Hi All,

I just recently bought a four CD set of Schubert Piano Sonatas with Radu
Lupu and on the whole I just love it.  Lupu's rich and beautiful tone
is quite something and the sense of design and forward momentum in most
of the sonatas is very convincing and impressive.

There are a few things that are bothering me though and keeping me
from complete enjoyment of the set.  First there seems to be either
an engineering issue or interpretive issue(or both) wherein the louder
moments are too loud and the softer moments too soft.  This makes me
have to adjust the volume as I'm listening which shouldn't be necessary.
Then there are other interpretive issues such as in the recapitualtion
of the haunting melody in the Andantino of the great A Major sonata where
Lupu doesn't seem to stress the chords that counterpoint this melody
enough or the awfully slow Moderato in the A minor D845 sonata which
seems to be taken Lento!  This makes the sonata much less exciting than
it could be.

There are many more details such as these which are small but still
keep me from completely enjoying Lupu's interpretations.  The B flat
major is an example of where I am completely with Lupu throughout and
it's simply gorgeous and very moving.  As I stated at the beginning of
this post I mostly like this set a great deal and have been listening
to it non-stop since I bought it.  But I am not as enthusiastic about
the performances as I am with Kempff, Schnabel, some Brendel, and
Zacharias.  I find it first rate but problematic.  Are there any yays
or nays in the audience?

All the best,

Peter Herwitz

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