Schubert - 8 Impromptus [Brendel]
Here it is, this is my most favourite disc of all time, as well as writing a daily Music Blog, i write a diary / journal every day too [since 1982], and i write down my most memorable, music disc in my Journal too, and today Schubert / Brendel turns fifty!, he's appeared that many times, it's a great milestone, so i've really played this disc to death, and loved every minute of it, i went out to do a bit of shopping / eating today, and i took this disc with me, and what a sublime experience this was, each Impromptu gets you in the mood for the next, the music itself is as near to pure genius you will ever get from a Composer, but Brendel has a way with Schubert that takes it onto a higher plane, he has the most superb legato, one theme / idea blends in with the next seamlessly, plus there's this dance-ability that Brendel gets from his Schubert, he makes him such a joy to listen to, my favourite Pianist of all time too, a miraculous combination, appearing in my Blog twice before [10th March 2010 & 8th July 2012].
Alfred Brendel is Austrian, he's now 84, retired, but he lives on in his recordings, he recorded a Schubert cycle for Philips in the eighties, of the major solo piano works, this is volume 5, recorded in 1988, the front booklet shows Brendel in the Brahms Archive Library [by Gabriela Brandenstein], a black & white shot for this series, stark and crisp images in meaningful settings, love the gold and black lettering at the top.
Of these eight pieces, it was surprisingly 2-4 & 7 i loved the best [my personal favourite is 5], but i found myself languishing in some of the other Impromptus this time, but ultimately i found myself coming back to the pure delight of number 3 [D899/3], originally my first favourite, this was a spiritual experience today, hard to exactly put my finger on and pinpoint, here's my thoughts,
Impromptu 3 [6:05] - It's a beautiful and aching tune, surprisingly all the work is done in the right hand, usually the right hand plays the tune in the treble, and the left hand plays the accompaniment in the bass, but here the right hand does both!, the thumb and index finger play a superb rippling accompaniment, and it's virtually the little finger that plays that melody to die for, also it's worth noting that it's in G Flat Major, which has six flat notes, this makes the right hand play almost exclusively on black keys, Chopin's Black Key Etude [Op10/5], is also in G Flat Major, in essence this piece could be considered Schubert's 'Black Key' Impromptu, there's a wonderful legato sustained throughout, the recording is wonderful in that it catches the right hand little finger tune in a gorgeous piano acoustic, the piece rises and falls in volume and passion, and i found myself caught on tide of this heavenly piece of music.
Here's Brendel playing Schubert's Impromptu 3 on YouTube.
Alfred Brendel is Austrian, he's now 84, retired, but he lives on in his recordings, he recorded a Schubert cycle for Philips in the eighties, of the major solo piano works, this is volume 5, recorded in 1988, the front booklet shows Brendel in the Brahms Archive Library [by Gabriela Brandenstein], a black & white shot for this series, stark and crisp images in meaningful settings, love the gold and black lettering at the top.
Of these eight pieces, it was surprisingly 2-4 & 7 i loved the best [my personal favourite is 5], but i found myself languishing in some of the other Impromptus this time, but ultimately i found myself coming back to the pure delight of number 3 [D899/3], originally my first favourite, this was a spiritual experience today, hard to exactly put my finger on and pinpoint, here's my thoughts,
Impromptu 3 [6:05] - It's a beautiful and aching tune, surprisingly all the work is done in the right hand, usually the right hand plays the tune in the treble, and the left hand plays the accompaniment in the bass, but here the right hand does both!, the thumb and index finger play a superb rippling accompaniment, and it's virtually the little finger that plays that melody to die for, also it's worth noting that it's in G Flat Major, which has six flat notes, this makes the right hand play almost exclusively on black keys, Chopin's Black Key Etude [Op10/5], is also in G Flat Major, in essence this piece could be considered Schubert's 'Black Key' Impromptu, there's a wonderful legato sustained throughout, the recording is wonderful in that it catches the right hand little finger tune in a gorgeous piano acoustic, the piece rises and falls in volume and passion, and i found myself caught on tide of this heavenly piece of music.
Here's Brendel playing Schubert's Impromptu 3 on YouTube.
