The 22-year-old Schubert's happy zest when composing this ever-fresh delight was exultantly caught in the Brendel/Cleveland recording on Philips. Anyone who may have felt it was almost too spirited—I am thinking of the extrovert first movement and the fiery scherzo—may prefer this very different interpretation, by equally distinguished artists. To my ear, however, this is an altogether more staid, middle-aged Schubert: the scherzo merely ambles along without much drive (which at least avoids slowing down for the Trio), and though RF admired the dreaminess of the slow Andante here (adding almost one and a half minutes to the other's timing of seven minutes), its impetus seems to me to flag halfway through. But these are questions of preference: what is not a matter for argument is the microphone placing, which puts the strings at a marked disadvantage. Their sound not only lacks the immediacy of the Philips disc (which also gives better definition to the double-bass) and weakens the enchanting interplay between piano and strings, but at times is much too faint—for example at the start of the first movement's development section and at the beginning of the variation movement (in which the cello is made to sound pallid, which we know he isn't). For some reason, the CD omits the information (given on the LP) that this was recorded at a public performance.'