Catalogue

Summary:

“[Lucchesini’s] versatility now extends to Schubert in performances of an exceptional delicacy and restraint, almost as if played late at night before an audience of close friends” – Gramophone

With a refined touch and a beguiling sense of Schubertian style, the Italian pianist Andrea Lucchesini conveys to captivating effect the sublime invention and intimacy of the impromptus…he unfailingly finds the music’s expressive heart, balancing vitality with structural judgment, lyricism and poise with fluency and caprice” ★★★★★ – The Daily Telegraph

“Andrea Lucchesini seems perfectly at home on these interpretations of Schubert’s eight Impromptus … But it’s the No 1 in C minor on which he really excels, opening like a stately march before slipping into wistful Romanticism and unrequited yearning as it shifts key and rhythm” – The Independent

The brilliant career of Italian pianist Andrea Lucchesini was launched in 1983, when he became the first Italian ever to win the Dino Ciani International Competition at La Scala in Milan. He has since made numerous award-winning recordings and performed all over the world with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Houston Symphony, London Philharmonic, under the baton of such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Semyon Bychkov and Riccardo Chailly.

A probing musician, Lucchesini is well-known for his advocacy of contemporary music – his first recording for Avie featured the complete solo piano works by Berio – yet he is equally at home with the Romantic masters as this, his first recording of Schubert, demonstrates.

Tracklist:

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828)

4 Impromptus, D899 (30:06)
1. No. 1 in C minor: Allegro molto moderato (11:06)
2. No. 2 in E flat major: Allegro (4:46)
3. No. 3 in G flat major: Andante (6:17)
4. No. 4 in A flat major: Allegretto (7:57)

4 Impromptus, D935 (37:49)
5. No. 1 in F minor: Allegretto moderato (11:53)
6. No. 2 in A flat major: Allegretto (7:54)
7. No. 3 in B flat major: Andante (11:48)
8. No. 4 in F minor: Allegro scherzando (6:14)

Total duration: 67:59