SCHUMANN Piano Sonatas: No. 1; No. 2; No. 3 • Carlo Grante (pn) • MUSIC & ARTS 1220 (79:16)


We don’t get the three sonatas on one disc too often; as you can see from the timing, these apples barely fit into the barrel. So on one plane of gratitude we must acknowledge Carlo Grante’s efforts in this regard. His playing has also been generally well received in these pages, though if one searches the article archives, a preponderance of relatively unknown material predominates. Recording Schumann is definitely a step into the mainstream, and as such the requirements get a little tougher for the discerning record collector, though again, convenience cannot be easily overestimated.


But many will, in the case of the sonatas, attempt to make the argument that grouping them together is a silly exercise anyway, since, well, the Schumann sonatas aren’t really sonatas anyway, are they? I guess it all depends on what your definition of sonata is, and whether juxtaposed in extremis , origins can ultimately constitute the same sort of name that fits a form that Mozart would have easily recognized. The No. 1, for instance, began life as an interpolation from his op. 4 Intermezzos, used as the middle Scherzo movement. A later Fandango, composed the same year, would join the conglomeration as the rather sophisticated first movement. So already we are left wondering whether “sonata” is telling-true or simply an afterthought because no better title came to mind.


Sonata No. 2 started life as a concerto without piano; it was to see at least three other incarnations. In the second edition, a Scherzo fourth movement was added, with significant revisions to movement 1. This edition on the present recording uses the added Scherzo, but retains the first thoughts of the original first movement. This is a rather crazy work (in a wonderful way) that features a unique “Clara” theme in the third movement, followed by a series of variations, and the superimposed contrasting rhythms of the last movement making it especially appealing to a composer like Brahms, who adored it. The final sonata had its origins before the other two, but was completed later. Clara herself thought it “not too incomprehensible,” but admitted that the public and critics didn’t understand it. It is the least popular of the sonatas, but even so has much to offer the Schumann-starved.


But getting back to the original question, are these real sonatas? In the end, yes, for they do follow the form more or less closely, even though Schumann felt as if he were storytelling in the most basic narrative sense of the word, while using the Classical structure as a basis for his methodology. In the end, we don’t really care though, for the music is too engaging and rewarding to be overly concerned with the formal scaffolding that Schumann uses to present it to us.


I admire very much Carlo Grante’s recent release on this same label of piano concertos by Mozart, using the Godowsky cadenzas. His playing there is clean, efficient, well rounded tonally, and masculine, while avoiding any sort of hard edge. I find much of the same approach on this album. It is some of the driest Schumann I have ever heard, Grante seeming to forego pedal unless absolutely necessary, and when he does use it, there is such a judicious and economical application that you still come away amazed at how well some of the inner lines of Schumann’s always-critical middle voices are heard. On the other hand, when I listen to the likes of Earl Wild (Sonata 1) or Marc-André Hamelin (Sonata 2), I find a certain flair and wildness that I am missing here, where the confines of ultimate control dominate all conceptions. And Eric Le Sage’s ongoing series (the three sonatas already out and available) sport more resonant and deeply felt sound than what Music &Arts gives us here. Nonetheless, I am reluctant to rain on Grante’s parade, as what he does here is quite admirable and will find many takers. I count myself among them, even if my ultimate requirements need a little more moisture.


FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

"Schumann [in the Piano Quintet] knew what he was writing for, and the balance among the strings with the piano is well-nigh perfect. The dark and burnished tone of the Leipzigers is perfectly suited to this piece, and their practiced and well-judged tempos only add to the desirability of this release. I have been recommending the Bernstein/Juilliard as my benchmark, and I suppose that still stands, along with Argerich and the Takács/Marc-André Hamelin on Hyperion. This release joins those distinguished efforts.

