Schubert: Sonata in C Minor, D. 958, 4 Impromptus, D. 935 & Rondo, D. 951 Aimi Kobayashi

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): 4 Impromptus, Op. 142, D. 935:
• 1 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 142, D. 935: No. 1 in F Minor 10:06
• 2 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 142, D. 935: No. 2 in A-Flat Major 08:59
• 3 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 142, D. 935: No. 3 in B-Flat Major 12:35
• 4 Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 142, D. 935: No. 4 in F Minor 06:35
• Piano Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D. 958:
• 5 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D. 958: I. Allegro 08:27
• 6 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D. 958: II. Adagio 09:13
• 7 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D. 958: III. Menuetto. Allegro - Trio 03:25
• 8 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D. 958: IV. Allegro 09:54
• Rondo in A Major, D. 951:
• 9 Schubert: Rondo in A Major, D. 951 11:53
• Total Runtime 01:21:07

Info for Schubert: Sonata in C Minor, D. 958, 4 Impromptus, D. 935 & Rondo, D. 951

Aimi Kobayashi, who rose to prominence as a prizewinner at the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition, has been praised by Gramophone as a pianist who can “rivet the attention through fine-drawn line and hushed dynamics as much as through vivid gesture and brute force”.

She now follows Warner Classics albums of Chopin and Liszt with a Schubert recital: the four Impromptus D935, the Sonata in C minor D958 and the Rondo in A major D951, a substantial piece for two players at one piano.

Joining her for the duet is Kyohei Sorita, a fellow laureate of the Chopin competition – and also her husband.

“Schubert's music has a special beauty that is unique to him,” she says. “The pieces I recorded for the album were written towards the end of his life, when he was 30 or 31 years old. I will turn 30 in 2025 ... I thought it would be meaningful for me to play them at the same age that this composer of genius wrote them ...Schubert’s works are lonely, but full of tenderness … It is as if the composer is conscious of death, but in the midst of it, he discovers a little happiness and expresses it in his music.”

Aimi Kobayashi, piano

Aimi Kobayashi
Fourth Prize winner of the 18th Chopin Piano Competition, Aimi Kobayashi, garnered international acclaim for her exceptional talent.

She is considered one of the most sought-after pianists in Japan of her generation.

Aimi was born in 1995 in Ube, Japan. She started playing piano at age three, made her concerto debut at age eight, and started her international career at age nine.

She studied with Meng-Chieh Liu at the Curtis Institute of Music.

In 2009, she won the junior section prize of the Asia-Pacific International Chopin Piano Competition in Korea. Then in 2011, she was the gold medalist at the Asia International Chopin Competition for her performance in the concerto section, and in the same year, she won the Yasuko Fukuda prize. In 2012, she won third prize at the Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition.

She gave her first recital at Carnegie Hall for the Japan NYC Festival – of which Seiji Ozawa was the musical director – before giving a recital at the Tokyo Opera City the following month.

She has already performed with several major orchestras, both in Japan and overseas, including the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under Frans Bruggen and the Moscow Virtuosi under Vladimir Spivakov.

In Japan she regularly performs with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and New Japan Philharmonic. She has recorded pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt for Warner Classics. In 2015, she became one of ten finalists at the 17th Chopin Piano Competition of 452 entrants from 45 countries. In July 2019, she played Mozart’s Piano concerto No.20 in D minor K.466 with Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège under Christian Arming. In March 2020, she played Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under Kristiina Poska.

In October 2024, she played Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under Krzysztof Urbański. In November 2024, she played Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini op.43 with Tugan Sokhiev conducts Münchner Philharmoniker.

This album contains no booklet.