Robert Schumann
310 products
V 25: AURYN SERIES (DVD AUDIO)
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 & Concertstück In F Major, Op. 86
Schumann: Piano Works
The Royal Edition - Schumann: Symphonies 3 & 4 / Bernstein
SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet, Op. 44 / Piano Quartet, Op. 47 (per
Robert Schumann: Love Fugue
SAMTLICHE STRING QUARTETS
Schumann: Piano Quartets / Previn, Kim, Ohyama, Hoffman
Though never enjoying the popularity of the Piano Quintet, the E flat Piano Quartet, written some 13 years after the C minor work, has rarely lacked dedicated protagonists. These players hold their own with them all, especially the very lively pianist with his keen ear for textural clarity.
-- Joan Chissell, Gramophone [5/1993]
Rubinstein Collection Vol 52 - Schumann: Kreisleriana
V 25: AURYN SERIES - PIANO QUA
Pierre Fournier plays Cello Concertos 1955-58
Schumann: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. 1
Schumann: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. 2
Schumann: Violin Concertos / Skride, Storgårds, Danish National Symphony
Schumann: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2
Schumann: Piano Quintet Op. 44, Piano Quartet Op. 47 / Ax, Cleveland Quartet
Schumann and the Sonata, Vol. 1
V 9: KOROLIOV SERIES (KREISLER
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1-4
Robert & Clara Schumann: Piano Trios / Swiss Piano Trio
C. SCHUMANN Piano Trio in g, Op. 17. SCHUMANN Fantasiestücke, Op. 88. Piano Trio No. 3 in g, Op. 110 • Swiss Pn Tr • AUDITE 92549 (SACD: 77:42)
This is now the third occasion on which I’ve been privileged to review a new release by the outstanding Swiss Piano Trio. The ensemble’s Mendelssohn trios received an urgent recommendation from me in 34:6, and its account of Tchaikovsky’s Trio, if not quite as enthusiastically received by me in 36:3, still earned my nod of approval. Expectations for this Schumann disc thus ran high, and, I’m happy to report, they were not disappointed.
Clara Schumann (1819–1896) was a devoted wife, loving mother, accomplished pianist, and, no doubt, a composer of some talent. But I’ve always felt that her eminence in the latter capacity has been exaggerated both by virtue of her being spouse to one of the most famous of romantic composers and for being somewhat of that 19th-century novelty, a female composer. It has thus come about that when someone is asked to name three or four women composers, Clara Schumann invariably tops the list. Yet, if one 19th-century composer of the female gender deserves equal billing with her male counterparts, it’s not Clara Schumann or Fanny Mendelssohn; it’s Louise Farrenc (1804–1875), a composer who wrote symphonies and chamber works on a scale and of a quality comparable to many of her male contemporaries.
The Piano Trio in G Minor, dated 1846, is Clara’s only large-scale chamber work; in fact, it’s her only chamber work of any scale, period. Most of her catalog consists of songs and pieces for solo piano, though, as a teenager, and later, with the help of her husband to be, she did try her hand at a Piano Concerto. The trio was long held to be Clara’s crowning compositional achievement; some even credited it with being the inspiration for Robert’s first numbered Trio in D Minor, op. 63, written the following year. Thus, I was rather surprised to find fewer recordings of Clara’s opus listed than I would have expected; and of those currently in the catalog, more than one logically pairs it with Fanny Mendelssohn’s Trio in D Minor, written in the same year, 1846.