And the good news continues. MDG advertises this as the first recording of the first two of the string quartets in the original version. Schumann made a lot of changes regarding dynamics, tempo, and even a number of excised passages after the first performances. But as the notes admit, the only authorized versions are the ones that included these changes, the composer again knowing exactly what he wanted when he embarked on the changes, tightening up the work and making it more cohesive. But the Leipzig Quartet decided that it would be worthwhile to record the first thoughts of the composer, and I think the decision is correct, even though hearing them in this form will not change any minds about the commonly accepted text. But what excites me is that I may have just found a modern-day equal to the Juilliard Quartet’s trend-setting version from the 1960s. The Leipzig is expressively superior and technically on par, while MDG’s recording greatly advances the depth and width of the soundstage. Well, let me calm down a moment—the Juilliard still plays the authorized version, and as such remains in top place. But these discs are just too good to pass, as playing like this demands an audience, and a frequently attending one at that. Want List qualifications definitely met."

FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

Quartetto Klimt is one of the most interesting chamber music groups in Italy today, regularly performing in prestigious concert seasons and festivals, both in their home country and abroad, and supported by such prestigious artists as Carlo Maria Giulini, Natalia Gutman and Maurizio Pollini. They make their Brilliant Classics debut with this recording, having previously recorded Dvo?ák’s two quartets for piano and strings for the Amadeus magazine.

This release couples two of Schumann’s substantial chamber music works: the mature E flat Piano Quartet Op. 47 and the youthful C minor Piano Quartet. Schumann’s E flat Piano Quartet is a masterwork in its genre, on a par with those by Mozart and (later) Brahms. The C minor brother is an outpouring of youthful passion on a grand scale, compensating its lack of structural solidity by ardent impetuosity and boundless energy. Excellent performance by the Quartetto Klimt, 4 young Italians sharing their passion for this still slightly neglected chamber music. Recorded in 2009. The booklet contains liner notes and artist biographies. - Brilliant Classics

Quatuor Schumann and Gyula Stuller propose a truly fresh and transparent reading of these two masterpieces of Robert Schumann's literature for piano and strings. Unanimously celebrated by the critics for their first Chausson-Fauré record, published under the Aeon label, this young ensemble of Swiss musicians shows perfect delicacy and clarity, as well as hypersensitive romanticism. Indeed, one can hardly wish for a more appropriate or more complete vision of what constitutes the true spirit of chamber music, where each individual surpasses himself without ever losing the unity of the group.

This new LP from Ingrid Fliter has been eagerly awaited since her previous vinyl release, Chopin: Preludes, which sold out within a year. This 45 rpm Supercut, 180g vinyl provides the authentic sound of an LP with less noise and a clean Hi-Fi response. The repertoire that Fliter has chosen is near and dear to her heart- the evergreen classic, Robert Schumann’s piano concerto. Ingrid rises to the needs that this romantic work requires, leaning into the shifting harmonic textures and technical difficulties of the work. Ingrid came into the public eye in 2006 when she won the Gilmore Artist Award, one of only a few pianists to have received the honor. She is known for her effortless technique and her enthusiasm on stage. Each of her performances is charming and poetic. This also marks the recording debut of Antonio Mendez, a young conductor whose star is on the rise. He conducts the world renowned Scottish Chamber Orchestra, who have recorded extensively on Linn.

Given the popularity of Schumann’s A-Minor Piano Concerto, I’d be willing to wager there are readers out there who have amassed recordings of it in double-digit numbers. If you are one of them, you may already have this one in an earlier incarnation, for the performances on this disc are not new. The concerto comes from a 1988 Budapest production; the Introduction and Allegro appassionato, from a 1992 Belgian production; and the Introduction and Allegro, from a 1996 Polish production.

The current release, however, can be recommended for joining this trilogy of Schumann’s concerted works for piano and orchestra on a single disc. In fact, it is the identical program I praised to the heavens in a review of an MDG DVD-A with Christian Zacharias. If you heeded my advice and acquired that disc, the present Naxos recording, and all others, for that matter, are superfluous. Nonetheless, Jenö Jandó, who has become a well-known Naxos commodity, is a very fine pianist whose playing here is technically flawless and interpretively orthodox. Translation? You can’t go wrong.

