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Product Description
The Telegraph, (Geoffrey Norris), April 30, 2009
(5 stars) Compelling...Cooper strkes a balance between the music's grandeur and intimacy, its boldness, delicacy and grace...absorbing.
Her profound understanding of the nature of Schubert's music is wonderfully conveyed...performances of the highest order...not to be missed.
Her profound understanding of the nature of Schubert's music is wonderfully conveyed...performances of the highest order...not to be missed.
CD Description
Imogen Cooper returns with the first in a series of 3 double CDs, recorded live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, exploring the late piano music of Schubert. Imogen Cooper returns to AVIE with the first in a series of 3 double CDs, recorded live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, exploring the late piano music of Schubert written between 1823 and 1828. The first volume includes the A minor Sonata D845, the D major Sonata D850 and the A major Sonata D959. Imogen says: "I'm not afraid of being described as a Schubert specialist," even though her active repertoire ranges from Bach to Thomas Adès. "He has taken up a lot of my waking time for more than 30 years. In fact, you could say that his songs and his piano music have sometimes been close to an obsession for me." It is more than 20 years since Cooper made a live and recorded survey of all the piano music Schubert composed from early 1823 until his death in 1828. "One of the reasons I've taken it all up again is that I feel it ten times more strongly than I did 20 years ago: the message has become more direct to me. Schubert has become even more necessary to my well-being, and I sense strongly that he is important for an audience's well-being too. Tracks: CD 1 - Piano Sonata in A major D959 / 11 Ecossaises D781 / 3 Klavierstücke D946 CD 2 - Piano Sonata in A minor / Piano Sonata in D major
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I love Imogen Cooper's earlier recordings on Ottavo; but this first disk in the projected new series is even better. David Cairns in the Sunday Times gets it right: "The intervening years have seen a deepening understanding of this wonderful repertoire. The range of colour, the subtle details, the singing line, the freedom of tempo within the driving momentum, the haunting and haunted beauty, are greater than ever." Revelatory in fact.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
delicious
30 July 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is beautifully paced, with delicious rubato. It does not have the vast keyboard scope as if from God on high, the way Richter plays it. She is not as commanding. In her narrower parameters, Imogen Cooper is ravishingly beautiful in this music. I like her better than Richter, though I see in some ultimate sense she isn't.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Delightful
24 Sep 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have to say that I have heard a number of Schubert piano works cycles. I have Gilbert Schuchter's set, the Brendel collection among others. I find that this set is very musical and just wonderful to listen to. I have heard it several times along with the other two volumes in this set. Cooper plays with gentility and grace. The sound is really excellent. I believe that it is from live performances on the South Bank Show. It appears that the three volumes are not going to be supplemented with any new sets by Ms. Cooper. I emailed Ms. Cooper's management and there is no plan to do additional volumes of Schubert in this series.
I read that this series represents Ms. Cooper's interpretation of Schubert's best piano music written during the last 6 years of his life. It appears that this may cover the same material that she recorded approximately a decade earlier on the Ottavio label. i have not heard those records, but I have received some of the in the mail. It will be interesting to compare.
I also say that I kind of like the concept behind this series. I believe that I read that the artists own or control the material that comes out on this label. Avie is doing a great job. The price is certainly competitive--particularly from the Markketplace vendors.
Buy all three volumes and enjoy. I agree with the prior reviewer that Cooper may not play with the drama or individuality of some of the pianists stated, but I can say that this recital is very pleasant. I am so glad that I purchased them and would purchase additional volumes if they are ever published.
I read that this series represents Ms. Cooper's interpretation of Schubert's best piano music written during the last 6 years of his life. It appears that this may cover the same material that she recorded approximately a decade earlier on the Ottavio label. i have not heard those records, but I have received some of the in the mail. It will be interesting to compare.
I also say that I kind of like the concept behind this series. I believe that I read that the artists own or control the material that comes out on this label. Avie is doing a great job. The price is certainly competitive--particularly from the Markketplace vendors.
Buy all three volumes and enjoy. I agree with the prior reviewer that Cooper may not play with the drama or individuality of some of the pianists stated, but I can say that this recital is very pleasant. I am so glad that I purchased them and would purchase additional volumes if they are ever published.
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Cooper's Schubert is enjoyable and musical
10 Dec 2009
Format:Audio CD
Having read the Gramophone's rave over this installment in Imogen Cooper's Schubert series, I guess the road diverges here. I find her thoroughly enjoyable. As an accompanist, the role she served with the baritone Wolfgang Holzmair on Philips, she is ideal. But Cooper lacks a strong individual voice. She's better than pleasant; one hears a trained professional at work. The problem is that Schubert's piano music has risen in stature decade by decade. No longer neglected as it was when Artur Schnabel made his historic recordings in the Thirties, a masterpiece like the posthumous sonata in A Major D. 959 has been interpreted by such masters as Serkin, Richter, and Pollini.
Cooper cannot compete at that level, so it was wise of her to offer a more intimate experience. The two earlier sonatas featured here, the one in A minor D. 845, and the one in D major, D. 850, aren't exactly small scale, but they are more suited to Cooper's range. She's not original, dynamic, or highly imaginative. These two sonatas could use all those qualities, of course, but they also prosper with the gifts Cooper is able to bring. She competes respectably with the more intimate Schubert style of Radu Lupu and Andras Schiff. Over the course of two CDs, I became weary of so much lulling playing, but on her own terms Cooper is very commendable. Just don't expect heroics or fireworks a la Richter.
Cooper cannot compete at that level, so it was wise of her to offer a more intimate experience. The two earlier sonatas featured here, the one in A minor D. 845, and the one in D major, D. 850, aren't exactly small scale, but they are more suited to Cooper's range. She's not original, dynamic, or highly imaginative. These two sonatas could use all those qualities, of course, but they also prosper with the gifts Cooper is able to bring. She competes respectably with the more intimate Schubert style of Radu Lupu and Andras Schiff. Over the course of two CDs, I became weary of so much lulling playing, but on her own terms Cooper is very commendable. Just don't expect heroics or fireworks a la Richter.
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