Schubert: Piano Sonata in B flat, D960; Lieder

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This is a wonderful record; it will wring your heart and haunt your dreams. The Piano Sonata in B-flat--Schubert's last and perhaps his greatest--was written in the final year of his life. Its subdued, yearning, wistful inwardness seems to breathe the air of another world. Though the grand opening theme is expansive and resigned, the ominous, rumbling trill in the bass soon disrupts the serenity. You can feel the angel of death hovering nearby, and the anguished slow movement, with its turbulent middle section, seems like a reluctant farewell to life. Andsnes communicates an uncanny identification with Schubert's changing moods. His command of the keyboard is formidable, his variety of touch, color and nuance seems unlimited. His phrasing is clear but not fussy, his liberties always feel just right, his expressiveness is deeply felt but never sentimental. The first movement is dreamy but flowing, the second quite slow but cohesive; the scherzo is very fast, but light, crisp and clear, the finale is also fleet but not rushed. He makes this very long piece feel like a single outpouring of heavenly inspiration. For the songs, Schubert used his friends' poems and, with his usual magic, turned literary dross into musical gold. "Viola" is a whole operatic scene; its 19 verses are divided into three sections, separated--and unified--by the recurrence of the first stanza. "Der Winterabend" is a tender reverie evoking a wintry night's quiet, peaceful solitude, but also its aching loneliness. The third song, composed for an obscure play, is a "melodrama:" the text is spoken while the pianist plays music so exquisitely beautiful as to rank with Schubert's best piano pieces. Bostridge, who has collaborated with Andsnes on stage and three discs for EMI (Schubert sonatas and songs, including Winterreise), sings with great intelligence and expressiveness, but, especially in the soft, held-in passages, he consistently delays his vibrato and puts a swell on every long note. When he lets his voice ring out, he is marvelous. --Edith Eisler

Tracks:

Sonata in Bb Major, D960: Molto moderato - Leif Ove Andsnes
Sonata in Bb Major, D960: Andante sostenuto - Leif Ove Andsnes
Sonata in Bb Major, D960: Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatezza - Trio - Scherzo - Leif Ove Andsnes
Sonata in Bb Major, D960: Allegro ma non troppo - Presto - Leif Ove Andsnes
Viola, D786 - Ian Bostridge/Leif Ove Andsnes
Der Winterabend D938 - Ian Bostridge/Leif Ove Andsnes
Abschied, melodrama D829 - Ian Bostridge/Leif Ove Andsnes

Amazon.com

This is a wonderful record; it will wring your heart and haunt your dreams. The Piano Sonata in B-flat--Schubert's last and perhaps his greatest--was written in the final year of his life. Its subdued, yearning, wistful inwardness seems to breathe the air of another world. Though the grand opening theme is expansive and resigned, the ominous, rumbling trill in the bass soon disrupts the serenity. You can feel the angel of death hovering nearby, and the anguished slow movement, with its turbulent middle section, seems like a reluctant farewell to life. Andsnes communicates an uncanny identification with Schubert's changing moods. His command of the keyboard is formidable, his variety of touch, color and nuance seems unlimited. His phrasing is clear but not fussy, his liberties always feel just right, his expressiveness is deeply felt but never sentimental. The first movement is dreamy but flowing, the second quite slow but cohesive; the scherzo is very fast, but light, crisp and clear, the finale is also fleet but not rushed. He makes this very long piece feel like a single outpouring of heavenly inspiration. For the songs, Schubert used his friends' poems and, with his usual magic, turned literary dross into musical gold. "Viola" is a whole operatic scene; its 19 verses are divided into three sections, separated--and unified--by the recurrence of the first stanza. "Der Winterabend" is a tender reverie evoking a wintry night's quiet, peaceful solitude, but also its aching loneliness. The third song, composed for an obscure play, is a "melodrama:" the text is spoken while the pianist plays music so exquisitely beautiful as to rank with Schubert's best piano pieces. Bostridge, who has collaborated with Andsnes on stage and three discs for EMI (Schubert sonatas and songs, including Winterreise), sings with great intelligence and expressiveness, but, especially in the soft, held-in passages, he consistently delays his vibrato and puts a swell on every long note. When he lets his voice ring out, he is marvelous. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Another success from Andsnes and Bostridge.......2006-07-14

Leif Ove Andsnes and Ian Bostridge have published four CDs together with works of Schubert. Personally I love them all, but this one is my favourite. I think the A-Major piano sonata is undoubtedly Schubert's most beautiful piano work. I've played this one myself a bit, although my playing isn't nearly as good as Andsnes' way of playing it. As always he interpret and express the music at a way I think is the way it's meant to be by the composer himself (of course we can't know for sure).

This is not a bargain I regret. Full score.

I suggest Sviatoslav Richter.......2006-05-13

With nothing but good intentions, I suggest that the recording of this Bb Schubert Sonata by Sviatoslav Richter is unequalled. Other pianists are good; Richter is great.

Richter is, simply put, a genius at the keyboard, and this most memorable Sonata by Schubert allows him to express his mastery of not simply the keyboard, but of the music itself.

I have several of Leif's recordings, and while he is a decent pianist in one sense, I am always left wanting more; sometimes even a bit confused...a feeling that is satiated immediately after swapping Leif's recording out and Richter's in.

The Andsnes/Bostridge Collaboration Continues.......2006-01-06

Of all the Schubert piano sonatas, probably his farewell B flat Sonata is the best known. And while there are many fine recordings of this gorgeous, melancholic, virtuosic work available, this performance by Leif Ove Andsnes ranks among the finest. His approach to the work is Romantic, savoring all of the intricate beauties inherent to the sonata. He breathes with the phrases, articulates the inner voices with clarity but never to the point of distraction from the grand architecture, and at all times he seems in touch with Schubert's magical writing. This is a recording to treasure.

It is also a recording to add to your collection of the inimitable magic of the collaboration of tenor Ian Bostridge with Andsnes at the piano. Here are more lieder, continuing the cycle of Schubert lieder so successful in their 'Winterreise' recording. These two sensitive and very gifted communicators bring Schubert to life as few others can. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, January 06

Power and poetry in Schubert's last piano sonata.......2005-09-16

I took a friend to hear Leif Ove Andsnes play, who was interested because he was a good-looking guy in an Armani suit. Then she heard him play Schubert, and changed her tune. Andsnes manages to tap both the virtuosity that Schubert demands, and the sublime poetic elements as well. Schubert's last major piano work is a dark little number: the ominous low register trill, framed with silence, that keeps interrupting the progress of the otherwise genial theme in the first movement. (And am I the only one who hears an echo of "O Come All Ye Faithful" at the end of the first movement?) Andsnes is, to my ear, one of the most brilliant Schubert interpreters out there. But hey, don't just take my word for it. Last time he played in Chicago, I ran into Mitsuko Uchida in the lobby at intermission, and she couldn't say enough nice things about the Schubert sonata Leif had just played. (I have her recording of this work as well, and while she brings a delicate interiority to her performance, I still prefer Leif's.)

Marvelous Schubert.......2005-07-15

What a wonderful recording. I have the Sonata on repeat these days; it's an unbelievably beautiful piece of music and Andsnes' performance is a little miracle. The effects he achieves on the piano are, over and over again, surprising and delightful. The first two movements are sonorous and dreamy and dark and everything a Schubert lover loves Schubert for. And then, just in time, you're transported out of the gloom in the last two movements to play in the sunshine. Amazing. Then, there are the utterly charming lieder with Ian Bostridge that follow. I love this album.

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