Schubert: Piano Sonatas D840, 850, 894 & Impromptus D899 - Paul Lewis

Paul Lewis has just emerged from a vast Beethoven project: the complete sonatas and piano concertos, greeted all over the world as a landmark and completed in 2011 by the 'Diabelli Variations' – and now he returns to Franz Schubert, the other key focus of his concert career, the other pillar of his discography.

In this double album, three late sonatas are accompanied by two sets of short pieces brimming with inventiveness, the ' Impromptus' and 'Klavierstücke'.

“there were magical moments too, when Lewis's playing touched the sublime. His own Schubert odyssey is not to be missed by anybody who appreciates pianism of the highest caliber.” Barry Millington, London Evening Standard, concert review

3rd November 2011

****

“As Lewis's legions of admirers would expect, they are all superbly well played, with the same clarity and careful attention to every detail that is also lavished on the Four Impromptus of D899 and the three very late piano pieces D946. Unlike some of Lewis's more recent Beethoven performances, there's nothing over emphatic here... It's a fine, thoughtful set.”