Helen Schnabel, née Fogel, was an American pianist. She was married to the pianist Karl Ulrich Schnabel.
Biography
Helen Fogel was born in New York and grew up in the Bronx. She made her debut at Carnegie Hall when she was nine. Over the next few years, she performed on radio and gave recitals in New York. When she was 21 she graduated from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Manfred Malkin and Alexander Siloti. Between 1934 and 1938 she studied under Artur Schnabel at Tremezzo, on Lake Como in Italy. There she met his son Karl Ulrich Schnabel, whom she married in 1939; their daughter Ann was born in 1941. The couple started the four-hands ensemble Piano Duo Schnabel. They performed on radio and gave recitals in Canada and the United States and, after the end of the Second World War, in Europe. They gave five concerts with orchestra at the Holland Festival in 1956, played at the Edinburgh Festival in 1972 and, from 1948, taught master classes at Tremezzo in summer. Helen Schnabel also performed as a soloist. From 1940, she taught at the Dalcroze School of Music in New York. She died of cancer at Lake Como in 1974.
Discography
Piano solo
Artur Schnabel: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, F. Charles Adler, Conductor, Vienna Orchestra; Seven Piano Pieces; Reverie; Songs, Erika Francoulon, Soprano. Helen Schnabel Plays Artur Schnabel
Beethoven: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 6, Op. 61 — F. Charles Adler, Conductor, Vienna Orchestra; Weber: Sonata in E Minor, Op. 70, No. 4; Malipiero: Poemi Asolani. Helen Schnabel Plays Beethoven, Weber, and Malipiero
Bach, C.P.E.: Piano Concerto in D Major. Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra. F. Charles Adler, conductor. Trio for Flute, Violin and Piano. Camillo Wanausek, Flute; Walter Schneiderhahn, Violin; Helen Schnabel, Piano.
Beethoven: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra D Major, No. 6, Op. 61. Vienna Orchestra. F. Charles Adler, conductor.
Beethoven: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 61A. Vienna Orchestra. F. Charles Adler, conductor.
Weber: Sonata in E Minor, Op. 70, No. 4. Malipiero: Poemi Asolani.
Schnabel, Artur: Seven Piano Pieces; Reverie. Piece in Seven Movemements. Dika Newlin, piano.
Schnabel, Artur: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Vienna Orchestra, F. Charles Adler, conductor.
with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, piano
Helen and Karl Ulrich Schnabel – One Piano, Four Hands; Mozart, Dvorak, Schubert, Weber, Bizet, Mendelssohn, Brahms.
Helen and Karl Ulrich Schnabel – The Four-Hand Recordings of the 1950s, Vol. 1. Bizet, Debussy, Schubert, Mozart.
Helen and Karl Ulrich Schnabel – The Four-Hand Recordings of the 1950s, Vol. 2. Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Weber.
Schubert: Sonata in B Flat Major, Op. 30; Four Polonaises, D. 824.
Mendelssohn: Allegro brilliant; Andante and Variations. Weber: Five Pieces, Op. 10, No. 5 and Op. 60, Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Schubert: Four Polonaises, D. 824. Debussy: Epigraphes antiques, Nos. 1, 2 and 4.
Schubert: Eight Variations in A Flat, D. 813. Four Variations in B Flat, D. 603. Eight Variations in C, D. 908.
Schubert: Fantasy in F. Minor, D. 940. Brahms: Hungarian Dances Nos. 4, 3, 2, 11, 1, 12, 13 and 17.
Mozart: Sonata in C Major, K. 521. Dvorák: Legend Op. 59, No. 4. Schubert: Fantasy in F Minor, Op. 103. Weber: Rondo and Adagio. Schubert: Sonata in B Flat Major, Op. 30. Mozart: Andante with Variations in G Major, K. 501. Bizet: Five Pieces from “Jeux d’enfants,” Op. 22. Mendelssohn: Andante tranquillo with Variations, Op. 83a. Brahms: Two Hungarian Dances.
with Artur Schnabel, Therese Behr Schnabel, and Karl Ulrich Schnabel
The Schnabels – A Musical Legacy, Unpublished and Lost Historic Recordings. Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, C.P.E. Bach, J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn, Paradisi.
