Schubert: Moments Musicaux (6), D780, Op. 94

“outstanding performances...He is dazzling in the brilliant passages (wonderful F minor and B flat impromptus). Even more important, he finds a beautiful glow for those quintessential Schubert moments of deep, sad stillness.” Sunday Times, 7th October 2012

“His playing of everything here is exemplary; if one were ever tempted to say a recording was 'definitive' then this is the time...Playing such as Lewis's expands and extends my ideas about what Schubert could do...Lewis shows, more than perhaps any pianist I have heard, how much latent violence there is in almost all Schubert's writing for the piano...I'd be surprised if any Schubert lover didn't find these two discs a revelation.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 *****

“whether in a Moment musical or the mighty Wanderer, Lewis's vision is persuasive. Above all, it's playing that possesses a profound confidence that has surely come from his wholesale immersion in the music of the composer, not just the solo piano works but chamber and vocal too...A worthy continuation, then, of what is fast emerging as a benchmark Schubert series for our time.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012

“…Imogen Cooper is second to none in Schubert. The sound she so carefully makes is a glorious companion throughout, casting radiance on the first two Moments musicaux, the spellbinding last of the four impromptus, and even a rare moment of transcendence in the otherwise straightforward if well sprung German Dances. ...she finds her own independent way with the opening of the C minor Sonata, strong and surprisingly buoyant with lovely staccatos and later magical enharmonic transformations. The tour de force of the final tarantella, following on the heels of the elusive minuet, never palls in its mercurial variety, and the slip into B major is a glimpse into a strange new world, a little touch of heaven.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2010 *****

“These two CDs contain some of the most wonderful Schubert-playing I have ever heard. …one thing Cooper can do is make the piano sing… Colours are gracefully shaded, dynamics are artfully controlled and contained; there are no intrusive idiosyncrasies... to detract from the enchantment. ...there is throughout a serenity and poise to the playing which is pure balm for the soul. Here is a great artist of taste and integrity.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2010

“the piano could not be more naturally captured, nor the feeling of live music-making conveyed to the listener. She displays a very special feeling for the composer's lyricism, and the warm colouring and fine shading of timbre are as pleasing to the ear as the many subtle nuances of phrasing, and her bold sonority at higher dynamic levels is particularly satisfying.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Every note amply justifies Cooper’s Schubertian credentials. She maintains perfect balance between intellect and emotion, tuning into what the Germans call Sehnsucht — a kind of longing — and subtly delineating shades of light and dark...Outstanding.” Sunday Times, 22nd November 2009 ****

“…a Schubert disc of the rarest distinction. …few pianists have been more acutely sensitive to Schubert's complex inner world, one where an often pained and world-weary quality is thinly disguised by outward geniality.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2009

“What's immediately striking about his Schubert playing is its refinement, and variety of colour. In the melancholy unaccompanied theme that brings the first of the Impromptus, for instance, you can almost hear the plaintive sound of an oboe; while in No. 3 - a song without words in all but name - Fray allows the melody to sing in a genuine pianissimo, by making the inner-voice accompaniment sound like the murmur of a clarinet playing in its dark chalumeau register. This is altogether some of the most beautiful pianissimo playing you're likely to hear... is a memorable recital, and no Schubert-lover should miss this.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2009

“...sheer lucidity and polish...exceptional command of colour and touch...In many respects it's pianism of the highest class.” The Guardian, 21st January 2010 ***

“This penultimate Sonata is Beethovenian in its ferocity yet uniquely Schubertian in its sense of desolation, most notably in the almost intolerable second movement. It is performed by Helmchen with a naturalness which does justice to both its subtleties and stark contrasts. The Moments musicaux may be thought to play themselves, but this account of them is equally compelling and fresh.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2009 *****

“…such is the strength and poetic commitment of Helmchen's playing that he already makes comparison irrelevant. And if I was to single out one awe-inspiring moment it would be the Andantino from the Sonata, naturally paced, enviably poised and focused with a stealthy approach to the central elemental uproar that suggests a young pianist of rare maturity and vision.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2009

“Here is musical gold indeed. Martin Helmchen is a 27-year-old German pianist who won the Clara Haskil Competition in 2001 and whose playing in its mastery and unadorned quality has much in common with that great artist. Memorable recordings of Schubert's D959 Sonata and the six Moments musicaux are hardly thin on the ground yet such is the strength and poetic commitment of Helmchen's playing that he already makes comparison irrelevant. And if one was to single out one awe-inspiring moment it would be the Andantino from the Sonata, naturally paced, enviably poised and focused with a stealthy approach to the central elemental uproar that suggests a young pianist of rare maturity and vision.
All possible longueur, too, in the finale is banished in playing that makes for heavenly rather than interminable length. Again, the last of the Moments musicaux, an epic in miniature, is given with an unforgettable inwardness and quite without recourse to sub-normal timing or false sophistication. Just occasionally you could say that Helmchen's tempi are insufficiently integrated with a tendency to relax into lyricism and accelerate into drama. But given his overall command this is little more than a spot on the sun.
Pentatone's sound is both clear and natural.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“it is the most searching and penetrating account of the work to have appeared in recent year and, given the excellence and truthfulness of the recording, must carry the strongest and most enthusiastic recommendation.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Fischer's luminous, unfussily truthful, sober yet supple, and above all supremely elevated pianism is the perfect foil to Schwarzkopf's eye-lash-fluttering vocal acuity.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2005