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Schumann: Piano Sonatas / Carlo Grante
Music and Arts Programs of America

Schumann: Piano Sonatas / Carlo Grante

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Details

Composer
SCHUMANN, ROBERT
Artist
Carlo Grante
Format
CD
Label
Music and Arts Programs of America
Released
Jan 01, 2009
Catalog #
MA CD-1220
UPC
017685122026

About



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

Tracklist 12 tracks

  1. 1 I. Introduzione: Un poco adagio - Allegro vivace 10:02
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Introduzione: Un poco adagio - Allegro vivace
    Duration
    10:02
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  2. 2 II. Aria 03:15
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Aria
    Duration
    03:15
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  3. 3 III. Scherzo: Allegrissimo - Intermezzo - Lento 04:53
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Scherzo: Allegrissimo - Intermezzo - Lento
    Duration
    04:53
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  4. 4 IV. Finale: Allegro un poco maestoso 13:02
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Finale: Allegro un poco maestoso
    Duration
    13:02
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  5. 5 I. Allegro 08:14
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    08:14
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  6. 6 II. Scherzo 06:56
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Scherzo
    Duration
    06:56
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  7. 7 III. Quasi variazioni: Andantino de Clara Wieck 07:22
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Quasi variazioni: Andantino de Clara Wieck
    Duration
    07:22
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  8. 8 IV. Prestissimo possibile 07:21
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. Prestissimo possibile
    Duration
    07:21
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  9. 9 I. So rasch wir moglich 05:12
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. So rasch wir moglich
    Duration
    05:12
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  10. 10 II. Andantino 05:01
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Andantino
    Duration
    05:01
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  11. 11 III. Scherzo 01:52
    Track
    11
    Title
    III. Scherzo
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante
  12. 12 IV. Rondo: Presto 06:07
    Track
    12
    Title
    IV. Rondo: Presto
    Duration
    06:07
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Carlo Grante