Album: Schubert, Impromptus Opus 90 & 142 / Lubimov (Zig-Zag)

Educated in the Soviet school of vividly coloured pianism, Alexei Lubimov brings muscularity and vision to the fortepiano.

It took five years just to find the right instruments for this recording – an 1810 Matthias Müller for the Opus 90 Impromptus and an 1830 Joseph Schantz for Opus 142 – and the result is breathtaking. Aside from the crispest E- flat Impromptu, the bitter grandeur of the A-flat major, and the delectable translucency of the instruments, what is truly startling is the "sung" melody of the G flat major. Stunning.