Schumann: Lied Edition, Vol. 1: Liederkreis, Op. 24 - Dichte

This new release is the fourth volume of the complete orchestral works by Robert Schumann. The works presented here, his Violin Concerto and his Piano Concerto, are both his most underestimated and his most famous concertos. Patricia Kopatchinskaja performs the violin concerto with her own interpretive style, and Denes Varjon performs the piano concerto with Romantic clarity.

The third volume of the complete orchestral works by Robert Schumann features the Cello Concerto and the 2nd version of the Symphony in d, two major works composed and revised during Schumann’s time as music director in Duesseldorf. + In both works, the movements of the classical model merge into one another without interruption. + Heinz Holliger's interpretations draw on a life-long study of Schumann's oeuvre, thought, personality and fate. + His approach imparts lightness and lucidity to these opulent scores, rectifying the widespread image of this romantic composer as a weak orchestrator.

The most exciting young pianist to come to Montreal in years. She has a personal magnetism that belongs only to a certain type of virtuoso performer, one who succeeds in hypnotizing you no matter how what he or she is playing... Miss Biret is one of the finest natural Schumann players I have ever come across. In fact I cannot recall ever hearing a better all round performance of Schumann's Fantasiestecke in any concert hall in this city.' THE MONTREAL STAR - Canada 1960 "'Idil Biret deservedly belongs among the most important leading musicians on the Naxos label. Her Chopin can be recognized blindfold after a few notes... I regard her Schumann-Debussy-Tchaikovsky disc (8.550885) as a real jewel. Schumann's Childhood Dreams (Kinderszenen) are seen through the eyes of an adult. Biret's Debussy is full of sensitivity and intimate feeling.' KLASSIK FORUM - Germany 'The Idil Biret Solo Edition, featuring recent rather than historical performances by the Turkish pianist, is turning out to be a truly exceptional experience. The IBA (Idil Biret Archive) label has been releasing a flood of Biret recordings in it's 'Beethoven','Concerto' and 'Archive' series, but the 'Solo Edition' recordings are in some ways the most impressive of all... Biret is fully involved in the music (of Schumann), highly expressive as well as totally in command of her instrument, and the result is two discs filled with excellence from start to finish.' INFODAD Reviews - USA 2013.

The impeccable ensemble singing of Thomas E. Bauer and Susanne Bernhard is the finest element in this beautiful recording. It makes one wish for the inclusion of all the part-songs from the Minnespiel, requiring up to four voices, but perhaps we have that to look forward to as the Naxos Schumann series progresses. The next finest element is the stylish playing of Uta Hielscher. Her tone is consistently beautiful, and the phrasing as close to ideal as one finds. Bauer also spins a free-flowing Schumann phrase, due in part to his excellent technical schooling, and whatever reservations one might have about the performances-for example, that the folk song quality of many of the op. 37 songs is lost, or that his diction tends to be somewhat exaggerated, or that his ardor seems slightly forced-these works come to wonderful life through his singing. Susanne Bernhard's bright voice and style seem more suited to the genre of operetta than Lieder, and one finds that her performance of the songs of the frail and enigmatic Mignon does not prove very deep or very convincing. It is interesting that so many great (and not so great) composers have put music to "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt," but almost none of them has set it as a duet between Mignon and her father, the harper, as it appears in the novel. Over all, the repertoire presented on this disc gives the impression of having been learned rather than lived and learned, but the musical standards are high, and one can, as it were, fill in the blanks. Bauer may well develop into one of our most notable artists.

This fifth disc in the Naxos series of the complete Schumann Lieder features one of the key works of the entire 19th century song repertoire, Frauenliebe und -leben. Written during the summer of 1840 at a time when Schumann and his wife-to-be Clara were fighting in court over the right to marry.

It was not until 1840 that, after a courtship strewn with difficulties, Robert Schumann was able to marry his beloved Clara Wieck. This was his 'Year of Song', and Joseph von Eichendorff's melancholy poems of fearful wanderings, images of nature and lonely nights were the perfect vehicle for Schumann's Liederkreis, Op. 39, which he described as his most romantic cycle. From the same year, Schumann's Drei Gedichte, Op. 30 conjures memories of medieval times. The narrative ballad Die Liwenbraut tells of a disturbingly violent love triangle, while the Sechs Gedichte, Op. 36 evokes an idealised, fairy-tale image of Germany.

This fourth disc in the Naxos series of the complete Schumann Lieder focuses on settings of poems by Justinus Kerner, whose almost folk-song-like lyrics first captured Schumann' imagination as early as 1828 in the five Jugend-Lieder.

Robert Schumann' literary interests influenced his choice of the poems he used for his songs, many of which were composed in a burst of activity during the 'Year of Song' 1840.

In 1840, a proverbial Year of Song for a composer who had last written romantic songs when at school, Schumann was galvanised by his love for Clara Wieck and the prospect of his forthcoming marriage, to pour out almost 140 of his finest Lieder.

Robert Schumann's Studien and Konzert-Eteden transform Paganini's violin Caprices into stunningly virtuoso pieces for piano. Containing the hidden 'voice' of his beloved Clara the Humoreske Op. 20 is filled with contrasts Schumann expressed as composing and writing and laughing and crying all at the same time. Ukrainian pianist Mariya Kim has gained global recognition through prizes including the Horowitz Paderewski and China Shenzhen International Piano Competitions and the Seoul and Jose Iturbi International Music Competitions. Her achievements have also brought her a Yamaha Foundation Award.

SCHUMANN, R.: Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13 / Fantasie in C Major

Piano Recital: Kotaro Fukuma

Between 1841 and 1843 Schumann wrote some of his greatest chamber works, among them the Piano Quartet and the Piano Quintet, both in E flat major. Written in an astonishing five-day period, the Quintet displays both the heroic and the lyric impulses in his music, boldness contrasting with songful tenderness, and march themes with lyricism. The Piano Quartet also exudes such qualities, not least in the ravishing slow movement, and the masterful breadth of Schumann's expression. The four Me�rchenerzahlungen are happy, energetic pieces. Winning high praise from the American press, pianist Xiayin Wang has toured with the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in St Petersburg itself, as well as in the United States. Founded in Chicago in 1946, and based at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 1963, the Fine Arts Quartet is one of the elite few to have recorded and toured internationally for over half a century.

The tour takes US first to the carnival celebrations in Basel, with it's elaborate displays. There follows a visit to Vigeland Park in Oslo, with it's characteristic figures, the work of Gustav Vigeland. The music chosen for this tour is by Schumann. His Carnaval accompanies the carnival in Basel, flowers in the countryside are depicted in Blumenstuck and the granite figures in Vigeland Park, in Oslo, are matched with Scenes of Childhood.