Schubert - 4 Impromptus D899 [Arrau]
Surprisingly, this is the first time this Schubert boxed set is mentioned in my Blog, and it was a great experience listening to it all, it's 3 discs housed in a 'fatbox', the only regret about this set is it's such a shame only having 4 Impromptus, it would have been wonderful to have the full set of 8 on one disc, this time in listening, i realize the quirkiness of Arrau, he can play music revelatory, but he also has his moments, the very hesitant opening of Piano Sonata 21, his speeds can be a touch too slow, awkward staccato moments when a smooth seam of legato would have been a stroke of genius, his loud fortissimos, his constant sniffing, but for a guy in his mid to late seventies, he seems so spritely and alive, and i'm sure he can play all of this music without a score, the gains are certainly more than the losses i just listed.
Claudio Arrau was born in Chile in 1903, and died in 1991, he recorded this work in 1978, as with other issues in this Arrau Edition, it shows a nice sharp portrait [by Christian Steiner] of Arrau superimposed with sheet music in the background, the box with the lettering is lightened and highlighted, it looks and feels great [and sounds even better!].
I feel that these 4 pieces get better and better, the Third is sublime and soothing, but i find the Fourth shows Arrau at the height of his powers, like everything Arrau does, there's imperfections, and things that i disagree with, i like to think he played these four pieces straight off one after the other, and he was warming up in genius as he went, this last Impromptu of the set is fairly free from hesitations, and awkward joins, and shows a great concentration and flow over its 8 minutes,
Here's Claudio Arrau playing the Third Impromptu on YouTube.
