Paolo Vergari - Schubert, Schumann, Brahms: The Last Piano Works (2017)

The myth that often associates with the latest works by an author is generally equal to the popularity the same acquired over the centuries. The bent regards how these works, felt as a transfigured preparation to an earthly ending or accompanied by a serene inner peace, are still fascinating, not only in music, those legions of scholars who, according to the time of listening and their own mood predisposition, usually, do not gather through the notes the most shimmering undertones.

After all, this is the meaning of “masterpiece”, an overexploited word that perfectly fits in the three works presented here with their incessant ductility that, after almost two centuries, still communicate different messages and, sometimes, even new and genuine ones neither contemplated by their creators. Yet, interpretation cannot be easily restrained, hence, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms are actual examples in this view. Three pianists, although not virtuosos conforming with the Lisztian sense of the term, that gave music some of the most emblematic pieces and who were able to explore, each in his own way, a different musical spirituality.