Schumann & Brahms - Piano Works
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Label: Decca
Cat No: 4853945
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Instrumental
Release Date: 17th March 2023
Contents
Works
Intermezzi (3), op.117Variations on a theme by R Schumann, op.20
Blumenstuck, op.19
Klavierstucke (12) for piano four hands, op.85
» no.12 Abendlied
Kreisleriana, op.16Piano Sonata no.3 in F minor, op.14
» III Variations on a theme by Clara Wieck
Romances (3), op.28 » no.2 in F sharp major
Artists
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)Works
Intermezzi (3), op.117Variations on a theme by R Schumann, op.20
Blumenstuck, op.19
Klavierstucke (12) for piano four hands, op.85
» no.12 Abendlied
Kreisleriana, op.16Piano Sonata no.3 in F minor, op.14
» III Variations on a theme by Clara Wieck
Romances (3), op.28 » no.2 in F sharp major
Artists
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)About
The acclaimed British pianist, Benjamin Grosvenor, still only 30 and yet a well-established favourite of critics and audiences around the globe, takes Robert Schumann’s haunting Kreisleriana as his starting point in his new album, Schumann & Brahms. This eight-movement work portrays the mercurial personality of the fictional Johannes Kreisler, created by E. T. A. Hoffmann: Kreisler’s highs and lows, and his dreamy nature, clearly mirror Schumann’s own tragic manic-depressive tendencies. Grosvenor responds to the composer’s autobiographical honesty with playing of sublime tenderness, dazzling variety, and imaginative empathy.
He accompanies the work with the melancholic Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann by Schumann’s beloved wife Clara (who, incidentally, stated that she was much disturbed by the visions conjured up in Kreisleriana). Further kaleidoscopic variety is provided by Robert’s Blumenstück, and Quasi Variazione: Andantino de Clara Wieck. The recital also includes Brahms’s Three Intermezzi, autumnal works which shed a fascinating light on the complicated relationship which existed between Robert, Clara and Brahms himself. Grosvenor’s own arrangement of Robert’s Abendlied completes the programme.
The recording is Benjamin Grosvenor’s seventh for Decca since 2011, when he became the youngest musician – and also the first British pianist in more than sixty years – to sign to the label. Since then he has won inter alia several Gramophone Awards, and the prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’année. After a spectacular win, at the age of just 11, in the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musician competition, he went on to become the youngest soloist ever to appear at the opening night of the BBC Proms in 2011.
He accompanies the work with the melancholic Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann by Schumann’s beloved wife Clara (who, incidentally, stated that she was much disturbed by the visions conjured up in Kreisleriana). Further kaleidoscopic variety is provided by Robert’s Blumenstück, and Quasi Variazione: Andantino de Clara Wieck. The recital also includes Brahms’s Three Intermezzi, autumnal works which shed a fascinating light on the complicated relationship which existed between Robert, Clara and Brahms himself. Grosvenor’s own arrangement of Robert’s Abendlied completes the programme.
The recording is Benjamin Grosvenor’s seventh for Decca since 2011, when he became the youngest musician – and also the first British pianist in more than sixty years – to sign to the label. Since then he has won inter alia several Gramophone Awards, and the prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’année. After a spectacular win, at the age of just 11, in the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musician competition, he went on to become the youngest soloist ever to appear at the opening night of the BBC Proms in 2011.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 1. Äußerst bewegt
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2Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 2. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
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3Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 3. Sehr aufgeregt
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4Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 4. Sehr langsam
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5Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 5. Sehr lebhaft
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6Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 6. Sehr langsam
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7Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 7. Sehr rasch
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8Schumann, R: Kreisleriana, op.16: 8. Schnell und spielend
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9Schumann, R: 3 Romanzen, op.28: No.2 in F sharp. Einfach
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10Schumann, R: Blumenstück, op.19
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11Schumann, R: Piano Sonata No.3 in F minor, op.14: III Quasi variazioni (Andantino de Clara Wieck)
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12Schumann, R: 12 Klavierstücke für kleine und große Kinder, op.85: No.12 Abendlied (arr. Benjamin Grosvenor for solo piano)
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13Schumann, C: Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, op.20
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14Brahms: 3 Intermezzi, op.117: No.1 in E flat
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15Brahms: 3 Intermezzi, op.117: No.2 in B flat minor
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16Brahms: 3 Intermezzi, op.117: No.3 in C sharp minor
Europadisc Review
Of the many discs that bring together the musical threesome of Robert and Clara Schumann and their young protégé Johannes Brahms, the latest release by pianist Benjamin Grosvenor is something very special indeed. Its starting point is Robert Schumann’s kaleidoscopically brilliant collection of eight ‘fantasies for the pianoforte’, Kreisleriana, op.16 (1838). As Grosvenor explains, ‘It’s such a journey in itself; and I wanted simpler, lyrical works to go with it that are more static in their emotional landscape’.
