Schubert: Four Impromptus & Sonata in G Sheila Arnold

• 1 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D. 899: No. 1 in C Minor. Allegro molto moderato 10:06
• 2 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D. 899: No. 2 in E-Flat Major. Allegro 04:50
• 3 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D. 899: No. 3 in G-Flat Major. Andante 05:47
• 4 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D. 899: No. 4 in A-Flat Major. Allegretto 07:34
• 5 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 in G Major, D. 894 "Fantaisie": I. Molto moderato e cantabile 19:44
• 6 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 in G Major, D. 894 "Fantaisie": II. Andante 07:50
• 7 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 in G Major, D. 894 "Fantaisie": III. Menuetto. Allegretto moderato - Trio 04:42
• 8 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 in G Major, D. 894 "Fantaisie": IV. Allegretto 08:42
• Total Runtime 01:09:15

Info for Schubert: Four Impromptus & Sonata in G

If I try to put the essence of these works into words, I find it hard to remain objective, for subjectivity is this music’s true core. Indeed we are confronted here with a series of different forms: sonata form, ABA form, theme with variations, rondos and dances. Yet those very forms start to metamorphose as we approach the threshold of musical Romanticism – and its forerunners were Romantic poets, several of whom Schubert counted among his close circle of friends.

In contrast with cosy Biedermeier placidity, the painful isolation and yearning of deeply sensitive individuals is something equally omnipresent in that troubled age, and ultimately it does not make any difference whom or what the yearning is for. Here we have brooding meditation, fragments, inner disruption, the dissolution of the borders that separate reality from the world of appearances, life from death; nature experienced as a projection of one’s own inner emotions, “inside is outside”. Instead of an old-fashioned doctrine of the affections, Schubert traces a psychogram.

That is the context within which I view the Four Impromptus D 899 and the so-called “Sonata-Fantasia” D 894. These works have been part of my life since early youth. My view of them has obviously shifted several times, and will hopefully continue to do so. This recording not only reflects the influences of daily life and the encounters I have enjoyed with wonderful people and literature; it likewise captures a glimpse of my attitude in a fleeting moment, particularly my experience with historical instruments – a passion I have been pursuing for almost twenty years. ……(aus dem Booklettext von Sheila Arnold)

Sheila Arnold, piano

Sheila Arnold
worldwide concert career was launched with outstanding successes at international competitions (the Salzburg Mozart Competition and the Concours Clara Haskil) as well as many scholarships and awards, including the Wiesbaden Mozart Society's Mozart Prize (1995). She has played in many of the great concert halls of Europe, including the Bregenz Festival Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Palau de la Música in Valencia, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Hamburg Music Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Stuttgart Liederhalle and the Dortmund Konzerthaus. She has also toured the Near and Far East and the United States.

Sheila Arnold has been invited to perform at many international festivals and has played with leading orchestras such as the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Beethoven Halle Orchestra in Bonn and the Prague Chamber Orchestra. Conductors with whom she has performed with include Jesús López-Cobos, Marc Soustrot, Heribert Beissel, Kenneth Montgomery and Michael Hofstetter. Enthusiastic reviews from the international press confirm her status as an unusually versatile musician.

Sheila was born in Tiruchiralpalli in Southern India and grew up in Germany. Her teachers were Heidi Köhler and Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. She also drew her ideas from inspiring encounters with the pianists such as Imogen Cooper, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Ference Rados and Lev Naumov.

Chambermusic activities with violinist Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Isabelle Faust, clarinet player Nina Janssen und Ralph Manno, bassoon player Sergio Azzolini, Horn player Wilhelm Bruns, cellist Guido Schiefen, actor Bernt Hahn or guitarist Alexander-Sergei Ramirez mean inspiration to her on the musical as well as on the personal level.

Sheila’s interest in period keyboard instruments, especially in fortepianos of the 1790’s up to the present times, has been a special and constant source of inspiration. Apart from performances on the modern concert grand she can often be heard on the fortepiano in various chamber musc constellations, in recitals and as a soloist with chamber orchestras. She has been „Artist in Residence“ Kempen in 2006. She has a longstanding duo with classical guitarist Alexander-Sergei Ramírez.

Her CD- and radio productions demonstrate her huge variety in repertoire ranging from baroque music through Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Granados and Scriabin,up to first performances of contemporary music. The latest two CD releases include works by J. Brahms and Clara Schumann as well as a programe for music and literature with actor Bernt Hahn on Robert Schumann and the poets of the romantic period.

In 2005 Sheila gave birth to a wonderful daughter.

In 2006 she received a professorship at the Musikhochschule Cologne. She also gives masterclasses at Schloß Engers in Neuwied (Landesmusikakademie Rheinland-Pfalz), Emsbürener Musiktage, Schloß Hammelburg (Bayrischer Tonkünstlerverband), Bombay (Sangat-Festival) and workshops in different European countries.

Booklet for Schubert: Four Impromptus & Sonata in G