Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D. 845 & 958 Louis Schwizgebel

• 1 I. Allegro 11:01
• 2 II. Adagio 08:49
• 3 III. Menuetto. Allegro. Trio 03:26
• 4 IV. Allegro 09:40
• 5 I. Moderato 11:18
• 6 II. Andante poco moto 12:16
• 7 III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace. Trio. un poco più lento 07:15
• 8 IV. Rondo. Allegro vivace 05:21
• Total Runtime 01:09:06

Info for Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D. 845 & 958

Perhaps what best characterizes the young Sino-Swiss piano prodigy Louis Schwizgebel, acclaimed in the most prestigious international venues, is his always giving the impression that it is the composers themselves who are playing in his place. Thus, no one could imitate this transcendent limpidity, combining both juvenile interiority and the existential gravity unique to Schubert's universe. In this eagerly awaited solo album, Louis Schwizgebel appropriates two gems of the great repertoire. Sonata D. 845 (no. 16) in A minor, considered the first of Schubert's maturity, impresses with the mastery of its structure and its expressive power. Worthy of a symphony, the D. 958 in C minor, 19th out of the 21 that he composed, symbolises the mastery of the composer, freed from the weight of his admiration for Beethoven.

Enhanced by recording quality featuring an extraordinary harmonic palette that will delight the most demanding audiophile, this project with its interpretations of reference already promises to be one of the finest piano CDs of the year.

Louis Schwizgebel, piano

Louis Schwizgebel
Born in Geneva in 1987, Swiss-Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel won the Geneva International Music Competition at the age of seventeen and, two years later, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In 2012 he won 2nd prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition and in 2013 he was announced as a BBC New Generation Artist.

Schwizgebel has performed with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Nagoya and Shanghai Philharmonic orchestras, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's (NYC) with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Louis Langrée, Fabien Gabel, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Thierry Fischer and Vasily Petrenko.

In the coming seasons, highlights include performances at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Prague’s Smetana Hall, debuts with the City of Birmingham, Utah and Detroit Symphony orchestras, and returns to Macao Symphony, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic and London Philharmonic amongst others.

Schwizgebel has played at major festivals such as Verbier, Progetto Martha Argerich, City of London and Bergen International Festivals and in 2014 made a hugely successful debut at the BBC Proms. He performs regularly in chamber music and recital across the globe, and in the coming seasons will play at London’s Wigmore Hall, Munich’s Herkulessaal, Fribourg International Piano Series, Shanghai Concert Hall and at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Schwizgebel records exclusively for Aparté and his first solo disc, Poems, featuring works by Ravel, Liszt, Holliger and Schubert was released in 2013 to exceptional critical claim. Germany’s Fono Forum gave the disc four stars and hailed Schwizgebel “a genuine virtuoso, a spirited young genius with real depth”.

Schwizgebel studied with Brigitte Meyer in Lausanne and Pascal Devoyon in Berlin, and then later at the Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald, and at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Pascal Nemirovski. Schwizgebel is grateful for the support he has received from the Migros Culture Percentage, Hans Wilsdorf Foundation and Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund.

This album contains no booklet.