Schubert: Sonatas D958 & D784 / Paul Lewis, piano

"He may be just 29 years old, and this may be his first commercial disc (there was an impressive recital offered as a magazine-cover disc about a year ago), but Paul Lewis already has a burgeoning reputation, especially in Schubert. And, lest you be suspicious of hyped reputations, rest assured that his playing exudes class. Lewis, regardless of all the promotional garb, looks set to be one of the standard bearers of his generation.

"From the first movement of the C minor Sonata you are aware of Lewis's technical polish, his dramatic sense of timing and his dynamic involvement with the music. He takes you on a journey, as all the best Schubert players do. Certain features of his playing -- the blend of aristocratic poise, structural grasp and emotional maturity -- remind me of Radu Lupu. Although Lewis is rhythmically more taut, his phrasing never becomes stiff. He doesn't sustain such a broad tempo as Lupu in the slow movement, and the music doesn't quite take wing to the same extent, but there is always a powerful concentration and sure-footed architectural control that is utterly compelling. The finale really dances off the page.

"If anything, Lewis's reading of the A minor Sonata is even finer. His dramatic impetus carries you through the brooding first movement; he is less bleakly withdrawn than Uchida, although he can't quite match her exquisite control of pianissimo nuance and minutely varied sonorities, nor her liquid runs in the finale. Nevertheless, the freshness of Lewis's lyricism is deeply appealing. There is also something more earthy about his boldly executed and dramatic approach -- there is a passion to his playing that is largely suppressed in Uchida's rarefied reading. I wouldn't want to be without either. The recorded sound is surely too reverberant and rather spongy in the bass, but once you adjust it doesn't detract too much from an excellent disc." International Record Review