Holly Harris
Winnipeg Free Press, Canada
November 2015

Scottish pianist Steven Osborne brings his refined artistry to Schubert's intimate solo works on this new release … The award-winning pianist imbues each piece with dramatic intensity, well in keeping with Schubert's "appassionato" marking in its opening No 1 in F Minor. He displays his poetic sensibility during No 2 in A flat major, as well as butter-smooth legato phrasing in No 3 in B flat major. By contrast, the Hungarian-flavoured finale, No 4 in F minor, is attacked with zeal, including its syncopated dance-like rhythms and wild scalar flourishes. Also included is Three Piano Pieces, D946, ostensibly a third and final set of impromptus written in 1828. Osborne's sensitive treatment of No 2 in E flat major particularly shows Schubert at his lyrical best.

Winnipeg Free Press, Canada