Schubert - Piano Sonata 21 [Lewis]
Paul Lewis is the new Alfred Brendel, well at least he had lessons with Alfred Brendel, and in many ways he has taken on the mantle of his master, first and foremost there is a great love of Schubert and Beethoven, and this shows in his recordings so far, i never tire of this work, every time i hear it, it keeps its freshness and purity, it never gets stale on me, it's good to have this wonderful recording in my possession.
Paul Lewis is English, now aged 39, this i believe was his debut recording, made in 2002, and what a great choice to start off your recording career with, the front cover booklet photo is excellent [by Alvaro Yanez], with a shot of Paul lewis seated at the side of the piano, arms folded, it's very much a dark shot, apart from the face, hands, and piano keys, the three real elements of what's going on here [brain, hands, instrument], i like it very much.
It's the first movement which always touches me deeply, here Lewis plays gently with a delicious gravity, very nicely weighted, i've heard Pianists play this opening too fast, and it loses some of its majesty in the process, or too loud and it loses its poetry, Lewis virtually gets it right, maybe even a shade slower would have been perfect, there's lovely legato in the right hand [1:19-1:34], and right after the piece explodes in a grand forte [1:34-2:09], listen to the left hand bass of Lewis, lovely sustaining of the rhythm and beat on the same note [2:08-2:32], and like Brendel, Lewis dispenses with the first movement repeat, he nicely leaves a beautiful note hanging that fraction of a second to superbly weight it [5:30],
Here's Alfred Brendel playing the first movement on YouTube.
