On September 17, 2019, the phenomenal pianist Dina Ugorskaja died of cancer at the age of 46. Her swan song is this exceptional album of works by Franz Schubert.

”Schubert and his “heavenly lengths” have accompanied me throughout my entire life. In this music, time occasionally seems to stand still: the state of lingering and resting seems to predominate above all others. We are overwhelmed with unbearable pain, with abysses of despair and hopelessness. How can it be that the confrontation with death - so immediately present in this music - disolves all of a sudden into a floating, ethereal impermanence? Unexpected joy emerges, as if we were hearing the laughing of a child. The child’s perspective, combined with unparalleled maturity, makes up the essence of Franz Schubert’s music as I see it. It reminds me of a passage from Schiller. In 1795, three years before Schubert’s birth, Friedrich Schiller wrote in his treatise “On Naive and Sentimental Poetry” .......... (from the Booklet notes by Dina Ugorskaja)

“Even those who have heard the Sonata in B flat major a hundred times are confronted here with an intensity that at first will leave them speechless. Dina Ugorskaja’s interpretation, which is rich in accents but played very slowly, may at times be frightening by brute force, and her way of shaping Schubert’s music out of one block, so to speak, does not correspond at all to the romantic, beautiful image we have of this work, which is also provided with heavenly sounds by many performers. Ugorskaja Schubert’s sonata is not beautiful, but honest, torn, restless and often very, very sad. Above all, however, the pianist takes the time to put every note in the right light. It is an intense and disturbing interpretation that is unparalleled...Ugorskaja’s interpretations always remain concise, unique in their expression, sometimes mercilessly intense, clear and yet intangible. For the listener they provide an intense experience outside space and time. The last great musical achievement of a wonderful performer!” - Pizzicato, October 2019