The Milan recital was taped 13 years after Serkin made his celebrated studio recording of D.959. He honors the high Viennese classical roots of Schubert, never playing down to him. Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert were all of a period as well as a reach that remains at the summit of keyboard music history. None of them can be second guessed or modified to fit modern tastes. They are incessantly satisfying when the scores are followed faithfully and not "improved by originalists" or contemporary notions augmented by audiophile gimmicks. Schnabel practically discovered this great sonata, and Serkin followed his lead with maybe even more intensity and understanding; in this particular late Schubert sonata both interpretations are essential. The last movement sonata-rondo is a towering achievement - a couple of missed notes all the more signifying the living impulse of the music. That it is a taped performance made before an audience when he was 76 makes it even more extraordinary. This post is deeply appreciated.
Esecuzione piuttosto pasticciata, rispetto ai livelli eccelsi del Maestro. E un po' priva di coerenza complessiva. Ma quanti tesori, quante gemme sparse di qua e di là, quante geniali sfumature. Comunque, molto emozionante.
