Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s latest album, Schubert Ländler , released in May 2024, has been listed as one of the Boston Globe’s Top 10 best classical albums of the year . It also featured on The Times’ list of best classical albums of 2024 and was described as “captivating” …
“Superlative playing… [Aimard] is clearly a musician in demand. From this performance, it is not hard to see why.”
Simon Barrow | Edinburgh Music Review, August 2024
“Pierre-Laurent Aimard journeys like a sleepwalker, suspended between dream and reality, revealing all those fragile, ephemeral, but also indelible things that arise from Schubert’s spontaneity. The performer (…) picks out the smallest note as if all of Schubert were contained therein. (…) An old-fashioned record, with depth and raw charm, where everything breathes poetry.”
Erwan Gentric | Diapason, August 2024
“Aimard find something special every time” – Performance ***** | Recording *****
BBC Music Magazine, July 2024
“Aimard elicits exactly those degrees and states of romantic longing, suffering and happiness that can be found in Schubert’s great piano and song compositions. […] and you listen to him with fascination, even spellbound.” – Rondo, Album of the Week
“(…) [Aimard] sounds like a natural Schubertian, imbuing the pieces with elegance and charm. His masterful control of tone and voicing, particularly in the left-hand accompaniment, adds a subtle layer of refinement.” – The Classic Review, Editor’s Choice for June
Schubert Ländler , recorded on Pentatone, includes over 100 of Schubert’s popular dance pieces. For Aimard, there is a kinship between Schubert’s Ländler and Kurtág’s Játékok, pieces that he often performs side …
“Pierre-Laurent Aimard is uncompromising in his approach to the works performed here and sees them for what they really are: sophisticated light music. He emphasizes the dancing step throughout and really knows how to fill the composition with life in every phase, not neglecting moods and mood changes without ever exaggerating them. And so these ecossaises, German dances, ländler and waltzes offer a deeper insight into the composer’s complex emotional life, in addition to the dancing character.” – Pizzicato, Five Star Review
We hear the same melody several times. At the start we hear it alone, later on as a canon. It seems that we hear the melody each time at a different distance. This early piece already shows Ligeti’s interest in creating the illusion of space in his music.