This CD contains two introspective and lyrical Piano Sonatas and the exciting Wanderer Fantasie by Franz Schubert. These are masterful interpretation in one of the...

This CD contains two introspective and lyrical Piano Sonatas and the exciting Wanderer Fantasie by Franz Schubert. These are masterful interpretation in one of the best contemporary American pianists, Garrick Ohlsson.

Ohlsson's performances reveal the characteristics of instrumental sensitivity in this composer. In the intangible realm of moods and feelings, the music expresses contrasts between despair and hope, sadness and illness, yet also the joys of Vienna with its salons, coffee shops, conversations and dances. The music [of late Schubert sonatas] also expresses a suspension between the the older classical school and the then new romantic style. Above all, with every note and turn of phrase there is lyricism. After all, the lyricism of song was a favorite genre for Schubert. The form and design of the "Wanderer Fantasy" is kin to a Romantic canvas. In the variations of the Wanderer theme, you will find gleaming melodious pearls but never at the service of cheap virtuosity and some of Schubert's musical images and harmonies foreshadow Impressionism.

Garrick Ohlsson is popular and well-liked in Poland since the time he won the 1970 Chopin Competition. Maturity and musical sensitivity makes possible an appreciation of the quality within the Schubert sonatas, many of which were unpublished in the composer's lifetime. This recording was realized within the perfect acoustics of the Concert Hall of the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. - Dux Records (Translated from Polish)