Schubert: Sonatas, Impromptus & Moments Musicaux (2CD)

Sir András Schiff’s reputation as one of the great interpreters of the work of Franz Schubert is long-established and he has always maintained that Schubert’s music is amongst the most moving ever written. Schiff underlined the point on his ECM New Series album with the C Major fantasies at the end of the 1990s, and he does so again on this remarkable recording. Two Schubert Sonatas (D894 & D960), the six Moments musicaux, Four Impromptus (D 935), the ‘Hungarian Melody’ and an Allegretto are addressed on a period instrument, the fortepiano. The pianist says: “My fortepiano was built by Franz Brodmann in Vienna in 1820. It is to me ideally suited to Schubert’s keyboard works. There is something quintessentially Viennese in its timbre, its tender mellowness, its melancholic cantabilità...It is in the quiet and quietest moments when Schubert - like nobody else - touches our hearts.” Elsewhere in an absorbing booklet essay, Schiff notes: “Finding the right venue is essential. The room must not be too large, its acoustics, proportions, resonances and atmosphere should be ideally attuned to the needs of the fortepiano. Such a hall is the Kemmermusiksaal H.J. Abs of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.” It was there that these memorable recordings were made in July 2014.