Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto/Violin Concerto

Great Performances of Schuman's Best Known & Little Known Concerti from Argerich, Kremer, Harnoncourt & COE

Without question the most riveting recording I have heard of the Schumann piano concerto is this critically acclaimed version with Martha Argerich as soloist which is from a live performance recorded successfully by Teldec as if it was a studio recording. Argerich, Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe have taken a rather vivid, fresh take on this venerable warhourse, truly clearing some of the cobwebs in performance practice, by taking a more historically-informed approach. And yet it is an approach which doesn't forsake Argerich's intense, often quite dramatic, playing for which she has become well known. I disagree with a different customer reviewer who observed that this performance doesn't quite yield a "conversation between piano and orchestra", since she seems to have found excellent musical partners in both Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe who have no trouble matching her tempi. Having heard Argerich perform this work live and in several other notable recordings, I'd say that this one may be the best, simply because she has fascinating partners in Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, who've excelled in demonstrating Schumann's gifts as a fine composer of orchestral music steeped in great melodies, more so than in other recordings I've heard.

Most classical music fans interested in this recording will find equally impressive Gidon Kremer's impassioned, lyrical account of the Schumann violin concerto from a live concert performance, which regrettably remains obscure (However, I still recall a most vivid, lyrical live performance of it by acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavarkos with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra several years ago at Carnegie Hall.). Indeed, aside from Kavarkos's performance, I have heard this work before only via an earlier recording by a young Joshua Bell with Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the Cleveland Orchestra which dates from the mid 1990s. Kremer's impassioned, emotionally intense performance, especially of the first two movements, may be the memorable I've come across, simply because he conveys through his playing the emotional anguish which Schumann felt as he was losing his grip on his sanity. Much to my surprise, the third movement is played slower - and I think more convincingly by Kremer, Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe than in other performances I've cited - as a true polonaise, emphasizing Schumann's affinity for Polish folk music. But I concur with another reviewer that this concerto is indeed a musical document of a tragedy - Schumann's rapid descent into madness - tracing the gradual unraveling of Schumann's skill in orchestration from the start of the second movement to the very end of the third, which seemingly concludes on such a subtle, unfinished note. April 3, 2007

Schumann's violin concerto: a most tragic piece of music.

This is an excellent recording. The orchestra plays beautifully, with both a Romantic richness and a Classical clarity that Schumann's scores require. The tempi Argerich and Kremer choose are perfectly convincing and although the slowness of the Violin Concerto's third movement is a bit disconcerting at first, it actually works: a slow, stately and noble polonaise, ornamented with highly expressive violin writing (arpeggiation, roulades, arabesques, trills, etc.) that are, as Kremer states, certainly playable at Schumann's stated tempo.

Here are two concerti by one of music's most underrated and misundertood composers. The Piano Concerto is justly famous, one of the truly great works in the genre not for its virtuosity (there is none), but purely for its musical content. There is not a moment in which it is not beautiful. However, this isn't my favorite recording of this work. Argerich is a truly great artist and is a wonderful musical personality with a technique that allows her playing to have an 'alive' sound -- the notes reach out to the listener's ears and have a kind of 'ping'. While this wonderful technique is everywhere in evidence, here Argerich's interpretation strikes me as a bit flighty and too improvisatory: too much Florestan, not enough Eusebius. At the beginning of the development of the first movement, there is a wonderful, magical section where Schumann slows the tempo and a conversation between piano and orchestra ensues. Rather than a smooth, relaxed, and dreamy interpretation, Argerich chooses a jerky, dynamic approach that simply doesn't work well, playing the turns and dotted rhythms of the theme with an emphasis that detracts from the overall effect, that of two lovers (Piano = Clara, Orchestra = Robert) in quiet conversation. The slow movement is played similarly. However, the rest is what we've come to expect from Argerich -- complete technical competence and an understanding of the music's shape, all played with that wonderful sound of hers. Argerich has recorded this piece several times during her long career and I remember liking a Deutsche Grammophon version of this concerto better than this one.

