LEIF OVE ANDSNES
Music of Schubert

For several years, Leif Ove Andsnes has been engaged in an unusual project. He has been recording the late Schubert sonatas in tandem with Schubert songs. The songs are sung by the tenor Ian Bostridge. On each disc is one sonata, plus a group of songs. The last of these discs has now appeared (EMI Classics).

The sonata is that in C minor, D. 958, not as famous as the B-flatmajor (D. 960), and not as famous as the A-major (D. 959), but a masterpiece all the same.

Mr. Andsnes’s Schubert is not for everyone: His sound tends to be clean and hard, when some like a little more warmth or plushness. He is “objective” or “Apollonian,” when some like more individuality or even idiosyncrasy. He is logical, brainy, and tight, when some prefer a freer Romanticism.

But even if you disagree with Mr. Andsnes, you must concede that he is an intelligent musician who knows what he’s doing — and what he does is just fine.

He plays the C-minor with clear understanding and no nonsense. He identifies Schubert’s musical thread and follows it, all through. You are aware of the drama of K. 958, while Mr. Andsnes is playing it. The incisiveness and élan of the final Allegro are amazing, and the pianist captures the slight craziness of this music perfectly.

One benefit of the Andsnes approach is that you can listen to one of these CDs over and over, for years. That’s because his playing is “objective” enough to focus you on Schubert, rather than on personal interpretation.

Ian Bostridge is a thoughtful singer, and he makes an excellent partner of this pianist. Mr. Bostridge sounds terrific on the new disc (as people tend to do, when they make studio recordings). And to have Mr. Andsnes as accompanist reminds us what a difference a first-rate pianist can make in Schubert songs.

Filling out the disc are fragments — bits of pieces that Schubert left unfinished (like a certain symphony!). These fragments come from both piano pieces and songs. Normally, I think that such documents should be left alone (or left to the musicologists). But Messrs. Andsnes and Bostridge give us fascinating glimpses into what-might-have-been, or what-Schubert-decided-against. Besides which, the music is enjoyable simply as music.

It’s by Schubert, after all.

DANIEL BARENBOIM
Mahler’s Ninth Symphony

Like Beethoven and a few others, Mahler wrote nine symphonies — nine complete symphonies, that is. (We have a complete movement and some other portions of a tenth.) And Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is so profound, so great, it is barely fathomable.

The latest to bring this work to disc is Daniel Barenboim, with the Staatskapelle Berlin, of which he is Chief Conductor for Life. (How’s that for job security?) The label, Warner Classics, tells us that this is a live recording, made one night last November.

To echo something I said above, Mr. Barenboim’s Mahler is not for everyone: It tends to be straightforward, even blunt, and it is a little fast. His Mahler tends to be big and Beethoven-like, without much mystery or mysticism.

But Mahler has embedded the Mahlerian qualities in the scores themselves. They find their way out. Mr. Barenboim’s Ninth is clear and robust, and very much non-dawdling. The second movement has brawn and grit — a certain rough abandon. This is effective and satisfying. And the final movement unfolds in its remorseless, mind-blowing way.

I don’t say that Mr. Barenboim is the last word in the Mahler Ninth, and I don’t say that this new recording is your first choice. I do say, however, that, if you can afford it, you should have this Ninth on your shelf as an option.

HYUNAH YU
Arias by Bach and Mozart

Last, an American soprano, Hyunah Yu, comes to us on EMI’s Debut Series. She is accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia, conducted by Shuntaro Sato, born in Japan. That’s internationalism in music for you.

And Ms. Yu’s choice of repertory might be described as “nothing but the best.” She sings Bach and Mozart. From the former, we have arias from cantatas both sacred and secular, and arias from the St. Matthew Passion. From the latter, we have arias from three operas (including the little-known “Zaide”).

Ms. Yu has a fresh and pleasing voice, and she sings in a fresh and pleasing way. You could argue with interpretation here and there, of course: This aria is a little too slow, that one maybe a tad dull and pretty. But generally she sings with grace, beauty, and understanding. She also sings with love, which is crucial. Her love of this music, and of her art, is obvious.

And that Czech group, under Mr. Sato, plays with admirable style.