Schumann: Carnaval / Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.7; Piano Sonata No.16

by Jeffrey K. Chase The late Hungarian pianist Annie Fischer deserves to be better known. She was one of those prodigies who began in full blossom; even when still a young pianist she was known as much for interpretive penetration as for technical prowess. She had astonishing physical strength for a woman of such small physical stature. In her hands the familiar Schumann Carnival, Op. 9, recorded in 1963, becomes poetically lyrical and free of a stereotypical reading. With its contrasts of impetuousness with calmness and dryness with drollery, as one might expect reflect Schumann's personal mood changes, Fischer probes this work of vignettes with drama, boldness, and passion. Fischer has an uncanny intellectual command of Beethoven's sonatas. Throughout her career she was tempted to record the complete sonata cycle, but her sense of the ideal contravened her several starts of this project. In addition, because she much preferred the concert stage to the recording studio, it never happened. Her readings of all of the Beethoven piano sonatas have been issued on Hungaroton; however, those discs were not recorded as a set, but were compiled from various performances. These 1987 recordings of two of the lesser-known Beethoven sonatas -- the early period No. 7 in D, Op. 10/3, and the middle period No. 16 in G, Op. 31/1, are from late in her career. These readings are highly charged with tension, yet free from showmanship. By carefully limning the movement's architecture and sensitively tending to tone color, she communicates the drama and humor in the notes. Works on This Recording 1. Carnaval, Op. 9 by Robert Schumann ■ Performer: Annie Fischer (Piano) ■ Period: Romantic ■ Written: 1833-1835; Germany ■ Date of Recording: 05/19/1963 ■ Venue: Live BBC Studios, London, England ■ Length: 25 Minutes 24 Secs. ■ Notes: This selection is a mono recording. 2. Sonata for Piano no 7 in D major, Op. 10 no 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven ■ Performer: Annie Fischer (Piano) ■ Period: Classical ■ Written: 1797-1798; Vienna, Austria ■ Date of Recording: 11/11/1987 ■ Venue: Live BBC Studios, London, England ■ Length: 22 Minutes 33 Secs. ■ Notes: This selection is a stereo recording. 3. Sonata for Piano no 16 in G major, Op. 31 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven ■ Performer: Annie Fischer (Piano) ■ Period: Classical ■ Written: 1802; Vienna, Austria ■ Date of Recording: 11/11/1987 ■ Venue: Live BBC Studios, London, England ■ Length: 22 Minutes 18 Secs. ■ Notes: This selection is a stereo recording.