George-Emmanuel Lazaridis - Schubert: Piano Sonatas Nos. 13 and 21 - Wanderer Fantasy (2014)

The “Wanderer” Fantasy and the B flat major Sonata have made part of George Lazaridis’s repertoire since his student days. His affinity with the music of Schubert becomes clearly evident from the very first notes of the little A major Sonata in this recording and he brings to it the sheer lyricism and freshness which are characteristic of this work. Schubert composed it in the summer of 1819 while on a carefree holiday in the idyllic town of Steyr.

Schubert composed the “Wanderer” Fantasy in 1822, a truly magnificent and technically challenging, large-scale work in which the four movements are continuous, each movement progressing organically into the next, combining a theme-and-variations with sonata form. Lazaridis clearly relishes the formidable technical and interpretative challenges inherent in this work; his playing is sharply focused and never less than compelling.

This is also reflected in a review received after his recital in New York’s Merkin Hall on 13th October 2013:- “Lazaridis opened with Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy: this was an epic performance with a clear trajectory and denouement, through the cruelly difficult, relentless counterpoint of the big block chords in the opening allegro movement and a vividly cantabile take of the adagio followed by a dazzling climb to the big, Beethovenesque climax at the end.”