Schubert: Piano Sonatas D959 and D960

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Zimerman takes us into a place of deep introspection, finding vast universes within. The recorded sound, by Rainer Maillard, is beautifully judged, combining gentleness with absolute clarity…This... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2017, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 8th Sep 2017
Catalogue No: 4797588
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Length: 82 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

8th September 2017
Gramophone Magazine

October 2017

Disc of the Month
Presto Recordings of the Year

Winner 2017
The Times Records of the Year

2017
BBC Music Magazine Awards

2018

Finalist - Instrumental
International Classical Music Awards

2018

Winner - Solo Instrument

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Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D959

Work length38:52

$4.40

$6.00

$8.20

Krystian Zimerman (piano)
Recorded: 2016-01-23
Recording Venue: Kashiwazaki

1. Allegro

Track length14:13

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

2. Andantino

Track length7:36

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)

Track length4:51

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

4. Rondo (Allegretto)

Track length12:12

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D960

Work length43:09

$4.40

$6.00

$8.20

Krystian Zimerman (piano)
Recorded: 2016-01-23
Recording Venue: Kashiwazaki

1. Molto moderato

Track length20:14

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

2. Andante sostenuto

Track length10:32

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace con delicatezza)

Track length4:09

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

4. Allegro ma non troppo

Track length8:14

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

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Presto Music Classical Podcast, Episode 2: The Art of Music Criticism with Harriet Smith

29th July 2020

For the second Presto Music Podcast, Paul is joined by music critic Harriet Smith, to discuss the art involved in reviewing classical music recordings.

Recording of the Week, Schubert piano sonatas from Krystian Zimerman

8th September 2017

James enjoys the Polish pianist's performance of Schubert's last two sonatas for the piano.

Legendary Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman in his first solo album for DG for over twenty-five years. Revelatory readings of Piano Sonatas D959 & D960, Schubert’s last major compositions for the piano before his death aged thirty-one. Recorded at the Kashiwazaki City Performing Arts Centre in Japan in January 2016.

Krystian performed these last two eternal masterworks intensely over the last few years to highest critical acclaim. This album is set to take its place among the great Schubert recordings.

Reviews

Christmas 2017

Zimerman takes us into a place of deep introspection, finding vast universes within. The recorded sound, by Rainer Maillard, is beautifully judged, combining gentleness with absolute clarity…This piano sings sweetly, allows Zimerman to do for all the emotional outbursts without breaking through into our louder modern age.

October 2017

Zimerman, quite simply, sounds like no one else. That’s partly down to the instrument, having inserted into his Steinway a keyboard he has made himself... Every element of these two sonatas has been thought out, considered; in the hands of a lesser artist the results could have been pernickety but instead they tend towards the transcendent...This is a marvellously life‑enhancing release. Go and hear it for yourself.

January 2018

Zimerman’s technical command is prodigious and unfaltering, yet exclusively at the service of his searing vision. No time for caressing warmth or confidentiality, but the naked essence of Schubert without fuss or indirection, and always with a sense of ‘time’s winged chariot hurrying near’. So, while I would never be without long cherished recordings by Kempff, Curzon, Lupu and Uchida, these fiercely uncompromising readings stand out like a beacon of blazing light.

8th September 2017

The second movement of D959, a kind of melancholy Valse triste, sounds otherworldly and hauntingly mesmerising in Zimerman's hands. His voicing of chords is exquisite, and by bringing out the accents and other dynamic markings, he highlights some of the more unexpected harmonies, making it sound eerily modern in places...The way he shapes a phrase is a joy to listen to, and he knows exactly how to pace the longer movements.

29th October 2017

His virtuoso technique makes light of the technical demands of both the A major (D959) and B-flat major (D960) works, yet it is the tonal colouring and shading, his assured control of dynamics and ability to integrate the sudden lurches from dramatic despair to unbound joy, that make these performances so satisfying.

12th October 2017

Characteristically, the performances have been prepared with immense care...while the attention that Zimerman pays to the minutest detail of the phrasing never becomes an end in itself...There are certainly more strikingly individual recordings of both sonatas to be found, good and less good, but few that are so consistently thoughtful and musical, and so technically impeccable too.

International Classical Music Awards 2018

Zimerman invites the listeners to a magical world of sounds and expressions by presenting all of the rich details in these greatest Schubert sonatas. As if wishing to tell us the most important story of his life, he has devoted immense study to discovering the depths of this music. The performances are incredibly nuanced and well-prepared, but on the other hand very spontaneous, thus underlining Zimerman’s exceptional artistry.

Schubert: Piano Sonatas D959 and D960

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Presto Music Classical Podcast, Episode 2: The Art of Music Criticism with Harriet Smith

Recording of the Week, Schubert piano sonatas from Krystian Zimerman

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