Spanning 6 CDs and featuring many a consummate performance, this release celebrates the genius of Schubert through detailing all of his late chamber music. The compilation begins with the two piano trios, works of immense virtuosity whose fluent melodies betray the composer's affinity for song. Moving on to the quartets, we encounter expressive depth, melancholy and drama; while the Quartettsatz movement in C minor displays all the hallmarks of Schubert's late style - including dark lyricism and shifting chromaticism - D810 'Der Tod und das MÃ¤dchen' takes the idea of tragedy to a whole new level, it's second movement's melody lifted directly from the identically titled song. The String Quintet follows, a work written just two months before Schubert's death and which replaces the conventional second viola part with that of a cello. Last, but by no means least, the Octet; composed in 1826, this piece was conceived in a response to a commission by the renowned clarinetist Ferdinand Troyer. Recorded 1995-2009. In his last years (though he was only in his late twenties...) Schubert achieved a unique musical form in which structure and content fuse into an inseparable unity. His later works present a soul in anguish, darkness and light alternate, terror and happiness go hand in hand. The three late string quartets (counting among the best and most famous quartets ever written), the two piano trios, the string quintet of heavenly proportions and the octet all reveal grand musical structures, laden with a depth of feeling which belies the comparative youth of the composer. Excellent performances from the Klaviertrio Amsterdam (Spanish classical magazine Scherzo: "The best recording available"), the German Brandis Quartet and the famous Berlin Philharmonic Octet.

Tracklist:

Allegro Moderato - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Andante, Un Poco Mosso - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Scherzo - Trio - Allegro - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Rondo - Allegro Vivace - Presto - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Notturno in E Flat Major, D897 - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Allegro - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Andante Con Moto - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Scherzando: Allegro Moderato - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Allegro Moderato - Klavier Trio Amsterdam
Allegro Ma Non Troppo - Brandis Quartet
Andante - Brandis Quartet
Menuetto: Allegro - Brandis Quartet
Allegro Moderato - Brandis Quartet
Allegro - Brandis Quartet
Andante Con Moto - Brandis Quartet
Scherzo: Allegro Molto - Brandis Quartet
Presto - Brandis Quartet
Quartettsatz in C minor, D703 - Brandis Quartet
Allegro Molto Moderato - Brandis Quartet
Andante Un Poco Moto - Brandis Quartet
Scherzo: Allegro Vivace - Brandis Quartet
Allegro Assai - Brandis Quartet
Allegro Non Troppo - Wen-Sinn Yang/Brandis Quartet
Adagio - Wen-Sinn Yang/Brandis Quartet
Scherzo: Presto - Wen-Sinn Yang/Brandis Quartet
Allegretto - Wen-Sinn Yang/Brandis Quartet
Adagio - Allegro - Berlin Philharmonic Octet
Adagio - Berlin Philharmonic Octet
Allegro Vivace - Trio - Berlin Philharmonic Octet
Andante Con Variazioni - Berlin Philharmonic Octet
Menuetto: Allegretto - Berlin Philharmonic Octet
Andante Molto - Allegro - Berlin Philharmonic Octet

UPC: 5028421944241
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 1.29.13
Format: CD

Schubert / Berlin Philharmonic Octet - Last Years / Piano Trios (CD)