One minor editorial correction: the note states that Schumann’s two single-movement concert pieces for piano and orchestra, coupled here with the concerto, are his only other works for this combination. Not so. In 1839, he wrote a Konzertsatz in D Minor for piano and orchestra that predates the works on this program. There is a recording of it on a Koch International Classics CD.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Eric Lesage continues the flamboyant exploration of Robert Schumann's solo piano repertoire, all of them cornerstones of 19th century musical history. This momentous endeavour receives more and more critical acclaim and is recorded in optimal conditions (the outstanding acoustics of La Chaux-de-Fonds and brilliant sound by Jean-Marc Laisné). The complete recording of these works will come to an end by 2010 (the anniversary of Schumann's birth) and so crown its festivities.

Excellent, fresh, dramatic, thoughtful.

When a young pianist aspires to challenge the great "stars" of the past and the present, he probably can't do any better than to record a coupling of Schumann's Carnaval and Kreisleriana. For all the great ones did them and have left a rich legacy of reference recordings. What can I say - the great ones will have to move a little and make a place for the newcomer! Vassily Primakov's interpretation goes straight to the top tier.

I never was a huge fan of Schumann's Carnaval: it seemed to contain more pretence than substance. Primakov's testimony has swayed my opinion a lot. His Carnaval is thoughtful, balanced, beautifully played. He does not emphasize one single side of the music, and does not disregard "less interesting" parts. As a result, they are not "less interesting" any more. The pianist boldly removes the golden dust from Schumann's elegant creation, and it emerges strikingly modern, as if the whole event took place in a contemporary ballroom.

The cycle opens under full steam, but without hurry. This marks out the entire album: Primakov never goes for bang-bang virtuosity, but lets the music sing, and gives us big Romantic waves upon which to surf. Pierrot turns out to be quite an essay on character: a little spooky, akin to Mussorgsky's Gnome from the Pictures. Eusebius does not dissolve into thin air, as it does in some other recordings. I never heard a more alive, sympathetic and coquettish Coquette. Rubato is used freely but is very natural. Even "transitional" items like Réplique or Reconnaissance are presented as miniature masterpieces. Chiarina does not have a single note pushed too hard, and with such careful handling it shines with even greater beauty. But what completely swept me off my feet was the dreamy, pastel-toned Chopin. The waltzes lilt and sway, Paganini rocks, and Colombina has a first-class quarrel with her Pantalon. Finally, the Davidsbündler unite in their grand final waltz-march, with all the fireworks and bravura you could wish for. I never cared for Carnaval. After listening to Primakov, I think that I love it.

Kreisleriana. There is no pretence here. This is one of the great masterpieces of musical history: a gripping self-portrait of one of its most eccentric and ingenious composers. And here, again, Primakov does not disappoint. About almost every Kreisleriana that I have heard, I have had some reservation. It was either too dry (Kempff) or too watery (Pollini), too reckless (Argerich) or too pushed (Wirssaladze). Sometimes the fingerwork was unsteady, even with giants like Horowitz or Cherkassky. Often, instead of hearing the music you heard the fingers. But I find nothing to pinpoint on this disc. Every note, even in the most dense passages, is placed with perfect accuracy. There is an effect of three-dimensionality, well aided by the excellent recording quality. The fast passages are appropriately demonic, the slow ones are lyric, and the overall impression is ultimately dramatic.

And finally, Arabeske. Can something new be said here? Apparently, yes. Just compare the times. Horowitz - 6'18". Pollini - 6'24". Primakov - 8'02". It does not sound slow. It seems as if the pianist has rebuilt the piece from its elements, transforming the rondo-romance into a fantasy. Every episode has its face. The A minor episode receives an unexpected tango flavor. And the ending, which usually seems rather poorly attached to the whole, is suddenly natural. The tempo is very much alive, and soft rubato makes the music breathe. I won't say that this reading discards the great and the good of old: but it definitely offers a very interesting alternative view.

I had not heard Vassily Primakov before; but on this evidence he is equipped with both a deep intuitive understanding of the music, and the power to bring this understanding to life. You rarely hear so much thought behind each note. And he is not afraid to do things his way. So, don't think "Oh, please, not another Carnaval! I already have three Kreislerianas!" You want new things? This is fresh. I hope he plans to record more Schumann!

