Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was among the first of the Romantics, and the composer who, more than any other, brought the art song (lied) to artistic maturity. During his short but prolific career, he produced masterpieces in nearly every genre, all characterized by rich harmonies, an expansive treatment of classical forms, and a seemingly endless gift for melody. Schubert began his earliest musical training studying with his father and brothers. Having passed an audition, Schubert enrolled at the Stadtkonvikt that trained young vocalists to eventually sing at the chapel of The Imperial Court. Schubert began to explore composition and wrote a song that came to the attention of the institution's director, Antonio Salieri, who along with the school's professor of harmony, hailed young Schubert as a genius.

This is the eight volume of a new series launched by Diapason. 12 CDs in 1 box containing beautiful Schubert piano music.

This album includes all of the completed piano sonatas by Franz Schubert. These works occupy a unique realm within the piano literature. Russian pianist Larissa Dedova has previously recorded highly acclaimed recordings of the complete piano works of Debussy and Ravel for Centaur Records.

In Metternich's Vienna, chamber music was the favourite distraction of a number of aristocrats and the leisure class as well as student Bohemia. By 1815, a teenaged Franz Schubert had already written (at least) ten scores for quartet, for the family circle, Hausmusik, without seeking to conceal his models borrowed from Haydn and, especially, Mozart.

It will soon be the centenary of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, rightly regarded as the greatest baritone of the twentieth century, as much for his warm, instantly recognisable voice as for his innate sense of text and perfect diction. Warner Classics is celebrating his memory with an exhaustive boxset of all his lieder and song recitals. Let’s put our ears back on his most iconic successes, the great Schubert cycles accompanied on the piano by his long-time partner Gerald Moore.