the tempo choices of the other recordings. This is, in my opinion, the most successful recording of the three because of the good balance between the voice and the piano as well as the greater dynamic range.

The second recording was Prima Voce: Legendary Voices with artist Alexander Kipnis. It was recorded in 1995 and is the oldest of the three recordings. The sound quality of this recording makes it sound older as well. One major difference in this recording is that it is in a different key than the original piece. Of the three recordings, this one has the fastest tempo and the running bass line is the most connected and even. However there is not as much dynamic contrast as there was in the first recording and the balance favors the voice instead of the piano. Even in the piano solo sections, the piano takes more of a backseat in this recording.

The third recording was found on a cd titled, oddly enough, Songs Without Words. The artist is Murray Perahia and it was recorded in 1999. As the title indicates, there is no singer. Something is lost when the piano player has to play both the melody and bass lines. Something has to go and it ends up being bits and pieces of the bass. This makes piece lose some of its driving motion. This recording also has less of the sense of urgency that is more present in other recordings. This may be due to the limitations of the piano, with its shorter, faster decaying tones, trying to imitate the longer, driving notes of the voice. It could also be due to the slower tempo, as this recording has the slowest tempo of the three.