This six-CD compilation offers roughly 75 percent of Schumann’s major large-scale piano works and several lesser-known items, all culled from EMI’s back catalog. Some of the recordings haven’t been available for years, such as Lars Vogt’s overly probing Kreisleriana and Bunte Blätter, Christian Zacharias’ well-oiled, hard-hitting Papillons, Davidsbündlertänze, and Kinderszenen, and beautifully nuanced readings of the Intermezzi Op. 4 and the Gesänge der Frühe by Alexander Loquich. For my comments on Jean-Philippe Collard’s Abegg Variations, Symphonic Etudes, and Romances, Clara Wieck Impromptus, and the Concerto Without Orchestra, type Q12556 in Search Reviews.
Sviatoslav Richter’s pulverizing live 1962 Piano Sonata No. 2 and Faschingsschwank aus Wien need no introduction. Neither does Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli’s notorious 1975 studio embalming of Carnaval, with all repeats intact, heaven help us. Leif Ove Andsnes’ ardent, polyphonically knowing readings of the First sonata and the C major Fantasy hover near the summit of my Schumann short list, and they’re followed by Youri Egorov’s brilliantly proficient Toccata.
Had I been EMI’s compiler-in-chief, I probably would have substituted Maria Tipo’s long-out-of-print Symphonic Etudes and Kinderszenen, George Cziffra’s Carnaval, Richter’s Papillons, and Egorov’s Kreisleriana. I also might have tossed in Michel Beroff’s Waldszenen, Argerich’s Fantasiestücke Op. 12, and Hae Sun Paik’s Humoreske for good measure. Then again, every piano maven among Classicstoday.com readers will approach this release with a “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” attitude. Nicholas Marston provides insightful, scholarly, and highly enjoyable booklet notes.
