| mei 2010--Crescendo |
| Il suffit en effet d'écouter la première pièce du CD 1, la célèbre Wanderer-Fantasie, pour situer les choses. Considérée comme étant l'oeuvre techniquement la plus difficile de celles écrites par le compositeur, elle est très exigeante tant pour l'interprète (Schubert n'aurait semble-t-il jamais pu la jouer) que pour l'instrument. La délicatesse du son entraîne le chatoiement et n'empêche ni l'énergie ni la chaleur, la palette des couleurs est superbe. A aucun moment Vermeulen ne témoigne de la moindre mièvrerie, il empoigne la Wanderer à pleines mains, la laisse échapper dans une tendre évanescence, s'égarer dans le rêve avant de reprendre contact avec la terre ferme. Les atmosphères des danses D365 et D790 reflètent le subtil équilibre entre la fraîcheur de l'élément populaire, ll'apparence de l'improvisation, la réflexion et parfois même la gravité. Les sonates D157 et D566/506 bénéficient du même traitement de faveur. Une vision forte et engagée, chaleureuse et généreuse, incontournable pour tous ceux qui aiment Schubert... et pour ceux qui voudraient l'aimer. Alain Derouane . .
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| april 2010--Crescendo |
| Schubert reste Schubert, heureusement et tout aussi heureusement Vermeulen reste Vermeulen. Sa connivence avec le merveilleux instrument évoqué ci-dessus entre dans la cadre d'une triple symbiose, le compositeur s'y ajoutant. On connaît l'attrait manifesté de longue date par l'artiste pour le compositeur viennois, cette longue fréquentation a atteint maintenant sa phase de rayonnante maturité. Ce qui est présenté ici appartient à la classe de ces productions d'exception qui amènent dès les premières notes la sensation que "c'est ainsi que cela doit être joué".
Alain Derouane . |
| 14 juni 2010--Knack.be |
| Wat ik gisteren in het kerkje in Vucht hoorde, blies mij van mijn sokken. Krop in de keel.
Wij stellen ons Schubert voor op moderne piano, en denken dan dat we alles gehoord hebben en iedere noot kennen. Na zo'n concert als dit, weet je wel beter. Ik behoor absoluut niet tot de blind believers, maar als iets historisch juist en authentiek wordt genoemd blijft dat voor mij dode letter als het niet ook fantastisch klinkt. Of beter klinkt. Ik moet de verbetering echt kunnen horen. Orkesten met oude instrumenten hoeven mij al lang niet meer te overtuigen, maar het gekletter van oude piano's heeft mij al vaak gestoord. Wel, deze Nanette-Streicher, zoals hij bespeeld wordt door Jan Vermeulen (geen onbelangrijke nuance!), heeft mij helemaal overtuigd. Ik heb opnieuw kennisgemaakt met Schubert en met een nog rijkere gevoelswereld. Ik heb met nieuwe oren geluisterd. Ik heb kleuren en een soort dramatiek gehoord die geen enkel modern instrument kan opwekken. En vooral, hij heeft mij ontroerd op plaatsen in de partituur die mij al lang niet meer ontroerden.
Volgend seizoen krijgt Nanette de pianotrio's van Schubert over zich heen. Jan Vermeulen kan weer aan de slag, en wij hebben iets om nu al reikhalzend naar uit te kijken. Voor wie nog twijfelt: de reeks van 6 dubbel-cd's op het label Etcetera met aanzienlijke selectie uit het klavieroeuvre van Schubert - zo'n 15u muziek! - wordt u zeer warm aanbevolen.