And they don’t come more lyrical than Brahms’s three Intermezzi, op.117 (1892), their ‘lullabies of sorrow’ far removed – not just chronologically – from the heightened excitability and mood swings of Kreisleriana. To bridge the gap between these two extremes, Grosvenor has selected a series of shorter works by Robert and Clara, all of which, to various extents, have an inwardness and simplicity that, in this context, are profoundly moving.
This ground plan is highly effective, bringing the listener gradually down from the highs and lows of Kreisleriana to the mellow, autumnal riches of late Brahms. It includes two sets of complementary variations: the third movement of Robert’s Piano Sonata no.3 (1836, rev. 1853), based on a lost theme by Clara, and Clara’s own set of 12 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, op.20 (1853). Also included are one of Robert’s three Romances, op.28, and the Blumenstück, op.19 (both from 1839), as well Grosvenor’s own arrangement for solo piano of the lovely little Abendlied from the 12 Piano Pieces ‘for little and big children’, op.85 (1849).
While the overall shape of this programme is in itself rewarding, it is the detail which Grosvenor uncovers and the way in which he animates each work that raises it to heights of greatness. His traversal of Kreisleriana – by turns tempestuous, reflective, passionate, grandiose, tender and nervously energetic – manages to reconcile the work’s dazzling variety and flights of fancy with an overarching groundedness and a rare ability to delve deep into the textures, bringing out countermelodies, potent bass lines and (as in the final piece) unsettling cross-rhythms.
Kreisleriana is a work of extremes, based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s ‘eccentric, wild and ingenious’ fictional musician, Johannes Kreisler, prone to mercurial changes of mood. Each of the movements is headed with an extreme tempo indication (‘Extremely animated’, ‘Very intimately’, ‘Very excited’, ‘Very slowly’, Very lively’, etc.). There is not much room in this music for a qualifying ‘non troppo’, yet Grosvenor knows how to use touch and voicing to bring out these contrasts without driving the speeds too forcefully, and his command of textures and dynamics provides all the variety one could ask for. This is one of the great Kreislerianas on disc.
Of the various bridging pieces, the Blumenstück (a set of variations on two themes which Robert himself regarded as ‘weak’ and ‘suitable only for women’!!!) and Clara’s Variations are particularly compelling in Grosvenor’s hands. The latter are heart-rendingly affecting, but contain within their 11-minute span a wealth of diversity in texture and mood which makes for fascinating comparison with the sustained melancholy of Robert’s variations movement from the Third Piano Sonata. They also make for a magical transition to the dreamy world of the first of Brahms’s Intermezzi, which receives a spellbinding performance here, as if a precious moment were suspended in time. The troubled undertow of the second Intermezzo (in B flat minor) is nicely balanced with moments of gentle warmth.
In the final Intermezzo (C sharp minor), Grosvenor doesn’t overplay his hand with the bleak opening octaves, yet gives the music space to breathe in the more impassioned (but still restrained à la late-Brahms) central section, and the closing bars have a gentle, almost fragile glow to them whose raptness provides the perfect close to the broader emotional journey of the programme as a whole.
The Decca team have captured the piano sound with a combination of immediacy and warmth in the acoustics of Potton Hall, Suffolk; and there are excellent, informative booklet notes from musicologist Katy Hamilton which guide the listener through the programme as it unfolds. This thoughtfully designed recital disc – with a generous timing of 85 minutes – is a real treasure, another outstanding release from Grosvenor and Decca, and a delight from start to finish. All in all, an enriching and deeply satisfying emotional journey, and a lovingly performed tribute to three of the key figures in German musical Romanticism.
Reviews
As for sheer bravura: just listen to the stunning clarity of the fugal material in the seventh movement. There are plenty of worthy Kreislerianas out there, from Argerich’s to Vogt’s. Grosvenor’s can hold its own against any of them. ... The engineering brings out all the colour and nuance of the playing. All in all, this is an album that reaffirms Grosvenor’s status as one of the most accomplished pianists around. Peter J RabinowitzGramophone April 2023
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