Youn William: Schubert - Piano Sonatas II

After the highly acclaimed recording of the complete Mozart piano sonatas, pianist William Youn, who was born in South Korea and has been living in Munich for many years, started the cycle of piano sonatas by Franz Schubert. The first volume received fantastic reviews: ""The very first album of the Schubert complete recording deserves full recognition. For the program alone, Youn"'s selections each offer a characteristic example of Schubert"'s various stages of compositional development. The playing is of exquisite beauty and simplicity. And in doing so, Youn expands the interpretive spectrum of Schubert"'s sonatas to include an intimate tone all his own. He leaves room for the music to unfold in a completely unpathetic and unforced manner, while maintaining a constant flow and soft but clear outlines. Youn"'s playing convinces [...] through flawless, perfectly realized naturalness."" (Fono Forum, Album of the Month, 5 Stars) The second album features the Sonatas No. 4 (D. 537), No. 18 (D. 894), No. 19 (D. 958) and No. 20 (D. 959). The sonatas Nos. 18, 19 and 20 belong to the last piano sonatas (No. 21 is the last one) by Schubert and are his last major compositions for solo piano. No. 18 was the last of Schubert"'s sonatas published during his lifetime and was later described by R. Schumann as the ""most perfect in form and conception"" of any of Schubert"'s sonatas. Schubert composed the Sonatas Nos. 19 and 20 during the last months of life, between the spring and autumn of 1828; they were published ten years after his death and are now considered among the most important of the composer"'s mature masterpieces. The album also includes the Adagio in E major, D. 612. ""I chose this movement as a link between the two sonatas D 537 and 959 because the music sounds like an improvisation to me"", William explains.