Schubert: Piano Sonata in A, Lieder
With this release, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes launches a project in which Schubert's piano sonatas are programmed alongside his songs, allowing the listener to here how the composer's large-scale instrumental works tap into the effortless yet intense lyrical sensibility that permeates his vocal music. Listen first to tenor Ian Bostridge gorgeously negotiate Auf dem Strom's difficult-to-sustain long lines (abetted by Timothy Brown's superb traversal of the solo part). Then play the big A Major Sonata's finale, and you'll realize that the movement is a lofty song without words. It would take an orchestra, however, to match the pent-up anguish Andsnes releases in the slow movement's cataclysmic climax, or a perky chamber ensemble to mirror the rhythmic spring with which he imbues the Allegro's gnarly imitative writing. Although Pollini, Arrau, and Goode bring greater dynamism and flexibility to this sonata, Andsnes' stylish intelligence and poised technique admirably serve the music and satisfy the soul.--Jed Distler