now playing

start of Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D. 958
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQrrJiiYM94&list=OLAK5uy_k_ck9MdpEH2oA50XkfXEC2WtOYDRDVDr0&index=2

start of Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjatrd0AUgQ&list=OLAK5uy_k_ck9MdpEH2oA50XkfXEC2WtOYDRDVDr0&index=6

start of Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-Flat Major, D. 960
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPWEtnxlpiI&list=OLAK5uy_k_ck9MdpEH2oA50XkfXEC2WtOYDRDVDr0&index=9

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k_ck9MdpEH2oA50XkfXEC2WtOYDRDVDr0

>Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi interprets Schubert's last three piano sonatas (D958-D960) on his PENTATONE debut album, after years of engagement with these extraordinary works. These sonatas continue to fascinate pianists and listeners until this very day. They are arguably among the most existential music ever written for the piano, full of beauty and sadness, celebrating life and at the same time anticipating the composer's untimely death. Even if Schubert was barely thirty years old when he wrote these works, they reveal the otherworldly and detached nature of what is often described as "late style", while the music remains highly expressive and personal.

Just for fun, over the next week I'm gonna listen to several different recordings of these Schubert late piano sonatas for interpretive and quality comparison. For sure I'm gonna do Pollini, Paul Lewis, Lupu, Andsnes, Perahia, Kempff, and Brendel, maybe Uchida? Piemontesi here should be setting a high bar.