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Because I love this music so much, I either own or have borrowed from libraries many interpretations--Perahia, Uchida, Zimerman, Pires, Kempff--yet Brendel remains the standard against which all the others must be measured. His approach to the Impromptus is deceptively direct, never overwrought and precious, and he just lays bare their infinite richness without holding back or muddying their overall effect.

My other favorite is Perahia, who is a little more restrained in his playing, and who is in his own way every bit as impressive as Brendel, so I'd have to say it is difficult to choose between the two. In the end I suppose it just comes down to personal preference, and here I have to go with Brendel, because his interpretations seem a shade less mannered and communicate to me the improvisatory (ie. the impromptu) nature of these compositions. Better though to own both, and hear for yourself the kinds of divergent responses these masterpieces cvan evoke.

30 of 32 found the following review helpful:

MagicalMar 28, 2000

Schubert's Impromptus, particularly nos. 3 and 4 of Opus 90, are among the most beautiful and moving of all piano works, and in the hands of Brendel they are otherworldly. His combination of technical perfection, color, shading, and passion is unsurpassable.

22 of 23 found the following review helpful:

Pure, simple and directDec 12, 2000

As with his other Schubert, Brendel's playing has such a natural feeling to it throughout these performances. While his playing is deeply emotional, Brendel also shows a measure of self-restraint that lets the music breathe in a way that it doesn't in the hand of other interpreters, even greats like Horowitz. The recording quality is outstanding, so there's nothing standing between you and the music.

21 of 25 found the following review helpful:

Excellent playing by Brendel; outstanding bargain!Mar 19, 2005
By moviemusicbuff
Albert Brendel is an outstanding pianist and excellent interpreter of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert. He is a complete master of these famous pieces by Schubert and he plays these pieces with such grace, delicate touch and refined tone.

I just heard Brendel in concert playing one of these Impromptus and he was letter perfect, with exceptional tone. His playing is quite moving, bordering toward the sacred.

This CD collection by Philips is the one to own. It includes all of Schubert's Impromptus and includes German Dances and Klavierstucke. What an outstanding bargain!! This CD is an absolute must for fans of Schubert and piano music!

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

Brilliant performances, excellent soundMay 12, 2010
By Jeffrey Chan
It's hard to imagine better performances of these works, either technically or emotionally. Brendel takes a relatively straight line through the works that reveals their varied emotional glory. This is beauty through structure, realized though a heartfelt and thoroughly considered, yet spontaneous-sounding performance. This wonderous music is simple in form, but beautiful and emotional when played spectacularly well as here by Brendel.

Recordings are from 1972 through 1975 on analog tape. Sound quality is phenomenal. There are no obvious limits imposed by the very high quality analog tape, microphone technique or recording hall, other than perhaps a touch of overload. (Piano is notoriously hard to record well due to wide dynamic range, sharp percussive attacks, a large physical volume, etc.) It would not be surprising if this digital transfer sounds better than the LPs it was originally released on. The piano is a bit close-miked, yet there is very good hall sound.

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