SCHUBERT Piano
Sonatas
Impromptus / Piano
Pieces
PAUL LEWIS, Piano
Harmonia Mundi
902115.16 (2 CDs) / *****
In
a relatively short space of time, British pianist Paul Lewis has established himself
as an interpreter par excellence of
Beethoven and Schubert, much in the footsteps of his teacher and mentor Alfred
Brendel. In this latest Schubert album, he illuminates three important sonatas
which are not part of the great final trilogy. Fully attuned to Schubert’s
emotional turmoil and unbridled lyricism, the D major Sonata D.850 is driven with a Beethovenian passion. However this is
not in the expense of its inner singing lines, and this thread carries into the
great G major Sonata D.894, which has
been given the title “Fantaisie” by
some because of its relatively free form.
Listen
to how he stretches out the first movement’s long-breathed melody, one of
Schubert’s finest, or teases the finale’s jolly Rondo, which has a swing that looks far ahead into the ragtime era.
The C minor Sonata D.840 “Relique” (Relic) is the “Unfinished Sonata”, which exists as a torso of two movements. Imagine
if he had completed it. Lewis’s sense of gravity, bringing out the odd and
ironic dissonances, makes it sound like a masterpiece. This same quest for
truth and beauty continues in Four
Impromptus D.899 (the earlier of two sets) and Three Piano Pieces D.946, the latter of which have sometimes been
referred to as Posthumous Impromptus.
One scarcely imagines these more wondrously realised. This superlative double
CD set retails at the price of one disc.
BOOK IT:
PAUL LEWIS plays
Schubert
@ Singapore
International Piano Festival 2012
Tickets available at
SISTIC
HÉROLD Piano
Concertos Nos.2-4
JEAN-FRÉDÉRIC
NEUBERGER, Piano
Sinfonia Varsovia /
Hervé Niquet
Mirare 127 / ****1/2
The short-lived French composer Louis-Ferdinand
Hérold (1791-1833) is best remembered for his operas, such as Zampa, the overture of which is
occasionally heard in concerts. He had initially been a piano virtuoso but
forsook that vocation for musical theatre, after having composed four piano
concertos between 1811 and 1813. These tuneful works bridge the stylistic gap
between the classicists Mozart, Hummel and Weber (simple melodies with florid
ornamentation), and those of early Romantics Mendelssohn and Chopin (passionate
and showy, given to loud octaves and chords).
Both the Second and Third Concertos
have Allegro Maestoso (fast and
majestically) as tempo directions in the first movement, something which Chopin
also adopted in his concertos. The Fourth
Concerto opens with a barnstorming Allegro
that recalls the fist-shaking angst of Beethoven. All three close with
light-hearted rondos, a common practice from Mozart’s time to the Romantic era.
Herold also had innovations of his own. The slow movement of the Third Concerto is a tender romance for
violin with piano accompaniment, something not attempted before or ever since. Young French pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuberger
is a most sympathetic yet technically assured interpreter. This is a curious
yet worthy addition to the Romantic piano concerto library.
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