The recording quality is excellent, and the extensive notes by Malcolm MacDonald are high literature. My Recording of the Month, definitely.

-- Oleg Ledeniov, Musicweb International

Robert Schumann carved out a unique position for himself in the world of German Romanticism, especially in the creation of a new genre of solo piano music, which consisted of a cycle of miniatures, often provided with evocatively poetic titles. The present recording features three of Schumann’s works in this form: Papillons, Op. 2, Kinderszenen, Op. 15 & Waldszenen, Op. 82. Also included are Schumann’s Op. 1 Abegg Variations and the haunting Arabeske, Op. 18. Penelope Crawford enhances her performances through the use of an original fortepiano from 1835 by Viennese master-builder, Conrad Graf.

Florian Uhlig draws near the conclusion of the first truly complete edition of the solo piano music of Robert Schumann with this 9th installment in the series featuring the Kinderszenen op. 15 and the Novelletten op. 21 surrounding hitherto largely neglected contemporaneous pieces. An exclusive hännsler Classic artist praised for his cohesive concert programs, Mr. Uhlig made his orchestral debut at the London Barbican in 1997, and since then a busy performing schedule has taken him to the concert halls of Berlin, New York, London and Paris, as well as Hong Kong, Reykjavik and Cape Town.

hänssler CLASSIC is proud to release the fourth volume in what will be the only true complete recording of Schumann's music for piano solo. On the 4th volume ("Schumann in Vienna"), Florian Uhlig presents piano works composed in Vienna in 1838/39, amongst others "Faschingsschwank aus Wien op.26" and "Humoreske B Flat Major op.20".

As was the case in the three previous installments, this program is arranged "thematically". Each volume will contain unpublished works or fragments. Schumann left many extended fragments that can easily be reconstructed without daring speculations, and in such cases, these fragments deserve to be heard and included in our presentation of Schumann complete works for the piano.The entire series production and booklet notes are the work of the highly respected Schumann scholar Joachim Draheim, who has provided not only invaluable biographical and historical background but has had access to many previously unpublished manuscripts and Schumann's own corrections and revisions to the printed scores.

SCHUMANN Gesäng der Frühe. 7 Fughetten. Kreisleriana. Geistervariationen • Dina Ugorskaja (pn) • AVI MUSIC 8553217 (77:25)


The piercing and almost hypnotic eyes of pianist Dina Ugorskaja on the back cover of the booklet betray a perception and intelligence that serves her very well in this recording of three of Schumann’s late, tough pieces, and yet she has the flash and poetic power to give us an equally penetrating reading of Kreisleriana.


This last work, based on Hoffmann’s novel Views on Life by Murr, the Cat, along with a Fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, Jotted Down on Wastepaper Found by Chance (got to love those long titles), has the hero actually going mad at the end. Schumann found himself enthralled by the possibilities inherent in the rational/irrational aspects of the story, and the music certainly reflects this maddening dichotomy, replete with a variety of forms and a connecting inconsistency that somehow, in the end, makes sense after all. I have been big on Horowitz and (recently) Clara Würtz in this music, but Ugorskaja makes quite a play for my affections here, and definitely moves easily into a very competitive field.


The other works on this disc are very late and from Schumann’s last years when he was trying to forge a different sort of music and even tonality. The Songs from Early Morning is an attempt to forge something out of the aesthetics of Hölderlin’s writings, which had taken a turn towards looking back at earlier models. Schumann did the same, perhaps even an early shot at neoclassicism for the time, using sparse harmonies and very vague tonal references. It’s haunting and beautiful all at once, and definitely a look into the future, something that so intimidated Clara that she never once performed it in public.


The composer fought the idea of fugues for many years, ultimately giving in to them in 1849. But his Seven Piano Pieces in Fughetta Form from just a few days before his Rhenish suicide attempt explores the structure to a remarkable degree, looking back to Bach with a quote from the “Royal” theme in the Musical Offering and presenting us with really unique harmonic constructs and odd voice-leading. It is one of the great mysteries of music to wonder about the path he might have taken had he made it into his 50s.


