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Review
Paul Lewis s Beethoven sonatas placed him firmly in the company of great contemporary pianists. In Schubert, too, his graceful phrasing and command of dynamic contrasts are equally impressive. His magisterial account of the C major Sonata (D840) challenges all other recorded interpretations with its combination of head and heart. --Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph, 20 November 2011 4/5
Lewis s mature insight into the workings and emotional characteristics of these works lends his interpretations particular power and depth, not just in the sonatas but also in the impromptus and the late Klavierstücke as well. Considered thought always seems to support and nourish Lewis s performances, and here his instincts animate the music absorbingly. -- --Geoffrey Norris , Daily Telegraph, 19 November
Every now and again a recording comes along that makes you want to dance in the street, handing out copies to complete strangers. This is one of those instances. --Gramophone (Record of the Month)
This well rounded recital, presented in good, clear sound, confirms the credentials of Paul Lewis as one of the leading pianists of his generation. I loved every minute. It s technically excellent in execution and packed full of little insights which show how deeply Lewis has thought about the music. --John Quinn , MusicWeb International, January 2012 (Recording of the Month)
Lewis s mature insight into the workings and emotional characteristics of these works lends his interpretations particular power and depth, not just in the sonatas but also in the impromptus and the late Klavierstücke as well. Considered thought always seems to support and nourish Lewis s performances, and here his instincts animate the music absorbingly. -- --Geoffrey Norris , Daily Telegraph, 19 November
Every now and again a recording comes along that makes you want to dance in the street, handing out copies to complete strangers. This is one of those instances. --Gramophone (Record of the Month)
This well rounded recital, presented in good, clear sound, confirms the credentials of Paul Lewis as one of the leading pianists of his generation. I loved every minute. It s technically excellent in execution and packed full of little insights which show how deeply Lewis has thought about the music. --John Quinn , MusicWeb International, January 2012 (Recording of the Month)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Schubert is remarkable. You try and explain or pigeon hole his music and he evades you every time. Paul Lewis's new disc of piano music - featuring three sonatas, the D899 Impromptus and the late Drei Klavierstücke - is a brilliant testament to this variety. Youthful exuberance and embittered resignation jostle for our attention. Lewis's innate understanding of mood and meaning makes this a superb disc.
Schubert's most winning passages are ones in which his curiosity and energy are at a peak. The D major sonata (D850) is a showcase of that vigorous activity. Creating a broad and driven sound, Lewis eschews all touches of the jaded Schubert that has been the hallmark of his and Mark Padmore's recent song cycles. There's an impulsiveness, undercut by temper-tantrum melancholy. Playing with expectation, there's gentle Volkslied sentimentality coming through in the Minuet. Such easy charm pervades the G flat major Impromptu and the cantabile counter melody of the final A flat minor work from that set. Energy and elegance are given equal weight throughout.
But both the G major sonata and the C major 'Relique' are played with comparative sobriety. This is the cerebral Schubert and Lewis is sure not to overplay his hand. The G major had seemed somewhat reticent at Wigmore Hall in June this year. In the context of the disc it has a private reserve, the logical outcome of the throbbing chords at the beginning of its first movement. But there's also abandon within this more self-effacing sound. The C minor Impromptu feels yet more aloof and cold, just another facet of the Schubert personality.
If the listener move relatively easily across these opposing worlds, Lewis daringly confronts you with the schizophrenia of the Drei Klavierstücke. Manic, but never coarse, their harmonic freefall, insistent repetitions and feverish mood prompt liberated playing. The couched thoughtfulness of the G major is gone; this is raw latter day music. Emphatic, bold and bruised, these are truly superb performances. Schubert throws down an emotional gauntlet to pianists and Paul Lewis proves a phenomenal contender.
[...]
Schubert's most winning passages are ones in which his curiosity and energy are at a peak. The D major sonata (D850) is a showcase of that vigorous activity. Creating a broad and driven sound, Lewis eschews all touches of the jaded Schubert that has been the hallmark of his and Mark Padmore's recent song cycles. There's an impulsiveness, undercut by temper-tantrum melancholy. Playing with expectation, there's gentle Volkslied sentimentality coming through in the Minuet. Such easy charm pervades the G flat major Impromptu and the cantabile counter melody of the final A flat minor work from that set. Energy and elegance are given equal weight throughout.
But both the G major sonata and the C major 'Relique' are played with comparative sobriety. This is the cerebral Schubert and Lewis is sure not to overplay his hand. The G major had seemed somewhat reticent at Wigmore Hall in June this year. In the context of the disc it has a private reserve, the logical outcome of the throbbing chords at the beginning of its first movement. But there's also abandon within this more self-effacing sound. The C minor Impromptu feels yet more aloof and cold, just another facet of the Schubert personality.
