COMPOSERS: Schumann
LABELS: Philips
WORKS: Kreisleriana, Op. 16; Scenes from Childhood; Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
PERFORMER: Alfred Brendel (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 434 732-2 DDD (1980)
Brendel rarely plays Schumann in public and the performances on this disc show a distinct lack of enthusiasm for his poetry and warmth. In other composers’ music Brendel tends to characterise details to an excessive degree, but here he takes everything unusually straight. The lacklustre recording of 1980 matches the dull, earthbound quality of the playing. Adrian Jack
Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16; Scenes from Childhood; Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
Brendel rarely plays Schumann in public and the performances on this disc show a distinct lack of enthusiasm for his poetry and warmth. In other composers’ music Brendel tends to characterise details to an excessive degree, but here he takes everything unusually straight. The lacklustre recording of 1980 matches the dull, earthbound quality of the playing. Adrian Jack
Our rating
2
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:37 pm