One of my most favourite discs of all time [number 12 actually], and it was so good to revisit this disc again today, surprisingly it hasn't appeared in my Blog before, i remember the days i first listened to this album on cassette, late 1992 while walking through the woods, those were the days when fresh new sounds were tingling my ears, and i was certainly wowed by the very opening of this Sonata, and still today i marvel at its profound depth yet simplicity, in my mind it's the greatest Piano Sonata ever written, and the first movement is absolute perfection, and Brendel is the heir of the best Schubert interpreters today.
Alfred Brendel is Austrian, he's a regular in my Blog, he's now 81, and he made this recording in 1988, the front cover photograph is by Gabriela Brandenstein, she did the series of his late Schubert recordings, all in black & white, here we have Brendel in a head and shoulders pic in a doorway, nice light and dark on the face, showing contours.
I Make a big stink about the very opening of the first movement, i find it of the most exquisite and poignant statements [0:00-0:59], it hangs in the air as it were, it's truly beautiful, though i feel Brendel would have done even better if he slowed it down a tad more, this time in listening to this movement, i realize how Schubert uses this opening statement in a myriad of different ways throughout, it's a small germ that sprouts in a hundred different ways, and it's so coherent and well structured, it's not merely the same tune going round and round cyclically, i love the way Schubert opens up and broadens the opening tune [1:01+], as if the opening was in a melancholy minor key, and now this broadening opens up into a major more optimistic key, Brendel doesn't play the exposition repeat, cutting 5 minutes off the total, here it lasts less that 15 minutes, in my mind there is a sad keychange at [4:59+], very effective at giving a different perspective, there's beautiful and creative fingerwork throughout, Schubert manages to take us all over the place, but like a dog held on a leash, never allowed to stray too far from the basic opening idea, Schubert gives us some high treble passagework, playing a variation of the opening musical idea [7:01-8:38], the very opening in all its glory comes back note for note a few times, and this is always glorious and welcome, i listened to this while walking to Church today, and finally after lots of rain throughout July, it's now got sunny and beautiful, Schubert is the perfect antidote / reason to celebrate.
Here's Brendel playing the first movement on YouTube.
