LDV93

19 Your recordings to date reveal the importance of the music of Chopin and Schumann in your musical pantheon. How would you define the place of Schubert’s output in it? My first contact with the music of Schubert must have been when I was five or perhaps seven years old. I remember the impact of hearing the ‘Unfinished’ Symphony. His works do have a unique place in my affections, because to interpret his scores one needs to take a specific approach: of all the Romantic composers, Schubert is the only one who requires a deep-seated effort of introspection. In my own case, maturity came as a precious help, since I only really grasped the depth of certain pieces at a later stage. The ‘effort of introspection’ that I’m talking about must lay bare the essence of his music: suffering. It’s also the reason why I don’t think Schubert’s music can really be ‘taught’. JEAN-MARC LUISADA