Schubert

It was Daniele Pollini, son of the late and much acclaimed pianist Maurizio Pollini, who suggested to his father that they should record a disc of Schubert’s piano works for four hands. “Franz Schubert was profoundly important to my father,” Daniele tells Apple Music Classical; “his passion for Schubert’s music was evident throughout his life.” Pollini senior responded favorably, but thought the album should showcase both of their very individual styles, with each playing a solo work before coming together for the Fantasy for Four Hands in F minor. They also saw the album as a chance to display something of the remarkable range of Schubert’s piano writing. “The three pieces included in this album were chosen to highlight the extraordinary variety of Schubert’s expressive world,” explains Daniele. “After considering various ideas, we decided to include the Sonata in G major, the Moments musicaux, and the Fantasy: despite their common stylistic aspects, these pieces pursue quite different formal paths, and provoke and convey particular expressive characteristics that the listener is invited to grasp.” This collaboration between father and son proved to be Maurizio Pollini’s final studio recording, which appears all the more poignant and precious given how rarely they played together. “As a boy, I had several informal occasions to play with him at home,” Daniele recalls; “but our actual collaborations were limited to three in the end. In 2014, we performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 together, with me conducting. Then, in 2016, we recorded Debussy’s En blanc et noir for two pianos. Both experiences were very positive, and I see this latest collaboration dedicated to Schubert as a natural continuation of those beautiful musical experiences.” As several critics have observed, Maurizio and Daniele—although they shared a common interest in modernist and avant-garde music as well as such classics as Schubert and Beethoven—have quite distinct qualities as performers. You can hear this in the album’s opening solo items. Maurizio’s performance of Schubert’s Piano Sonata in G, D894 has the precision and beauty of a fine etching. And his extraordinary stamina and energy is evident in the third movement “Menuetto,” played slightly faster than usual. Daniele’s Moments musicaux is as masterful, yet it presents a fine contrast to the Maurizio’s driven account of the Sonata. There’s a sense of the music taking more time to reflect, to breathe a little more easily in the opening “Moderato,” and especially in the expansive “Andantino” that follows, the sudden eruption of minor-key edginess all the more telling after the apparent calm of its opening pages. Both these performances whet the appetite for what Daniele describes as “the extraordinary Fantasy in F minor,” composed in 1828, the final year of Schubert’s tragically short life when he knew he was dying. It opens with one of the composer’s most haunting themes, one that returns like a melancholy shadow throughout the four-movement work, disturbing even its most ebullient episodes. It is a remarkable performance from two distinct yet empathetic pianists. “Obviously my father and I are two different artists with individual ideas,” suggests Daniele, “but I actually believe that our ideas were very much in agreement and this clearly prevailed over occasional minor differences concerning interpretation. I am very happy that every time I had the opportunity to make music with my father there was a great mutual understanding which made our collaboration not only very interesting but also very exciting for me.” Inside the Album Booklet Along with several black and white photos of Daniele and Maurizio Pollini at the piano or in discussion, there is a program note introducing the music performed while including some relevant biographical background. Album booklets are available in the latest version of Apple Music Classical, which you can download and enjoy as part of your Apple Music subscription. To access booklets, tap on the book icon at the top of your screen.