Whether pairing Clara’s trio with Robert’s third and final Trio in G Minor, composed in 1851, is a logical choice or not, I can’t say, although it seems to me that juxtaposing Robert’s D Minor, the one supposedly inspired by Clara’s effort, would have made more sense. However, in addition to Robert’s G-Minor Trio, Clara’s trio also shares the disc with Robert’s 1842 Fantasiestücke , which, though otherwise named, is his actual first work in the medium, though not designated or numbered as such. The present program therefore makes this new release unique, at least insofar as other current listings are concerned, although another recent disc, which also happens to be in SACD format, contains Clara’s trio and Robert’s G Minor-Trio, but not Robert’s Fantasiestücke . That recording by the Boulanger Trio on the Ars Produktion label was filled out with a work for piano trio by Wolfgang Rihm, and was favorably reviewed by Steven E. Ritter in 33:5
I’ve not heard the Boulanger disc, but the playing here by the Swiss Piano Trio leaves nothing to be desired. I doubt that Clara’s trio has ever received a more loving performance. The only word that describes the ensemble’s tone is voluptuous, and Audite’s perfectly positioned and balanced recording affords that ideal sweet-spot perspective. I do agree with Steven that Clara’s trio is not Robert’s. One has only to listen to the first few bars of Robert’s G-Minor Trio to recognize the difference between talent and genius. But I honestly have to say that I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated Robert’s trio as much as I have in this performance. The Swiss players seem to be absolutely swept away by the score, sweeping me away in turn. It doesn’t even feel like they’re performing the piece as much as they’re becoming one with it and living and breathing it.
This is definitely going on my provisional list of Want List candidates for 2013, and I most strongly urge you to acquire it. The Swiss Piano Trio, in my opinion, has rapidly risen to become one of the very top piano trio ensembles on today’s stage.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
SYMPHONIES & PIANO CONCERTO
Schumann: Carnaval - Fantasiestücke - Faschingsschwank aus W
Diana Damrau - Lieder
Schumann: Carnaval Op 9, Sonata No 1 Op 11 / Evgeny Kissin
KLAVIERKONZERT W. GIESEKING K
Schumann: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. 3
Schumann's Bar Music [Vinyl]
You can practically close your eyes and you’re there… Schumann’s Bar is the meeting place for night owls, for minds who wants to avoids the light, for people who enjoy a good drink, wish to hear the latest gossip and talk to friends, for beautiful girls of the city of Munich and last, but not least a place for sound producer Stefan Winter to search for soundscapes, music and entertainment. Also this time Stefan Winter follows his artistic credo to find and record a place with a special and authentic ambience. He collects at Schumann’s Bar with his microphone the atmosphere with sounds of music. Schumann’s Bar is the perfect meeting place in the middle of Munich. Charles Schumann runs this famous hotspot, without any doubt the most popular bar in Munich, meeting place for celebrities and people who love excellent cocktails. Fumio Yasuda has the more thankless task to take over the role of the bar-pianist. He has no problem to fulfill the music requests of the guests. A selection of famous international film hits can be heard, like "Gone with the Wind" and "Charade“, but also known jazz pieces like "Just squeeze me" and successful musical songs like "Somewhere over the Rainbow.” This is wonderful background music and soundscapes for pure entertainment and easy listening.
Schumann: String Quartets, Op. 41 / Doric String Quartet
Alex Redington violin
Jonathan Stone violin
Simon Tandree viola
John Myerscough cello
Recorded in:
Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, 9-11 February 2011
The three string quartets, Op. 41 make up Schumann’s only published contribution to the genre. They were completed during a period of intense creative activity in 1842. In February, Schumann noted in his diary that he was having ‘continual quartet thoughts’. In April and May, he devoted himself to studying the quartets by Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart; in early June, the first two quartets were completed, and the third followed soon after in July that same year.
Brimming with the canons with which Schumann was so taken, as well as his characteristic turn of melody, these works all display in full the spirit that one would expect from this most romantic of romantic composers.
Schumann arranged for the first, private, performance of the quartets to take place on 13 September 1842, as a present for his wife, Clara, on her twenty-third birthday. Clara, always supportive of her husband’s efforts, praised them as ‘lucid, finely worked, and always in quartet idiom’. The esteemed theorist and composer Moritz Hauptmann said: ‘His [Schumann’s] first, which delighted me immensely, made me marvel at his talent… it is cleverly conceived and held together, and a great deal of it is very beautiful.’
The Doric String Quartet, exclusive Chandos artists are among the most impressive young quartets on the classical music scene today. They regularly perform at major festivals and venues throughout the UK as well as across continental Europe, Asia, and the US.
Für meine Clara