We don’t really know what caused Schumann’s final breakdown and illness. Could it have been a slow awareness of the relationship that Brahms had forged with his wife, platonic or otherwise? Or maybe the idea of failure in Düsseldorf haunted him—hard to say. But the chaos, real or imaginary, in his head was killing him quickly. At one point in February of 1854 he suddenly got out of bed and wrote down a theme that he said had been dictated by angels to him. The theme of these five variations (which he wrote down in the following days) had been used before in his Violin Concerto. But after he had finished with these “ghosts” he tossed his wedding ring into the Rhine and followed soon after. Clara nixed both publication and performance of this piece, and the first edition is from 1939, though Brahms made a set of four-hand variations (op. 23) on the theme.


Ugorskaja makes a great case for these late works as being every bit as important as Schumann’s earlier piano music. She brings a heightened sensitivity to all her playing coupled with an extraordinary facile ability to convey the complexities of this music in an easily assimilated way. Great piano sound, too, and I can recommend this as one of the top choices for these late works, nicely gathered in one place, with the additional spice of a fully competitive Kreisleriana as well.


FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

Schumann brings out the best in baritone Christian Gerhaher on this striking recording with pianist Gerold Huber

Frage is the opening chapter of Christian Gerhahrer’s project to record all of Schumann’s songs. For Gerhaher himself, this release represents the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream and, as he himself emphasizes, is “probably the most important project of my entire life.” Since Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s pioneering recording of the 1970s no other singer has devoted himself so comprehensively to Robert Schumann’s complete lieder output. Frage will focus on one key cycle. The twelve Kerner Lieder op. 35 are combined here with the op. 49 and op. 89 cycles as well as with the Sechs Gesänge op. 107 and the Vier Gesänge op. 142. This project will include his long-time collaborator and pianist Gerold Huber and fellow singers Julia Kleiter, Wiebke Lehmkuhl, Sybilla Rubens, Camilla Tilling and Martin Mitterutzner.

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REVIEWS:

What makes the duo so special is the combination of highest refinement, supreme intellectualism—preferably stern and terribly serious, shot through with a strong sense of the melancholic—with total artlessness and simplicity. Throughout the recital the pervading sense of miniature drama is chilling. If—and probably only if—you listen to and understand the text, Gerhaher and Huber can cause goosebumps with a single syllable (like, say, “Tod”), accompanied by a ghostly draining of color, a Gerhaher hallmark. Schumann lovers and Lied-aficionados will instead paraphrase Karajan: “Everything else is gaslight”.

– ClassicsToday

Even the supposedly straightforward Romanzen und Balladen, Op 49 acquire an extra dimension in their capable hands. It’s typical of the care that has gone into performing every song; there is no sense of any kind of routine on this album.

– Guardian (UK)

Biret's interpretations of Schumann set her apart from the Pollinis, Brendels and Arraus of this world, and even from her teacher and long-time mentor Wilhelm Kempff. Leverkusener Anzeiger Schumann's Piano Concerto had a fascinating rendering by the admirable Turk Idil Biret which must be very close to that of the very first performance of the concerto by Clara Schumann. Reutlingen General- Anzeiger The recordings Idil Biret made in 2012 of Schumann's Kreisleriana, Blumenst�ck and Carnival de Vienne show the pianist in her best form Truly Schumannesque. Piano News.

Pianist Eugen Indjic Made His First Public Performance at Age Nine, Playing Mozart's D Minor Piano Concerto. Between 1961-71, Invited By Arthur Fiedler, He Appeared Often Each Season with the Boston Pops Orchestra. In 1968, He Met Arthur Rubinstein, Who Called Indjic a World-Class Pianist of Rare Musical and Artistic Perfection. His Discography Includes Works By Chopin, Debussy and Schumann As Well As Works By Stravinsky and Beethoven. He Continues to Play Regularly on the World's Great Stages, and Often Teaches Master Classes in Europe.