Composer: Johannes Brahms, Franz Peter Schubert
Performer: Alexandre Kantorow
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2660
Release: 2024
Size: 1.06 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Allegro molto e con fuoco — Più mosso
04. IV. Allegro con fuoco — Presto non troppo ed agitato
05. Schubert: Der Wanderer, S 558 / 11 (D 489)
06. Schubert: Der Müller und der Bach, S 565 / 2 (D 795 / 19)
07. Schubert: Frühlingsglaube, S 558 / 7 (D 686)
08. Schubert: Die Stadt, S 560 / 1 (D 957 / 11)
09. Schubert: Am Meer, S 560 / 4 (D 957 / 12)
Schubert: Fantasy in C Major, ‘Wanderer Fantasy’, D 760
10. I. Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
11. II. Adagio
12. III. Presto
13. IV. Allegro
Although by no means Brahms’s very first composition, the Sonata in C major bears the number ‘Op.1’ and is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant débuts in musical history. No wonder no less than Robert Schumann saw Brahms as the saviour of German music. To accompany what is in every respect a dazzling work, another masterpiece was needed, and what better than Franz Schubert’s famous ‘Wanderer Fantasy’, the most virtuosic composition in his entire output. With it, Schubert opened up new expressive possibilities with his ‘orchestral’ writing, leaving Beethoven in the shade and seeming to anticipate Franz Liszt. The latter composer-pianist with his transcendental virtuosity also had to be present on this disc, and we find him with his masterly transcriptions for piano of five Schubert lieder.
In 2019, when Alexandre Kantorow, at the age of 22, became the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky competition, his programme included no fewer than three works by Johannes Brahms. So it was with great anticipation that we were looking forward to his recording of the German composer’s works. With this release, Kantorow concludes his cycle dedicated to Brahms’s piano sonatas, the previous instalments of which garnered the highest praise from the music press around the world, as well as the most prestigious awards, such as Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice, Diapason d’Or, and Choc from Classica.