This is the second disc in what promises to be an ongoing collaboration between Norwegian pianist
Leif Ove Andsnes and English tenor
Ian Bostridge performing the music of
Schubert. Like the first disc, this one couples a piano sonata with a set of songs. On this disc, the sonata is the massive Sonata in D major (D. 850), while the songs are three settings of Ernst Schulze, five settings of Friedrich von Schlegel, and one setting of August Wilhelm Schlegel. As before,
Andsnes' performance of the sonata is strong-limbed, clear-eyed, and utterly without sentimentality. While this interpretation might seem at first too cool for the music's warm-hearted melodies, it does underline the structural coherence of the movements and this is never a bad thing in
Schubert. And while his interpretation does not efface memories of
Richter or
Curzon's magnificent performances, it is certainly one of the best performances of the D major in a generation. And as before,
Bostridge's performances of the songs are sensitive, soulful, and superbly sung. He finds breadth in the songs of the lovelorn Schulze, heights in the songs of the pantheistic Friedrich von Schlegel, and even depths of emotion in a silly little love poem by August Wilhelm Schlegel.
Andsnes' accompaniment is more subtly nuanced than his solo playing. EMI's sound is warm and immediate.