A seemingly fresh approach to a familiar piece often results from a pianist paying unusual attention to details in a score that others take for granted. This often applies to Steven Osborne’s Schubert performances here. In the D. 935 No.1 Impromptu, Osborne’s astute observance of stresses, slurs, staccato marks, and distinctions between note values and dynamics heighten the music’s textural profile and forward thrust. Osborne also resists “tradition” in No. 2 by not speeding up when the triplets begin in the Trio.
Osborne’s intimately wrought No. 3 never quite sets sail in comparison to Lupu and Uchida, who dig deeper into the minor-key variations’ darker corners, or to the 81-year-old Horowitz, who vivifies the Fifth Variation’s scales to more winged effect. Likewise, No. 4’s exposed double notes and syncopated phrase groupings are perfectly in place yet lack the harder hitting audacity that Rudolf Serkin and, more recently, Amir Katz bring to this music.
The first two pieces of the D. 946 triumvirate may sound reticent and reserved on the surface, but repeated hearings reveal Osborne’s subtle yet enlivening voice leading, and how he varies the timing and color of long tremolos. However, he underprojects No. 3’s playful, rabble-rousing offbeat accents. Osborne, incidentally, favors the first piece’s standard text, omitting the extended second trio Schubert crossed out that Arrau, Uchida, and Pires restore. My comments about the D. 935 Third Impromptu largely apply to Osborne’s well integrated if relatively mild-mannered traversal of the Hüttenbrenner Variations; I prefer Michael Endres’ lyrical breadth and singing legato. In short, Osborne’s Schubert makes up for intelligence and taste what it may lack in vibrancy and passion, and is splendidly recorded.
