I’ve been waiting for this for years, a revival of the long-obsolete instrument called the arpeggione. A sort of hybrid guitar and ‘cello, Schubert wrote some his most beautiful music for it, which has long been played on the ‘cello instead.
Now, at last, we can hear Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata as he intended it to be heard and in this writer’s opinion, it sounds better than on the ‘cello. It’s a much softer and gentler sound that may take some getting used to, but I love it and judging by the comments, so do many others. As one commenter put it: “Why is everyone surprised Schubert knew what he was doing?”
UPDATE: I just noticed this “revival,” for which I’ve been waiting so long, took place a full decade ago. Ah well, it’s new to me and possibly, I hope, to some of my readers. It doesn’t lessen the pleasure.
UPDATE 2. Those wishing to hear movements 2 and 3, played by the same forces, go here.
The Taos Tatler 