The most startling moment in this recording by French pianist
Laurent Cabasso comes at the beginning of the second work on the program: the Wanderer Fantasie in C major, D. 760, of Franz Schubert, when you realize how naturally it flows from Beethoven's 33 Variations on a Waltz of Diabelli, Op. 120. Schubert's opening material strongly resembles Diabelli's waltz with its structural appoggiaturas, and there are points of correspondence in the development of the material as well. Could Schubert have known Beethoven's Diabelli Variations? It's almost certain that he did, for he was one of the other composers commissioned by publisher Anton Diabelli to write a variation on his little waltz (Schubert's variation is included at the end of this album), and he would certainly have heard about Beethoven's unusual decision to write not one variation but 33. The Diabelli-Wanderer pairing isn't a common one, and it's just one of the pleasures of this fine release. The Diabelli Variations themselves seem neutral in the beginning, but they are designed to point up the considerable proto-Romantic content of the work, making them fit still better with the Wanderer Fantasie.
Cabasso focuses on the huge variety of piano figuration types, and the work seems to expand in scope as it proceeds, not only thematically but in terms of sonority. His technical precision is quite something to hear. The Naïve label contributes fine, transparent sound to a strong release that rewards multiple hearings.