Schubert - 8 Impromptus [Brendel]
Alfred Brendel is a God, recently retired from the concert hall, he is now nearly 70, and if anyone has deserved their retirement it's Alfred.
This is my all-time favourite disc, bought in the early nineties, it's appeared in my daily highlights 47 times, and been a monthly highlight 5 times [yes i keep stats], this of course would be my desert island disc if i could only take one.
I loved listening to all these Impromptus, but this time i was bowled over by number 3 [D899], it's probably the most famous of these pieces, Brendel has a wonderful legato in the right hand in this piece, soft and gentle, all those black keys, i can get so lost in this piece, the tune is just divine, it has a touching melancholy to it, it ebbs and flows with passion and lyricism, and Schubert's way of marrying up the voices of the two hands is perfectionism, Brendel gets the speed just right, it can easily be played too slow, i like the coda and ending, it has that sad end-of-the-day feel to it, that note on [5:41] and the gentle rumblings at the close, perfection in a piano tune, and what it does to the soul!.
Watch Alfred get ecstatic playing Impromptu 3 [from the first set] on YouTube, it's so good to actually see him play.