The violin concerto is a tragic piece, not because of its musical content but because here we are listening to a great genius struggling to compose, his faculties swiftly leaving him. There are many music lovers who are probably unfamiliar with this work because it was suppressed for so many years. (It has a curious history which I will not recount here. Clara thought the piece beneath Robert and refused to have it published.) Upon first hearing, Schumann's genius is obviously present and the music's power is undeniable, so beautiful that it's hard to believe that this concerto isn't better known and played more often. However, subsequent hearings reveal serious flaws in formal and musical judgment -- choices Schumann likely would have never made had he been younger and in full control of his faculties (as he was when he wrote his Piano Concerto). The power of the first movement is sweeping and the violin writing is adept, with a development section that is heartbreakingly beautiful with its conversation between the soloist and solo woodwinds. However, the recapitulation adds little more than did the exposition, merely repeating what had gone before and the coda is elephantine, tacking a huge D-major weight on the end that is neither particularly musical nor effective. The second movement begins beautifully with an off-beat rhythm and a violin theme that is truly inspired. Formally, this is a modified sonata form, and the development section is where things go awry. Here, Schumann seems to lose his way, with a chord progression that while not offensive, makes little sense to what had preceded it and with strange tenutos on oddly harmonized chords. The final polonaise is a slowish movement and, by itself, is somewhat effective as a piece of concert music, but as the end of a concerto, isn't particularly satisfying. The violin doesn't do much other than ornament the orchestra's Polish rhythms and although Schuman does utilize thematic reminiscence motives that recall the two preceding movements, the work likely doesn't have the intended cohesion Schumann undoubtedly sought. I will always wonder if this piece was every really finished, or whether we are listening to a draft. It is an interesting and often very beautiful piece of history and a tragic personal document that deserves to be played, especially this beautifully by the wonderful Gidon Kremer. His attention to detail, his tone and expressiveness give this piece the best possible case.

This recording is live and what's astonishing is that you would never know. The audience is absolutely mouse-quiet and the perfection of the performances is stunning, especially Kremer's because this is a difficult concerto whereas the Piano Concerto is not. Congratulations to both soloists, the orchestra, and Nicholas Harnoncourt for a wonderful recording. I have listened to it many times.

Highly recommended. January 23, 2007

Is Kremer's first recording of the Schumann concerto better?

The Schumann violin concerto clearly is underappreciated, and it is great that Kremer did a second recording. I may be biased by the fact that I first heard this wonderful piece of music in the first Kremer recording (with Riccardo Muti conducting). While I did feel that some passages in this earlier recording, especially in the final movement, were hurried, I feel that the newer (this) recording goes to the other extreme and that sometimes in the corner movements, the music is too static - I wonder if some tempi should be just in between. But anyway: If you like serious romantic music, non-virtuoso but rich in substance (like e.g. the first Brahms piano concerto) but don't know this Violin concerto, buy either one recording (or maybe both, the other one is still available coupled with the Brahms and Sibelius concertos), and you may be in for a big surprise. August 26, 2006

An excellent coupling of an old warhorse and a little-known gem

I always enjoy Nikolaus Harnoncourt's take on things. By going back to the original scores and following the dictates of the composer, he sometimes ignores performance tradition but captures nuances and intentions that have been lost. Such is the case here, especially with the violin concerto, where he and Gidon Kremer take the third movement at a slow pace -- a stately polonaise -- as the composer intended. (The accompanying booklet spells out Schumann's views quite clearly.) Not everyone likes this approach, but I do: the result is an elegant, moving and even playful work. For those who have not heard the concerto, the first movement epecially is a gem, one of those why-I-like-Schumann revelations brimming with musical ideas in the composer's unique personal style. The violin concerto has been unfairly maligned over time by those who say Schumann's powers were diminishing when he wrote it. If these are the ravings of a soon-to-be-madman, they are still better than most of the music written in his era!

The piano concerto, an old warhorse which has threatened to sink under its own overperformed weight, is played with verve and panache by Martha Argerich, a performance almost universally proclaimed as one of the best on disc. If you think you've heard the piano concerto a few times too many, Argerich and Harnoncourt put some of the magic back in the piece. October 2, 2005

unknown but unbelievable

What an unexpected joy it was to discover this relatively unknown violin concerto. As a concert pianist I purchased this disc in order to hear Argerich's approach to the piano concerto (one of my favorites). It was the violin concerto, however, which has struck me to the heart. What an unbelievably beautiful work. The entire developoment section of the opening movement must be amongst the most wonderfully crafted music ever penned - achingly tender and quietly impassioned. The Langsam movement is also a profoundly beautiful utterance. Throughout Kremer's playing is insightful and captures the essence of the work. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe are a wonderful group and this CD provides some of the most beautiful orchestral sonorities I have encountered on recordings thus far. I LOVE this CD. April 12, 2000

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