Schubert: Piano Duets

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The Lewis-Osborne duo establishes a slyly (or should that be shyly?) wistful mood in the Andante varie in B minor, revels in the bravura writing of the Variations in A flat...and transforms the... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2011, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Nov 2010
Catalogue No: CDA67665
Label: Hyperion
Length: 76 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

8th November 2010
Gramophone Awards

2011

Shortlisted - Instrumental
Gramophone Magazine

December 2010

Editor's Choice

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Schubert: Allegro in A minor 'Lebensstürme', D947

Work length15:35

$1.10

$1.50

Paul Lewis (piano), Steven Osborne (piano)

Schubert: Divertissement in E minor D823a

Work length9:12

$1.10

$1.50

Paul Lewis (piano), Steven Osborne (piano)

II. Andantino varié in B minor

Track length9:12

$1.10

$1.50

Schubert: Fugue in E minor D 952

Work length3:30

$1.10

$1.50

Paul Lewis (piano), Steven Osborne (piano)

Schubert: Rondo for piano duet in A major, D951

Work length11:56

$1.10

$1.50

Paul Lewis (piano), Steven Osborne (piano)

Schubert: Variations in A flat major on a original theme, D813

Work length17:31

$1.10

$1.50

Paul Lewis (piano), Steven Osborne (piano)

Schubert: Fantasie in F minor for piano duet, D940

Work length18:18

$1.10

$1.50

Paul Lewis (piano), Steven Osborne (piano)

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Recording of the Week, Schubert: Piano Duets

8th November 2010

Both eminent Schubertians in their own right, Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne join forces for the great Fantasie in F minor D940 and a handful of small-scale works for piano four hands in this captivating contender for my Disc of the Year.

Schubert is unusual and indeed unique among composers in that some of his greatest works are written for piano duet. He wrote as much music for duet as for solo piano, and reaches emotional depths which take this repertoire far away from its domestic origins. The most celebrated of these pieces, the Fantasie in F minor, with its austere yet heartbreaking opening melody and dramatic double fugue, is one of the great piano achievements of the early 19th century. The rest of the works on this disc are much less well-known but equally fascinating.

Who better to commit these works to disc than two of the brighest stars in the British piano scene, Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne? As well as their individual achievements, they also have a long-standing friendship and performing relationship which you will hear reflected in their magisterial performances on this marvellous disc.

Reviews

January 2011

The Lewis-Osborne duo establishes a slyly (or should that be shyly?) wistful mood in the Andante varie in B minor, revels in the bravura writing of the Variations in A flat...and transforms the severity of the Fugue in E minor into something ennobling. Such playing suggests that they have found the key to conveying Schubert's magical world of shadows and sunlight.

February 2011

Two of Britain's finest younger pianists work wonders with the marvels of Schubert's inner landscape...Here are two friends loving every moment of their joint effort. Schubert might have cheered.

December 2010

Though Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne may not immediately appear stylistically empathetic artists, let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. In this repertoire they are as one, touch and tone indistinguishable from one another, playing with a delicious fluency and obvious affection...this is a Schubert disc to return to and live with.

December 2010

From the opening thunderclap of 'Lebensstürme' it is clear that great things are in store...No-one with a taste for superlative, passionately committed music-making, ensemble of the highest calibre or some of Schubert's most beautiful music can afford to miss this one.

8th November 2014

Their achievement on this disc is really quite remarkable...They have the complete measure of Schubert’s writing - at times dramatic, at times reflective, and at others full of real charm and allure... Textures never sound cluttered and you can always hear the most important melodic line (or lines) clearly. These are two brilliant musicians at their absolute best and is without doubt one of my favourite discs this year.

7th November 2010

This brilliantly planned programme is executed with poetry, drama and verve by two complementary pianists who clearly think as one in this sublime chamber music.

4th November 2010

Osborne and Lewis predictably reserve their finest, most perceptive playing for the Fantasie, giving its infinitely regretful main theme a different shading on each of its appearances and colouring the work's harmonic shifts and modulations impeccably. None of their performances could be described as routine, though, even when the music is less than top drawer

29th October 2010

The quality that shines through in these performances is the way in which Schubert so intuitively judged the special medium of the piano duet...Osborne and Lewis have full measure of its inventive scope on a disc of outstanding, enlivening musicianship.

Schubert: Piano Duets

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Recording of the Week, Schubert: Piano Duets

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