Russian pianist Valery Afanassiev recorded an album of Schubert's late piano sonatas that inspired wildly divergent reactions with its tremendously unorthodox readings. This release on ECM shares much with the earlier album, and it may too be one of those things you either love or hate. As with the earlier release, CD buyers will get Afanassiev's own quirky but far from dull notes, which range over topics from Goethe's Faust to Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 to Japanese philosophy. Afanassiev once again favors slow tempos. They ...
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Russian pianist Valery Afanassiev recorded an album of Schubert's late piano sonatas that inspired wildly divergent reactions with its tremendously unorthodox readings. This release on ECM shares much with the earlier album, and it may too be one of those things you either love or hate. As with the earlier release, CD buyers will get Afanassiev's own quirky but far from dull notes, which range over topics from Goethe's Faust to Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 to Japanese philosophy. Afanassiev once again favors slow tempos. They're not quite as extreme as on the sonata album, but his approach is similar: he presents, so to speak, exploded views of each phrase of Schubert's music. His lines are fantastically detailed without being particularly expressive, and this is probably what fascinates some listeners while driving others crazy. It may be that his Schubert playing works better in some pieces than in others. The six Moments Musicaux, D. 780, will really make you sit up and take notice. What Afanassiev...
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Add this copy of Schubert: Moments Musicaux to cart. $34.54, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2012 by ECM RECORDS: 6528797.
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