Schubert/Liszt: Piano Sonata in D, D850; Piano Sonata in B minor

Gilels’s reading of Schubert’s D major Sonata is a performance of extremes; fast and relentlessly forceful in the opening Allegro, too slow in the con moto second movement, and lacking in the subtlety needed to do justice to the work’s emotional range. He exerts a sure grip on the monothematic structure of Liszt’s B minor Sonata, but the interpretation is notable more for its power than for flamboyance or poetry. The early stereo recordings are remarkable. David Michaels

Our rating

2

Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:32 pm

COMPOSERS: Schubert/Liszt
LABELS: RCA Living Stereo
WORKS: Piano Sonata in D, D850; Piano Sonata in B minor
PERFORMER: Emil Gilels (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 09026 61614 2 ADD (1960/64)

Gilels’s reading of Schubert’s D major Sonata is a performance of extremes; fast and relentlessly forceful in the opening Allegro, too slow in the con moto second movement, and lacking in the subtlety needed to do justice to the work’s emotional range. He exerts a sure grip on the monothematic structure of Liszt’s B minor Sonata, but the interpretation is notable more for its power than for flamboyance or poetry. The early stereo recordings are remarkable. David Michaels

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