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Sokolov: Schubert & Beethoven | Deutsche Grammophon 4795426

Sokolov: Schubert & Beethoven

£19.06

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Label: Deutsche Grammophon

Cat No: 4795426

Barcode: 0028947954262

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Instrumental

Release Date: 22nd January 2016

Contents

About

Grigory Sokolov is an exceptional artist. He is regarded as one of the world’s leading pianists and adored by his audience in sold-out concerts – dedicated to his art, and nothing else.

His debut album on Deutsche Grammophon, 'Salzburg Recital', was a huge success and is the best-selling frontline core classical release this year to date. With 'Schubert & Beethoven' we have another hit in our hands: Grigory Sokolov plays late masterworks by Schubert, including the much-loved Impromptus, and Beethoven’s mighty 'Hammerklavier' Sonata, finishing with six impeccable encores by Rameau and Brahms.

This outstanding recital is culled from concerts in Warsaw and Salzburg, which were celebrated by the media – Salzburger Nachrichten claimed: “Wherever he plays, the utopia of ultimate satisfaction is closer than ever… “.

There is an hour of Schubert comprising some of his best-loved piano music (the Impromptus in A flat and G flat major, with rippling arpeggios and timeless melodies), and three of his late piano works that search out the depths of his art. And Beethoven’s longest piano sonata – one of the famous 'late' sonatas – explores the whole range of the extended keyboard then available to him. It lasts over 45 minutes and is one of his most over-the-top works, with its huge fugal finale that has been known to drive listeners crazy. Sokolov has it all under control.

Contents:
CD 1
FRANZ SCHUBERT
- Four Impromptus op.90
- Drei Klavierstücke D946

Warsaw Philharmonie, live recording 12 May 2013

CD 2
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
- Piano Sonata in B flat major, op.106 'Hammerklavier'

Encores:
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU
- Les tendres plaints
- Les tourbnillons
- Les cyclopes
- La follette
- Les sauvages


JOHANNES BRAHMS
- Intermezzo in B flat minor op.117 no.2
Salzburg Festival, 23 August 2013

Sound/Video



Reviews

The Hammerklavier is certainly different from the norm – the outer movements are classically restrained, almost relaxed, with miraculously transparent textures, and the emotional centre of gravity is rooted in a radiant account of the slow movement, though the sense of wholeness and scale of the sonata are unmistakably retained. [...] Perhaps best of all is the final encore, the second intermezzo from Brahms’ Op 117, in which every tiny nuance, every fleck of colour, seems perfectly placed. Andrew Clements
The Guardian 5 February 2016
Periodically prevented from touring abroad by a repressive Soviet government, Grigory Sokolov learned to regard recitals as the elixir of life: the urgency and immediacy of his performances –and his generosity with encores, which can on occasion almost double the length of a concert –are all thanks to that life-giving spark across the footlights. And this double-CD, consisting of live recordings from Warsaw and Salzburg, benefits hugely from that spark. ... And in these hands the opening Allegro of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier is a revelation. The tempo is cool and deliberate, the passagework transparent and graceful, the prevailing mood playful and tender ... the concluding Brahms Intermezzo comes like a benediction on all that has gone before.  Michael Church
BBC Music Magazine May 2016

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