Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op.142 (Zimerman)

A beautiful example of Zimerman's fantastically rich and layered pianism. Most recordings of the Op.142 emphasise their intimacy and meditativeness, but Zimerman gives these pieces full-blooded climaxes and so much painstaking detail and colour it's easy to imagine them scored for orchestra. The care Zimerman takes in voicing chords is especially noteworthy.

00:00 -- No.1 in F minor. A startlingly vivid sort-of-Beethovenian approach that gives full expression to the narrative power of this piece's sonata form.
11:11 -- No.2 in A-flat major. Played with refreshing directness and warmth. The voicing on display right from the beginning is incredibly beguiling (listen to how carefully detached notes are observed, and the upper notes emphasised), and the series of modulations that build up to the A major climax are handed with the perfect mixture of ecstatic lyricism and dramatic brio.
18:49 -- No. 3 in B-flat major. Lithe and lively lyricism, with some playful rubato adding a welcome sense of melodic spontaneity, and a perfectly even singing line.
30:15 -- No. 4 in F minor. Played with searing intensity and incredible dramatic verve, with fiery scales that sound like they were ripped right out of the keyboard. I don't think any other pianist has managed to quite capture the tension embodied in this little piece -- even the extended major scalar passages seethe with an undertow of violence.