Greet Van 't veld |
| november 2009--International Record Review |
| ...One of the more distinctive and enjoyable of these is by the superb Dutch pianist Jan Vermeulen, whose series of two-disc sets has now reached its fifth volume. Far from the least interesting feature of the project is Vermeulen's choice of instrument: an antique Viennese fortepiano by Nanette Streicher (née Stein) from 1826...The character of the instrument's individual registers, the warmth and refinement of its sound and its power at full throttle make it seem, under the sophisticated and cultivated touch of Vermeulen, the ideal vehicle for Schubert ...Vermeulen's performances exude the pleasure of kinesis and, in the two large sets, revel in the fecundity of Schubert's imagination... Its relative naivety seems, in this loving performance, not a liability but a strength...this performance emphasizes the cohesion of the entire sonata. However, it is the mighty Wandererfantasie that claims the spotlight in this programme and, frankly, I know of no better performance, on historical pianos of modern ones. Compare interpretations as varied as those of Brendel, Richter and Perahia, and though each has great strengths, none so fully portrays the proportions, the shapes and textures, or the sheer drama of this difficult but magnificent work. If one doubted that the Wanderer - a piece that, like the Emperor and the Hammerklavier, seems to tax the capacities of the modern concert grand - could ever really satisfy on an early nineteenth-century Viennese piano, Vermeulen has provided irrefutable and eloquent evidence to the contrary. Very highly recommended. Patrick Rucker. |
| november 2009--Early Music Review |
| This series continues to be most impressive. Vermeulen must be the ideal Schubert player, and the instrument, a superbly restored Streicher und Sohn of 1826, has an astonishing range of dynamics form a powerful fortissimo to an especially beautiful pianissimo, and it has a wonderful clarity of articulation. What more need I say? Except to repeat the advice I gave in the April EMR: if you haven't already come across these discs, buy the whole set immediately! Richard Maunder |
| juli 2007--All Music |
| Pianist Jan Vermeulen (...) makes a very strong case for hearing some major Schubert pieces as Schubert heard them. (...) The album would rank as an exceptional example of the analysis of an instrument's potentialities by a performer (...) and Vermeulen's performances are powerfully expressive. (...) What makes Vermeulen's performance remarkable is that he zeroes in on the passages where Schubert broke free of Beethovenian models and uses the unique qualities of the piano to highlight them. Nowhere is this more true than in the Andantino second movement of the Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959. (...) Vermeulen pushes the fortepiano to its limits in an absolutely riveting performance. In general Vermeulen tends to accent the impromptu-like passages in Schubert, which in conventional performances tend to come off as relaxed and lyrical, with a good deal of expressive tension and tempo flexibility. He does best in movements with a wide variety of textures, and another highlight is the massive opening movement of the unfinished "Reliquie" Piano Sonata in C major, D. 840., whose size seems almost amplified by the range of sounds that come out of Vermeulen's fortepiano. Constantly surprising, this album stands up to doubts and makes you hear Schubert in some entirely new ways. James Manheim |
| oktober 2007--Early Music Review |
| It's a real treat to hear some of Schubert's finest works for piano so well played on a Streicher und Sohn exactly contemporary with the music. The instrument is beautifully balanced, with a powerful bass and sonorous tenor [...]. Vermeulen is admirably expressive, and makes full use of the instrument's wide dynamic range in some really dramatic contrasts. His articulation is very clear, and in particular staccato bass notes make their proper effect instead of being blurred by the sustaining pedal as usually happens on the modern piano. Above all, he can make a tune really sing, with subtle control of rhythm and dynamics. [...] This is a very impressive achievement, and can be highly recommended. Richard Maunder |
| februari 2008--De Volkskrant |
| Uit de derde aflevering [van 'F. P. Schubert Works for Fortepiano'] blijkt andermaal dat dit geen Schubert is voor de argeloze luisteraar. [...] Maar wanneer je de grote Sonate in Bes-groot (D960) nog eens beluistert, en nog eens, daagt het besef dat dit schrale karakter misschien wel prima past bij een stuk dat in mijmerende thematieken filosofische vergezichten schetst. En liever dan vrome biedermeierhoop biedt Jan Vermeulen realistisch eindigheidsbesef. De sonates D845, D459 en D575 zou je een vleug pathetiek gunnen, maar toch: radicale Schubert is ook Schubert. Guido van Oorschot |
| November/December 2007--International Piano |
