Schubert Live Volume Two

I attended all of this cycle live, and thoroughly enjoyed it. What has impressed me is the perfection of the playing even when close miked. She gets a gorgeous tone from the piano. The odd cough which distracted during the performances is barely audible. Cooper has more than taken on the Brendel mantle and she is clearly a member of his "school" of playing, if one can talk about such a thing - along with the younger Lewis and Fellner. This is wonderful playing and this set (2) and the other two that have the other post 1822 pieces - (1) and (3) - are of the same very high quality. These are now my preferred recordings.

Over the years I have collected a range of fine performances of these inspirational works by Schubert by widely respected pianists. My previous favourite however has been the set called 'The last six years' also by Imogen Cooper. This was, and still is, a set of reference studio recordings spanning the same repertoire.

Now, some years later the BBC has recorded her 'live' at the South Bank Centre. Comparing the two sets has been instructive and has resulted in my passing the earlier set onto a friend and keeping this new set. Why? The answer is simply that the interpretations have miraculously deepened while also having an extra spontaneity that frequently accompanies live music making. In addition the performances are technically flawless, the recording is utterly faithful and the audience mercifully silent, clearly mesmerised I would imagine.

The total contents of these two discs is as follows: sonatas 18 and 19; 16 German Dances D 783; 6 Moments Musicaux; 4 Impromptus D 935.

Imogen Cooper's style is lyrically with plenty of detail brought out in terms of phrasing and accenting. Tempi are within the normal parameters but with a generally forward moving pace with rubato used sparingly. Interestingly, the effect of the rubato when used to slow the pace is to emphasise the overall forward nature of the playing rather than to produce a feeling of emotional overload and undue lingering.

I would therefore suggest that these peerless performances should figure highly on any list of desirable recordings of this repertoire. They would warrant serious consideration as both an 'only' purchase or as part of a collection. There are other fine performances available of this repertoire of course, but I would suggest that there are none finer and many not so fine.