Schubert: Piano Works, Vol. 5

Featuring

Gerhard Oppitz
Franz Schubert

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Historical Context

When Franz Schubert composed his first piano sonata in 1815, the four-movement sonata form had already reached its full development, with all of Mozart's and Haydn's piano works available and 27 of Beethoven's sonatas published.

Composition History

The Sonata in B major D 575, from Schubert's prolific 'sonata year' of 1817, was preserved thanks to his youthful friend Albert Stadler, who copied it for pianist Josefine von Koller before the original manuscript was lost.

Performer Biography

Gerhard Oppitz, the pianist on this recording, won first prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Israel in 1977, marking the start of his worldwide concert career.

Critical Reception

A 1826 review in the Leipzig Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung compared Schubert's A minor sonata to Beethoven's greatest sonatas and noted its imaginative, free, and bold character.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Franz Schubert's piano sonatas are considered some of the most illustrious and prized pieces for the instrument, characterized by a song-like style where a fine-spun melody unfolds over a smoothly flowing accompaniment.

Composition History

Schubert dedicated his A minor sonata to Archduke Rudolph, a patron and pupil of Beethoven, which demonstrated the composer's new self-assurance.

Composer Biography

Although not a virtuoso, Schubert was an accomplished pianist; after performing his first published sonata, he wrote to his parents that some assured him the keys 'began to sing under my fingers'.