Catalogue

Summary:

Both on the concert platform and in the recording studio, pianist Daniel-Ben Pienaar is a completist. Following complete cycles of piano sonatas by Beethoven and Mozart, he presents 12 Great Piano Sonatas by Franz Schubert – the composer’s 11 finished sonatas and the seminal fragment D840. Pienaar relishes in these revelatory works, their extraordinarily detailed possibilities of characterisation, their call for immense energy and abandon, and navigating the vast dreamscapes that unfold in the course of this six-hour musical journey.

critical acclaim for Daniel-Ben Pienaar
“dazzling precision and clarity … he communicates an individual and convincing vision for each piece, enough for every one of them to give delight. Brilliant.” – Gramophone, Editor’s Choice (on The Long 17th Century, AV2415)

“a gloriously multi-faceted opus maximus … Amazing and very much worth hearing” – Der Spiegel (on Beethoven’s Complete Piano Sonatas, AV2320)

“dizzying virtuosity … fresh, spontaneous, original readings that shed new light on the keyboard player’s Bible”
– BBC Music Magazine (on J. S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, AV2299)

“One of the most completely satisfying surveys ever committed to disc.” – The Sunday Times (on Mozart’s Complete Piano Sonatas, AV2209)

Tracklist:

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 – 1928)
12 Great Piano Sonatas

CD1 (68.10)
Piano Sonata in A minor, D. 537
1. Allegro ma non troppo (7.31)
2. Allegretto quasi andantino (8.00)
3. Allegro vivace (4.31)

Piano Sonata in E Flat, D. 568
4. Allegro moderato (6.26)
5. Andante molto (6.31)
6. Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio (4.33)
7. Allegro moderato (6.45)

Piano Sonata in B, D. 575
8. Allegro ma non troppo (7.46)
9. Andante (6.15)
10. Scherzo: Allegretto – Trio (5.01)
11. Allegro giusto (4.32)

CD2 (64.16)
Piano Sonata in A, D. 664
1. Allegro moderato (8.37)
2. Andante (5.13)
3. Allegro (7.06)

Piano Sonata in A minor, D. 784
4. Allegro giusto (12.07)
5. Andante (5.20)
6. Allegro vivace (5.04)

Piano Sonata in C, D. 840 (Unfinished)
7. Allegro giusto (11.34)
8. Andante (8.58)

CD3 (77.32)
Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor, D. 845
1. Moderato (11.56)
2. Andante poco moto (11.32)
3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio: Un poco più lento (6.59)
4. Rondo: Allegro vivace (4.48)

Piano Sonata in D, D. 850
5. Allegro vivace (9.16)
6. Con moto (13.13)
7. Scherzo : Allegro vivace – Trio (10.33)
8. Rondo: Allegro moderato (9.04)

CD4 (65.53)
Piano Sonata in G, D. 894
1. Molto moderato e cantabile (12.22)
2. Andante (7.40)
3. Menuetto: Allegro moderato (4.29)
4. Allegretto (8.42)

Piano Sonata in C minor, D. 958
5. Allegro (10.36)
6. Adagio (9.20)
7. Menuetto: Allegro – Trio (3.36)
8. Allegro (8.59)

CD5 (78.20)
Piano Sonata in A, D. 959
1. Allegro (14.15)
2. Andantino (8.45)
3. Allegro vivace – Trio: Un poco più lento (4.51)
4. Rondo: Allegretto – Presto (11.58)

Piano Sonata in B-Flat, D. 960
5. Molto moderato (14.53)
6. Andante sostenuto (11.19)
7. Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatezza – Trio (3.57)
8. Allegro ma non troppo – Presto (8.12)

Recorded at St George’s, Bristol, March and July 2015
Engineer: Phil Hobbs
Mapping and editing: Daniel-Ben Pienaar