The distant, murky, and sometimes metallic sonic patina typical of Hänssler’s recordings with Gerhard Oppitz never has been to my taste. Neither is much of his Schubert playing here, despite unquestionably strong moments. Whatever he lacks as an intimate tone painter or colorist in the incomplete E minor sonata (like Richter, Oppitz adds the composer’s Scherzo in A-flat as a third movement), next to Schiff and Kempff he more than compensates for his greater animation and spontaneous dynamic surges. The latter virtues give profile and power to the F minor Impromptus that bookend D. 935. However, the A-flat Impromptu alternates between square, downbeat-oriented phrasing and small yet fussy tempo adjustments where none are needed, although the central climax’s fluent build-up works well. The same cannot be said regarding Oppitz’s alternately stiff and mannered reading of the B-flat Impromptu Theme and Variations, which never gets off the ground. Nor do the two Scherzi match Radu Lupu’s more stylized, pointed refinement. An uneven release, all told.
