Weber: Complete Piano Sonatas - Garrick Ohlsson (2 CDs)

‘These are distinguished performances, by a pianist of true romantic temper, of four works that have had more than their share of misunderstanding from performers and critics alike’ (Gramophone)

Piano Sonata No 1 in C major J138 Op 24[28'37]
CD1
1
Allegro[6'39]
2
Adagio[8'07]
3
Menuetto: Allegro – Trio: Poco ritenuto[9'42]
4
Rondo: Presto[4'09]

Piano Sonata No 2 in A flat major J199 Op 39[34'13]
5
Allegro moderato con spirito ed assai legato[14'22]
6
Andante: Ben tenuto[7'56]
7
Menuetto capriccioso: Presto assai[3'47]
8
Rondo: Moderato e molto grazioso[8'08]
9
Aufforderung zum Tanz J260 Op 65[9'49]

Piano Sonata No 3 in D minor J206 Op 49[22'37]
CD2
10
Allegro feroce[7'47]
11
Andante con moto[8'10]
12
Rondo: Presto[6'40]

Piano Sonata No 4 in E minor J287 Op 70[28'16]
13
Moderato[12'46]
14
Menuetto: Presto vivace ed energico[4'01]
15
Andante (quasi allegretto) consolante[7'13]
16
Prestissimo[4'16]
17
Rondo brillante J252 Op 62[6'19]
18
Momento capriccioso J56 Op 12[3'16]

Weber, best known for his operas today, was also a very fine pianist and he wrote a sizeable body of piano music of which the four sonatas are the centrepiece. These are perhaps the first truly ‘Romantic’ piano sonatas and were a great influence on the succeeding generation of German composers such as Mendelssohn and Schumann; all are large scale and virtuosic and their quality makes it surprising how rarely they have been recorded. The set also includes the most important of Weber’s other piano works including the once hugely popular ‘Invitation to the Dance’, a work which has become better known in the orchestration of Berlioz.

Garrick Ohlsson is the pianist, acclaimed for his performances of Brahms and Chopin on Hyperion. These delightful recordings were originally released on Arabesque.