Johann Schobert is a composer for whom I have long nurtured a soft spot, and this disc only makes it softer. His range was not wide; he wrote virtually nothing besides accompanied keyboard sonatas and concertos, and their style is fairly uniform, with fluent keyboard writing and sustained or semi-melodic string parts. But there is in his music a high sensibility, a warmth and richness in the textures and the harmonies, that are entirely his own. The boy Mozart, visiting Paris (where Schobert worked) in the 1760s, was influenced somewhat by him, but the music is not like Mozart's, there are things that hint at J. C. Bach's style, but I was reminded more of Boccherini than anyone else, particularly in the graceful minuets. There are sturdy, bouncy polonaises here too (supporting the notion that Schobert came from Silesia, Poland's neighbour, as has been said though never corroborated). But the most distinctive movements are the dark brooding minor-key opening ones, to the first and third of the works on the disc—the D minor one especially has a remarkable urgency and force. That work is marred by a tiresome central movement built on a repeated effect; but it has a superb, vital finale with brilliant, stormy piano writing. After it, the graceful opening of the A major work strikes one like the sun coming out from behind a cloud—listen to it, and to the equally eloquent opening of the next work, the F major Trio.
The performances are capable, not without an occasional untidy moment, but certainly fluent and sympathetic. It was probably a mistake to use a piano from as late as 1820, a Viennese instrument ideal for late Beethoven or Schubert (perhaps someone misread a request) but slightly heavy for this music, which is likely to have been given originally on a harpsichord. The recording serves well, with the balance nicely caught. I hope readers will try it and will find this music as appealing as I do.'