Krystian Zimerman
Krystian Zimerman is a living legend.
He is without doubt one of our most important pianists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and has produced a huge number of reference recordings.
I only saw him live once, couple of years ago in Lucerne, and was utterly impressed with his Chopin.
He obviously features in my Top 10 Favorite Classical Pianists, and when I heard that he’s about to release his first solo album since 1994 (!) I really couldn’t wait for it.
Franz Schubert’s late sonatas
And then he plays Schubert! D959 and D960!
The late piano sonatas are among my absolutely preferred works of him (together with the late chamber works), and I’ve even written a blog post comparing 11 versions of D959. At the time, I selected Perahia, Brendel, and Uchida as my reference versions.
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonatas D959 and 960 – Krystian Zimerman (DG2017)
So, maybe it is a mistake to get too excited upfront. I really expected miracles here. I mean, take his Chopin Ballades, his Debussy, his Lutoslawski, his Brahms 1, his Liszt b-minor sonata. All miracles.
So you will have guess by now, that I was underwhelmed here.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a very fine recording. Obviously. It’s Zimerman after all. And he really makes these recordings very much his own.
But I’ve now played them over and over again, and I’m still waiting for the “wow”. I simply doesn’t come. I still don’t know what it is. Is it his rubato, his tempi? Is it maybe “too romantic”? I really don’t know.
There are so many subleties in his recording that I all appreciate individually. But the total doesn’t work for me. Well, hold on, “doesn’t work” is a silly way of saying I’m not blown away. It really all boils down to expectations.
Check it out, you have to, this is Zimerman after all. And I won’t be surprised if many of you disagree with my very personal opinion here. But for the moment, I’ll stick with the “cleaner” versions of Brendel and Uchida.
What do you think? I really appreciate your feedback here!
My rating: 4 stars
You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prostudiomasters)
UPDATE Oct 1st, 2017: the French magazine Classica is less hesitant and gives this album a “CHOC”, i.e. 5 stars.
UPDATE Oct 7, 2017: Gramophone also is fully convinced, giving this album a “recording of the month” for October. The only more critical review I’ve seen so far is by Elvire James on the French site Classiquenews.com, saying this album has nothing new to offer. Well I really wouln’t go as far as that.
UPDATE Oct 9, 2017: ClassicsToday Jed Distler is in the same range as my rating, with an 8 out of 10 points, quoting some micromanaging.
Your turn to judge! Let me know what you think.
musicophilesblog - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms 
Thanks for this! I couldn’t agree with you more on Zimerman’s deserved superstar status, an artist of the highest order. This release caught my attention, but I also adore Uchida’s recordings. I might still give it a try.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Please let me know what you think. I’m still slightly disappointed that I don’t like this recording more, therefore I’m very curious to see how others perceive it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was thinking about getting that recording despite my misgivings about heavily promoted recordings by the DG. Soll ich oder soll ich nicht? Muss ich? 😄 I will let you know.
LikeLike
Man kann, muss aber nicht.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I listened to the D959 on my commute to work this morning and enjoyed it very much. I like his clean articulation, sense of pacing and musical breathing space. I felt the Andantino was a little dry (a touch more pedal in the final section might have added resonance) but overall I enjoyed the recording and it stands up well to my personal benchmark which is Richard Goode. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe I was just expecting too much. With Zimerman, his other recordings are so special and outstanding. Maybe this recording will grow on me over time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And obviously, on any absolute scale this recording is very good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I heard a terrible live performance of D959 last week – so messy and ugly it made me angry! So Zimerman’s feels like a restoration of true Schubertian order (if that makes sense!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely!
LikeLike
I have been listening to it for the last couple of days and still can’t make up my mind. Surely, I was expecting more, but I will let you know soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Please do share!
LikeLike
I’ve notice you’ve read my review. As you might have realised I do praise certain aspects of the performance but I haven’t warmed up to it completely yet. Perhaps I wanted a more flowing approach, but then again, I like some of Zimerman’s “liberties”. Overall, I can’t listen to this pieces long enough — especially the last sonata because I like it too much (if that makes any sense). I don’t know about you, but there is some music by Schubert which is too perfect to listen to on a regular basis. Sometimes too much beauty can be painful.
LikeLike
Actually there are many good elements in it. But overall it is not my personal reference. And this is subconsciously what I expected from Zimerman…
LikeLike
I would definitely buy it again. Not always I want to compare everything with everything. This Zimerman is very good by its own.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your feedback and I agree it is an excellent recording. Probably due to my blogging activity I’m always looking for the “best”, hut for sure this version is absolutely worth having.
LikeLike