THE SCHUBERT RECORDINGS
VOLUME II

FOUR IMPROMPTUS, OP.90, D.899

FOUR IMPROMPTUS, OP. POSTH.142, D.935

JOSHUA PIERCE

$14.95  ~  MS1205

SELECT CRITICAL ACCLAIM ON VOLUME I

"…this is impressive Schubert playing, with judicious pedalling, vivid contrast in tone colour, finely tuned dynamic control and a natural rubato…this is a disc worth hearing."
MusicWeb International ~ January 2008

"[Joshua Pierce] applied his mind and heart to every phrase. Nothing is straightforward; everything is interpreted."
American Record Guide ~ November / December 2007

"Pierce's interpretations convey undeniable enthusiasm, energy and sincerity...[a] gifted, charismatic pianist."
Gramophone ~ October 2007

" Joshua Pierce offers a distinguished Schubert disc."
Turok's Choice ~ October 2007

"Brilliant."
CD HotList ~ September 2007

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What is an Impromptu? Presumably something unpremeditated, unplanned. But how does that apply to a written-out, printed piece of music in an A-B-A ternary form— boxes within boxes and about as basic and locked-in as a musical form can be?

To understand this apparent contradiction and to recapture the magical freshness of the Schubert Impromptus when they first appeared in the 1820s, we have to return to that heyday of early romanticism in central Europe when the rise of the middle class – yes, the famous Bourgeoisie – meant a piano in every parlor and hausmusik in every household. The eighteenth-century musical salon took place in the mansions of the aristocracy and the tradition passed on to the new rich of the next generations who carried it forward. In particular, well-to-do young women learned to play the piano under the tutelage of some of the leading composers and pianists of the day and whole new genres of music—lyric, dreamy or even dramatic character pieces for solo piano and new kinds of art songs—came into being expressly for the hausmusik market.

Whereas baroque and classical music were elegant, austere, precise, contrapuntal, tough to the point of being macho, highly structured and, at the same time, highly ornamented, the new romanticism was sweet, soft, feminized, highly expressive and poetic. But there is another side to this picture. Alongside the poetic lyricism, there is also that darker and more intense strain of bohemianism, despair, and wildness perhaps best exemplified by the stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann (who was also one of the leading composers of the day), the schizophrenic personality of Robert Schumann (who ended up in an asylum) and the demonic public figures of Paganini and Liszt. We now also know that the real story of sweet and gentle Franz Schubert was actually one of (to quote a leading authority) "alcohol abuse, manic depression, syphilis and hypersexual activity."

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Joshua Pierce adds his interpretations of Schubert to his extraordinarily vast collection of classical, romantic and modern pianism. Pierce is one of the most versatile virtuosi of our time. His series of recent recordings of major works for piano and orchestra from the great composers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to the complete Beethoven Concertos to the Schubert solo keyboard masterpieces recorded here to the romantic world of Liszt and Brahms form an extraordinary testimony to the mastery and enormous range of an artist who is also known for his performances of twentieth century repertoire from Gershwin to Cage and beyond. This huge range and varied repertoire – encompassing the standard repertoire, contemporary work and rediscovered masterpieces of the past – are unique among contemporary pianists .