If the listener move relatively easily across these opposing worlds, Lewis daringly confronts you with the schizophrenia of the Drei Klavierstücke. Manic, but never coarse, their harmonic freefall, insistent repetitions and feverish mood prompt liberated playing. The couched thoughtfulness of the G major is gone; this is raw latter day music. Emphatic, bold and bruised, these are truly superb performances. Schubert throws down an emotional gauntlet to pianists and Paul Lewis proves a phenomenal contender.
[...]
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I agree with the last chap. Lewis gets a depth of sound and emotion from his piano that is unprecedented. Schubert has NEVER sounded this good. At last someone to do him justice. A MUST BUY.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Superb Schubert for the ages.
12 Nov 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The astoundingly musical Paul Lewis goes from strength to strength. With these three sonatas, he's now recorded eight Schubert sonatas, the Trout quintet, piano duos with Steven Osborne, and the three Lieder cycles with Mark Padmore. His Schubert can bear comparison to the best we have, from Schnabel, Edwin Fischer, his mentor Brendel, Uchida, Kempff, Lili Kraus, Curzon, Richter, Horowitz, and anyone else you can think of. His label Harmonia Mundi had already a complete Schubert cycle by Alain Planes. but the success of Lewis's complete Beethoven sonatas, concertos, and recent Diabelli Variations has encouraged them to record more Schubert with him. He's playing the cycle of Schubert's mature work in five recitals around the world, of which I've heard three in Chicago. The magic holds. I couldn't sleep if I didn't have these CDs safely under the roof and can wear out shoes listening to them.
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Paul Lewis Unveils Schubert
11 Nov 2011
Format:Audio CD
Paul Lewis continues to bring us his passion for the music of Franz Schubert with this new recording. He has stated ''Schubert writes something that comes from another planet' and when we hear Lewis perform Schubert either in the concert hall or on recordings we must agree. This 38 year old British pianist is inordinately sensitive, humble, dashingly handsome and completely at the service of the composer. The following excerpt includes his concepts: 'He is more faithful to a score than many, and one feels while listening to him play as close as is possible to a direct communication with the intentions of a composer. This is by design, and essential to Lewis's notions of his performances and his own stardom. "Sometimes, I go to a concert and what I notice is the performer more than what they are playing. I see them putting on a show - I understand it, and there are people who do that, but it's not what I try to do. It's too easy for it to become all about the performer. Yes, it's wonderful to walk on to a stage and have everyone applaud, and applaud again when I've finished. But that is not what this is about. It's not about me, it's about the composer and the music, and the message of the music, the feelings and emotions it is trying to convey. The music is more important than me...This is the music I love, and my hope is that the people who come and hear it can love it too. That the experience will be long-lasting - and if it is, it will be because of Schubert."
And with those sentiments form the artist this recording presents Schubert's Piano Sonatas in D major, in G major and in C major - each of which probes deeply into the spirit of Schubert's gift for melody and accompanying motifs. For those who have other recordings of these sonatas these performances ill be revelatory. But Lewis does not confine this recital to these magnificent sonatas: he also offers the Four Impromptus, D. 899 and the Three Piano pieces, works included on the programs of almost all serious pianists performing today. For this listener the incredible beauty of the Third Impromptu, Andante mosso, G flat major, is the zenith of this recording. Perhaps that is because it is so well known, being incorporated into sensitive films and other venues and the one Impromptu most commonly used as an encore or even as a student recital piece. But concentrate on the way Paul Lewis caresses the melody from the piano and few will be able to recall a more Romantic rendering.
Franz Schubert and Paul Lewis. A better pairing could not be imagined. Grady Harp, November 11
And with those sentiments form the artist this recording presents Schubert's Piano Sonatas in D major, in G major and in C major - each of which probes deeply into the spirit of Schubert's gift for melody and accompanying motifs. For those who have other recordings of these sonatas these performances ill be revelatory. But Lewis does not confine this recital to these magnificent sonatas: he also offers the Four Impromptus, D. 899 and the Three Piano pieces, works included on the programs of almost all serious pianists performing today. For this listener the incredible beauty of the Third Impromptu, Andante mosso, G flat major, is the zenith of this recording. Perhaps that is because it is so well known, being incorporated into sensitive films and other venues and the one Impromptu most commonly used as an encore or even as a student recital piece. But concentrate on the way Paul Lewis caresses the melody from the piano and few will be able to recall a more Romantic rendering.
Franz Schubert and Paul Lewis. A better pairing could not be imagined. Grady Harp, November 11
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Schubert alive
14 Mar 2012
Amazon Verified Purchase
I've heard grown men, those with a good knowledge of music, complaining that Schubert's instrumental music can be too long-winded and too repetitive. This sparkling, lively recording will cure anyone (almost anyone?) of that notion. In Paul Lewis's hands, Schubert is alive and well. The only regrets it elicits are regrets that Schubert didn't live longer than his 31 years to produce more tuneful pieces for Mr. Lewis to perform. Brilliant! A thrilling release.
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