Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D. 537 & D. 959

Chronique

Pianist Garrick Ohlsson was 73 years old when this recording was made in late 2021, but the trademarks of his style remain intact in this recording of a pair of Schubert sonatas, the brash Piano Sonata in A major, D. 537, and the transcendent late Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959. There is the muscular pianism, undiminished in force, with percussive attacks made unacceptably harsh by Hyperion's church acoustic. There is the tendency to treat Beethoven as the reference point for 19th century music several decades into the future, not the only way to approach Schubert but certainly justifiable in that when these sonatas were written, Schubert was one of the few composers with a deep understanding of Beethoven. There is also the intelligent, thorough approach to musical structure. Ohlsson's playing here generally avoids lyricism in favor of intense structural swings; the daring harmonic shifts of the D. 537 finale come at the listener quite sharply here. There is little spirit of the Viennese dance anywhere here, but Ohlsson can set his hard-edged approach aside at the most unexpected moments, as in the explosion of passion in the D. 959 slow movement; this will linger in memory. Buyers who put this release on classical best-seller charts in early 2023 no doubt expected a fresh approach and a big sound in these sonatas, and that is exactly what they got.

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