This recording contains yet another astounding work by Franz Schubert which is one of my very favorite compositions. Let me tell you more, as the recording also contains other gems:
Schubert:
Fantasie in F minor for piano duet, D940
Four Ländler D814
Marches caractéristiques (2), D886: No. 1
Variations in A flat major on a original theme, D813
March D819 No. 3
Polonaise, Op. 61 No. 1 D824, D minor
Rondo for piano duet in A major, D951
Performed by Andreas Staier and Alexander Melnikov
Schubert wrote to his publisher as follows:
“I have composed a big sonata and variations for four hands, and the latter have met with a specially good reception here, but I do not entirely trust Hungarian taste, and I shall leave it to you and to the Viennese to decide their true merit”
In his brief life Schubert devoted 32 compositions to this form and the least of these pieces, be it a ländler, polonaise or march, radiates with all of his finesse and sensitivity. Three are incontestable masterpieces, in the same rank as his sonatas or quartets: the Variations D813, the Fantasie D 940 and the Rondo D 951. All three date from the composer’s final years, a period that gave birth to his most accomplished works.
Here is the Schubert Fantasie in F-Minor, as played by Evgeny Kissin and James Levine:
