Brahms and Schubert: Late Piano Works

Brahms: Klavierstucke op.118

Schubert: Sonata in A major, D.959

Nathan Williamson makes a bold and unusual choice of programme for his debut CD, turning to two ‘late’ great works, written by their respective composers at the end of their lives. In turns carefree and of shattering intensity, both these works are pinnacles of the pianistic repertoire, displaying a rare depth of emotional expression. As Dr. Martin Suckling writes in his accompanying programme notes: ‘Late utterances inevitably acquire an aura of significance. Time is short; this urgency endows messages with abnormal potency.’

Nathan Williamson is a significant composer as well as a young pianist of great lyric gifts and he brings a composer’s sense of structure to both works on this remarkable CD… His vision is imaginative and fiery, yet the animation he generates derives from a contemplative poetic intensity is truly rare among pianists of today… I doubt this Sonata [Schubert D.959] has ever had a more powerful advocate and listening to it can make one believe no finer piano sonata was ever written. This is a truly electrifying debut recording from a musician with a rare marriage of thoughtfulness and passion. Donald Sturrock

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