| Jan Vermeulen is more of a Classicist, less inclined to dream or dwell on a particular turn of phrase, although his micro-fine phrasal inflections ensure that absolutely nothing is taken for granted. As recorded, Vermeulen comes across as an [...] essentially extrovert voice, gently cushioned in a warm acoustic [...]. Where Vermeulen's 1826 Streicher really comes into its own is in the neurotic changeability of the Impromptus, exchanging the emotional comfort zone of many modern piano versions to chilling musical statements of profound loneliness and desolation. Julian Haylock |
| 28 november 2007--Knack |
| De sonate [D960] lijkt berusting en zelfs vreugde uit te ademen, maar met een onderstroom van heftige, rusteloze nieuwsgierigheid. Net dat wist Jan Vermeulen bijzonder goed te treffen. Wie deze sonate alleen op een vleugel heeft gehoord, mist een deel van de bijna fysieke doodsstrijd die ze tot een van de grootste pianowerken aller tijden maakt. Luister naar deze indrukwekkende cd [Franz Peter Schubert, Works for Fortepiano vol. III, Etcetera] met je ogen toe, en je hoeft maar je hand uit te steken om Schubert aan te raken. Peter Vandeweerdt |
| december 2008--International Record Review |
| There is real contrast in these performances, form works as lyrical as D459 and D960, in which he displays the utmost sensitivity, to the Sonata in A minor, D845, which here receives an interpretation of Beethovenian muscle and intellectual rigour, one in which Vermeulen shows no restraint whatsoever and one whose exertions the instrument appears to narrowly withstand. This is very fine playing indeed: those who have invested in this series are unlikely to be disappointed. |
| april 2008--Monde de la Musique |
| Vermeulen fragilise Schubert en même temps qu' il met en valeur ses élans de jeune homme. |
| april 2008--International Piano |
| Vermeulen clearly has a special sense of identity with the composer, playing with a poetic flexibility and improvisatory freedom. In Vermeulen's persuasive hands one quickly adjusts to the shock of the new. |
| 6-7 januari 2007--De Standaard |
| Cruciaal in deze opname is het perfecte aanvoelen tussen uitvoerder en instrument. De veelvuldige harmonische kantelmomenten waarin Schubert zo bedreven is, krijgen telkens een apart timbre toebedeeld. Opvallend is de handigheid waarmee Jan Vermeulen de flexibele klank van het fragiele instrument boetseert. |
| juni 2007--Archiv Klassik Kritiken |
| Der trockene Klang passt gut zum Spiel des belgischen Hammerflügelspezialisten Jan Vermeulen. Metrisch zuverlässiger und präziser als Paul Badura-Skoda in seiner Gesamtaufnahme bietet Vermeulen einen klassisch-strengen Schubert, der selbst in den Ausbrüchen der c-moll- und A-Dur-Sonaten noch Maß und Konzilianz bewahrt. Auftrumpfen kann das Team Streicher/Vermeulen überall dort, wo es lakonisch wird: Im Andantino der A-Dur-Sonate beispielsweise, das eine geradezu gespenstische Starre gewinnt, oder in den beiden Scherzi D 593, in denen ein eckig-altväterlicher, ans Parodistische grenzender Charme überrascht. |
| --Diapason |
| Le musicien belge met à profit la palette réduite dont il dispose; les accentuations nerveuses et parfois un peu sèches, ou encore les grondements sourds (...). Vermeulen ne manque pas d'atouts pour se faire une place enviable au sein du club assez fermé des interprètes de Schubert sur pianoforte. |
| december 2006--Amazon.co.uk. |
| I am captivated not just by the music but by the performances. Vermeulen seems to me to understand Weber and to love the pieces. The beautiful melodies are beautifully played, the tone is strong but never forced, the tempi sound about right to me and there is a festive feel about the whole recital, even in the minor-key works. The first movement of the third sonata is marked `allegro feroce', and I confess that all I was capable of by way of a reaction before hearing the piece played was `Oh I say!' Weber had a sense of humour, witness his description of the start of Beethoven's fourth symphony `Every quarter of an hour one hears three or four notes.' The ferocity here in his sonata is similarly tongue-in-cheek, the direction is hyperbolic and ironic, and Vermeulen seems to get the hang of what it all means perfectly. I like his handling of the rhythm too, particularly his flexibility and sense for rubato in the very long first movement of the second sonata, in which as in the other first movements he observes the repeat...I feel a sense of something like relief as well as the enormous pleasure that this set gives me. I might never even have heard these lovely sonatas. The rest will be silence sooner or later, and these are sounds I ought not to have missed. |
| mei juni 2009--fanfare |
| ...Vermeulen is a wonderful Schubert player. He is a dynamic musician as well as a sensitive one, meeting all the demands of the composer's varied moods and styles. The opening movements of the two late sonatas, D 958 and D 959, for example, with their stormy beginnings, are played with dramatic abandon and passion, while the slow movements radiate a lyrical calm, their singing melodies played sensitively, with nuance, but without exaggeration. He subtly captures the playful bumptiousness of the Scherzos, in the sonatas as well as in the Two Scherzos. Altogether, Vermeulen makes a persuasive case for Schubert on the fortepiano. This set is enthusiastically recommended. Susan Kagan |
