Schubert:
Schwanengesang

Shostakovich:
Sonata for Viola and Piano Op. 147

„According to a Greek myth, the voices of swans have an otherworldly beauty, and their song is a foreboding of death. Such ethereal beauty emerges in moments which are to be treasured and preserved with care. The two works on this release stem from two outstanding composers who, at the end of their lives and in thoroughly different contexts, produced creations of lasting value. Schubert’s life came to an end at age 31, barely eighteen months after the death of Beethoven, whom he secretly revered as a model. He learned of Beethoven’s death when he had just finished composing Winterreise, a cycle of “chilling songs”, as he described them. Schubert’s friends later partially blamed the grim content of Winterreise for his early demise.

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Recording: VI 2016, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Berlin, Studio Bitz