Many of the old-school Romantic pianists adopted a big,
Beethoven
ian sound in
Schubert
's keyboard music, and their historical-instrument counterparts have often done the same thing, stressing the excitement
and other composers must have felt at the power of the new pianos that had come their way. Yet there's another way to approach
, one that takes note of the fact that he worked very quickly, and, indeed, sometimes composed shorter works as fast as he could write them down. Pianist
Barry Douglas
, who reaches the seventh volume of his
keyboard series with this 2024 release, is an exponent of a more deliberate approach that makes especial sense in the pair of expansive four-movement
sonatas heard here. Indeed, the first movement of the
Piano Sonata in G major, D. 894
, has traditionally had the sobriquet "Fantasie," and this name goes back to
's time (although not to
himself). In
Douglas
' performance, the whole work has a fantasy-like, improvisational quality as the fourth movement cycles through its run of third-related keys. The pairing with 1817's
Piano Sonata in E flat major, D. 568
, is ideal; the earlier work adumbrates the ideas in the
G major
work.
draws an effective contrast by closing with a pair of
Liszt
transcriptions, and the entire program will linger in the listener's mind, demanding repeat listens. The use of a university auditorium at the MTU Cork School of Music as the recording venue may sound iffy, but the album features the work of a producer,
Jonathan Cooper
, who knew how to deal with it, and the sound imparts just the right kind of inward quality to the music. A good introduction to
' approach for those who are new to the series, and a must for listeners who are already hooked. ~ James Manheim