SCHUBERT: 9 PIANO SONATAS, MOMENTS MUSICAUX - Radu Lupu (4 CDs)

'A lyricist in a thousand', Lupu has, naturally, placed Schubert at the centre of his repertoire and conjured from a seemingly recalcitrant black-and-white instrument a range of vocal colours and nuances that even a Souzay or Fischer-Dieskau might envy. Heard at his greatest in the sombre A minor Sonata, D845, he recreates a place where even the most outwardly genial phrase is troubled and despairing. Then turn to the A major Sonata's finale (D664) and you hear a pianist who can change from blazing defiance to a delectable lightness and vivacity. In the shorter, less familiar sonatas, too, Lupu makes you aware of Schubert's tirelessly fecund imagination, of his experimenting with ideas and procedures far ahead of his time.' - GRAMOPHONE GUIDE TO RECORDED MUSIC