Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Schumann: Symphonic Etudes, Forest Scenes, Arabesque / Helmchen
PENTATONE

Schumann: Symphonic Etudes, Forest Scenes, Arabesque / Helmchen

$21.99 Only 2 left

Details

Composer
SCHUMANN, ROBERT
Artist
Martin Helmchen
Format
SACD
Label
PENTATONE
Released
Nov 13, 2012
Catalog #
PTC5186452
UPC
827949045264

About



SCHUMANN Waldszenen, Op. 82; Symphonische Etüden, Op. 13; Arabeske, Op. 18 • Martin Helmchen (pn) • PENTATONE 5186 452 (SACD: 60:52)


Martin Helmchen is a name which is probably new to no one: He has won numerous awards (including first prize in the Clara Haskil Competition in 2001), has worked with numerous illustrious orchestras, among them the Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, and various chamber orchestras around Europe, with such master conductors as Marek Janowski, Philippe Herreweghe, Valery Gergiev, and Bernhard Klee. He has partnered in chamber music recitals with Boris Pergamenschikow, Heinrich Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Daniel Hope, and Lars Vogt, among many others. He is, in other words, a fabulous instrumentalist. And that is clear from the current recital.


The opening Waldszenen is for me the highlight of the disc. Here Helmchen is calm and reserved for the most part: The Eintritt here acts as not just an entranceway into the piece, but into the program as a whole. Oddly, when comparing it to Volodos’s version on his live recital from Vienna, Volodos seems to shade more sweetly than does Helmchen, but Helmchen does not see the piece in the same way: Here he captures an amazing simplicity akin to the C-Major Prelude in Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book I. His continuity of sound is entrancing. Verrufene Stelle evokes perfectly the odd, almost twisted quality of those ill-reputed places which Schumann musically describes so perfectly. Of course the highlight for most people is the strange and enigmatic Vogel als Prophet . While there is hardly a pianist out there capable of attaining the magical atmosphere of this piece as well as Alfred Cortot did, Helmchen does as admirable a job as many. The chorale-like middle section sounds as odd in this performance as it should, stopping the piece in midtrack, appearing and then disappearing just as quickly. The Symphonische Etüden, performed here with the five Anhang variations interspersed throughout the cycle, works well: The extra variations seem as though they truly belong to the cycle. It is far more satisfying to hear them this way than performed together at the conclusion of the opus proper. Here Helmchen alters his sound to fit his conception of the work. This is no longer light-hearted fare. This is as heavy and brooding as Schumann gets. And perhaps Helmchen here plays the work a bit too poised, too “normal” for my tastes. I tend to like my Schumann ever more schizophrenic in its rhythmic intricacies and eccentric in its numerous sforzandi . Helmchen plays the work a bit lighter than I would like, making it sound almost like Mendelssohn, yet there are moments when this works beautifully: Etude III and even Variation V sound as though they are lost parts of Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses here. The C-Major Arabeske brings us back to the light-hearted world of the opening, acting as both conclusion and encore. The pianist plays it simply: smooth, flowing, and tender. With bonus SACD quality sound, PentaTone has done it again. This one’s a keeper.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega

Tracklist 28 tracks

  1. 1 No. 1. Eintritt (Entering the Forest) 01:58
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 1. Eintritt (Entering the Forest)
    Duration
    01:58
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  2. 2 No. 2. Jager auf der Lauer (Hunter on the Look-out) 01:33
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 2. Jager auf der Lauer (Hunter on the Look-out)
    Duration
    01:33
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  3. 3 No. 3. Einsame Blumen (Solitary Flowers) 02:13
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 3. Einsame Blumen (Solitary Flowers)
    Duration
    02:13
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  4. 4 No. 4. Verrufene Stelle (Haunted Spot) 03:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 4. Verrufene Stelle (Haunted Spot)
    Duration
    03:28
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  5. 5 No. 5. Freundliche Landschaft (Pleasant Scenery) 01:12
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 5. Freundliche Landschaft (Pleasant Scenery)
    Duration
    01:12
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  6. 6 No. 6. Herberge (At the Inn) 02:04
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 6. Herberge (At the Inn)
    Duration
    02:04
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  7. 7 No. 7. Vogel als Prophet (The Songster-Prophet) 03:42
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 7. Vogel als Prophet (The Songster-Prophet)
    Duration
    03:42
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  8. 8 No. 8. Jagdlied (Hunting-Song) 02:33
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 8. Jagdlied (Hunting-Song)
    Duration
    02:33
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  9. 9 No. 9. Abschied (Farewell to the Forest) 03:32
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 9. Abschied (Farewell to the Forest)
    Duration
    03:32
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  10. 10 Thema: Andante 01:37
    Track
    10
    Title
    Thema: Andante
    Duration
    01:37
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  11. 11 Variation 1: Un poco più vivo 01:14
    Track
    11
    Title
    Variation 1: Un poco più vivo
    Duration
    01:14
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  12. 12 Variation 2 01:28
    Track
    12
    Title
    Variation 2
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  13. 13 Etude No. 3. Vivace 00:56
    Track
    13
    Title
    Etude No. 3. Vivace
    Duration
    00:56
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  14. 14 Anhang Variation 1 00:50
    Track
    14
    Title
    Anhang Variation 1
    Duration
    00:50
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  15. 15 Variation 3 01:05
    Track
    15
    Title
    Variation 3
    Duration
    01:05
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  16. 16 Variation 4: Scherzando 00:58
    Track
    16
    Title
    Variation 4: Scherzando
    Duration
    00:58
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  17. 17 Variation 5: Agitato 00:55
    Track
    17
    Title
    Variation 5: Agitato
    Duration
    00:55
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  18. 18 Anhang Variation 2 02:19
    Track
    18
    Title
    Anhang Variation 2
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  19. 19 Anhang Variation 3 01:13
    Track
    19
    Title
    Anhang Variation 3
    Duration
    01:13
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  20. 20 Variation 6: Allegro molto 01:09
    Track
    20
    Title
    Variation 6: Allegro molto
    Duration
    01:09
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  21. 21 Anhang Variation 4 02:38
    Track
    21
    Title
    Anhang Variation 4
    Duration
    02:38
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  22. 22 Anhang Variation 5 02:28
    Track
    22
    Title
    Anhang Variation 5
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  23. 23 Variation 7: Sempre marcatissimo 02:20
    Track
    23
    Title
    Variation 7: Sempre marcatissimo
    Duration
    02:20
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  24. 24 Etude 9: Presto possibile 00:40
    Track
    24
    Title
    Etude 9: Presto possibile
    Duration
    00:40
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  25. 25 Variation 8 01:30
    Track
    25
    Title
    Variation 8
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  26. 26 Variation 9: Con espressione 02:29
    Track
    26
    Title
    Variation 9: Con espressione
    Duration
    02:29
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  27. 27 Finale: Allegro brillante 06:07
    Track
    27
    Title
    Finale: Allegro brillante
    Duration
    06:07
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen
  28. 28 Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 06:05
    Track
    28
    Title
    Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18
    Duration
    06:05
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Martin Helmchen