Imogen Cooper, The Sage Gateshead

It was this, the outgoing Schubert that came through with the 16 German Dances where buoyant rhythms met joyous snatches of melody in convivial accord before the Sonata in G major called for longer range thinking.

The broadening tone of the pulsating opening chords was perfectly measured, the flash of descending scales arriving with an inevitability you would sense whether or not you had heard the piece before.

And similarly in the hymn-like adagio with it's sudden, almost violent, eruptions giving way to the jaunty dance of the third movement before the animated finale's eventual return to the introductory chords.

Cooper dovetails each section and each movement seamlessly with the next to form a deeply satisfying overall shape.

The Six Momens Musicals, too, had a sparkling performance, Cooper pointing up the contrasts from tender lyricism to delicately chiming staccato notes over restless rolling bass arpeggios and vivid storms, the complex rhythmic interplay clearly articulated and the tone colours, kaleidoscopic in variety.

Cooper told us of the last months of Schubert's life, the 32-year-old exhausted by illness but still working feverishly.

The Sonata in C minor, D.958 is one of his most profound and virtuosic works, Cooper's wealth of technical know-how and interpretive vision combing in an illuminating and utterly compelling performance.