For a long time, back before CDs, Schubert’s piano music for me meant Alfred Brendel. Early on, I had very extravagantly bought his box of Schubert LPs, which I played and played for years. Still the performances which I find myself comparing with all others, and returning to often. So this week let’s have Brendel in his prime, playing the first set of impromptus.
What would Franz S. have given to music had he lived longer than a mere 31 years? One happy memory of mine is a concert by Brendel at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, October 1987, that I commented with my – then faint – Italian: grazioso. Noteworthy among the newer Schubertiana are Andras Schiff’s recordings with his fortepiano, droplets falling from heavens and especially so with the amazing D899.