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 by side, sharing a combination of playfulness and Modernism that also calls to mind the great 20th-century miniaturist Anton Webern. By avoiding almost any repetition, Aimard evokes a sleepwalker’s journey rather than a series of dances.

“The idea came during the pandemic where we were deprived of the stage, with very little social contact. It was therefore natural that I turned to types of music which are not at all stage-oriented, but rather intimate and small-scale. Schubert’s music was one of those that nourished me at that time.” – Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Interview with qobuz

The album is also part of the best classical albums of 2024 so far by The Times.