 Franz Schubert Whether your ears have been hardened into gourd-like deformities by years of classic rock, or your highbrow pretensions have led you deeper and deeper into Mahler and Brahms, or your elitism has painted you into a corner of early 70s underground Krautrock, I insist that you stop the insanity and listen to this beautiful, jubilant music. For pure melody, you can't beat Schubert, who is for my money, the greatest composer ever. That Mozart fellow? A show-off, and plus he looks too much like Tom Hulce to be taken seriously. Schubert, G, is da bomb. Now that I've become the sole person ever to use "Schubert" and "da bomb" in the same sentence (and my only regret is that I didn't also work "Da Brat" in there … here, let me have another shot: "Schubert, G, is da bomb … it's like dat, it's like dat, it's like dat, it's Da Brat.") let me declare in no uncertain terms that this is the best classical music CD I own, better than all other versions of the work, better than most music ever created … a purely joyous experience, thrilling music, exactly the sort of thing your music teachers always said classical music was before boring you to tears with some bargain cassette recording of Beethoven's "5th." You don't have to understand it (well, I don't, anyway) to enjoy it; the beauty conveyed by the players will connect with you deeper than your mind can think. (Too bad I wasn't around to write billboard copy for Schubert back in the day. "Schubert: Deeper than your mind can think. New Song Cycle available Tuesday!") Schubert's "Trout" Quintet is his most famous chamber work, an extrapolation of his famous song "Die Forelle" ("The Trout") for piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass, written when the bastard was twenty-two. By contrast, I should point out that at twenty-two, I had delivered hundreds of pizzas. Schubert was to die at only thirty-one, leaving behind a wealth of amazing music worthy of a very good composer three times that age. By contrast, I have five more years before I die, by which time I hope to have delivered even more pizzas than ever before. The performance on this disc, recorded in 1996, benefits from a none-too-studied, nearly freewheelin' approach: the players clearly enjoy playing the music, and even incorporate certain passages in the work from manuscripts left by Schubert that predate the final version (in other words, playing essentially a "rough draft" of the quintet), which amounts to playing the piece as it might have been played by Schubert among friends. The quintet was published posthumously, and is often played too reverently, but this recording captures all the whimsy of the work without sacrificing any of the detail or depth. The liner notes liken the group to a "dream team" of classical musicians: Emanuel Ax on piano, Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Edgar Meyer on double bass, Pamela Frank on violin, and Rebecca Young on viola. They all play sensitively, clearly listening to each other, and produce extremely beautiful sounds. I could go on and on and try to explain why this CD works so well, but intellectualization is contrary to enjoyment here. It is a marvelous CD, and you just can't do better for classical whether your tastes are conservative or radical (jesus, man, tear yourself away from that computer-composed music for a damn minute!). The program is rounded out by Schubert's "Arpeggione" Sonata (D. 821), a perfect complement to the quintet, played predictably well by Ax and Ma (coincidentally the name of one of my favorite old-time radio shows). This piece is also light and buoyant, but similarly deep upon repeated listens. The original song "Die Forelle" closes the disc, sung by Barbara Bonney, accompanied by Ax (coincidentally the name of my next solo guitar album). It's a great performance and a perfect closer. I play this CD nearly every Sunday morning, and not only when I've been up all night with the Leather Boys. I don't care if you're into Boston, Berlioz, Brubeck, or the Bulgarian Women … you will listen to this disc and love it. Otherwise I'll have to fucking punch you.
Review by Smokey Symmons |
