Schumann: Piano Concerto In A Minor/Carnaval

On this CD:

1. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by John Robilette
Conducted by Paul Freeman

2. Carnaval for piano, Op. 9
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by John Robilette
Conducted by Paul Freeman

Tracks:

Symphony No. 3 In E-flat Major, Op. 97: 'Rhenish' - Lebhaft
Andante And Variations In B-Flat Major
Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13
Toccata In C Major, Op. 7
Kreisleriana, Op. 16
Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op. 54: Allegro Vivace
Carnaval, Op. 9
'Dedication', Op. 25/1
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120: Introduction - Vivace
Papilons, Op. 2
Op. 25-3: 'The Nut Tree'
Symphony No. 3 In E-flat Major, Op. 97: 'Rhenish' - Lebhaft-Schneller
Piano Quintet In E-flat Major, Op. 44: Allegro ma non troppo
Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op. 54: Allegro affettuoso
Carnaval, Op. 9: Waltz
Album For The Young, Op. 68: The Merry Farmer
Scenes From Childhood, Op. 15: Dreams
Cello Concerto In A Minor, Op. 129: Nicht au schnell
Symphony No. 3 In E-flat Major, Op. 97: 'Rhenish' - Feierlich
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46, No 1
Lyric Suite, Op. 54-2: Norwegian Rustic Dance
Op. 12 No. 4: Elf Dance
Op. 35, No. 1: Norwegian Dances
Elegiac Melodies
Op. 64, No. 4: Symphonic Dances
Op. 35, No. 2: Norwegian Dances
Op. 5-3: 'I Love Thee'
Op. 43, No. 1: Butterfly
Op. 65, No. 6: Wedding Day At Troldhaugen
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46, No. 3: Anitra's Dance
Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55, No. 4: Solveig's Song
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46, No. 4: In The Hall Of The Mountain King
Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op. 16: Allegro moderato; Allegro marcato
Holberg Suite, Op. 40: Prelude: Allegro vivace
Lyric Suite, Op. 54, No. 3: Dance Of The Dwarfs
Homage To Chopin
Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite, Op. 56, No. 3: Homage March
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: Morning Mood
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: The Death Of Aase
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: Anitra's Dance
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: In The Hall Of The Mountain King
Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55: III The Return Of Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55: IV Solveig's Song

Average customer rating:

Best of Schumann

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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The Best of Haydn
The Best of Mendelssohn
Best of Schubert
The Best of Brahms
The Best of Liszt

ASIN: B0000014HD
Release Date: 1997-09-11

Tracks:

manfred, Op 115 - overture
kinderszenen, Op. 15 - traumerei (Dreaming)
Piano quintet In E Flat Major, Op.44 - scherzo : molto vivace - trio 1 - trio 2 - l'istesso tempo
fantasiestuke, Op. 73 - zart und mit ausdruck
Piano concerto In A Minor, Op. 54 - allegro affettuoso
carnaval Op. 9 - marche des davidsbundler cotre les philistins
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 97, 'rhenish' - scherzo: sehr massig
waldeszenen, Op. 82 - Bird As prophet
Symphony No.1 In B Flat Major, Op. 38, 'Spring' - Andante un poco maestoso - allegro molto vivace

Average customer rating:

Classical Highlights: Schumann

Manufacturer: St. Clair Entertainment
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000CDLC1
Release Date: 2003-09-16

Tracks:

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in a Minor: Allegro Affettuoso
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in a Minor Intermezzo: Andante ...
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in a Minor: Allegro Vivace
Carneval
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): From Foreign Lands and People
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): Perfect Happiness
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): Important Event
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): Ride of the Rocking Horse
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): Almost Too Serious
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): Bogeyman's Coming
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): Child Falling Asleep
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood): Hark! The Poet Speaks
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in a Minor: Nicht Zu Schnell
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in a Minor: Langsam
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in a Minor: Sehr Lebhaft
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor: Introduction
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor: Allegro
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor Romance
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor: Scherzo
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor: Finale
FantasiestFantasy Pieces) For Clarinet and Piano, Pt. 1
FantasiestFantasy Pieces) For Clarinet and Piano, Pt. 2
FantasiestFantasy Pieces) For Clarinet and Piano, Pt. 3
Waltz "Bunte Bler"
Waltz "Albumbler"

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1 in B Flat Major "Spring": Andante un Poco Maestoso, ...
Symphony No. 1 in B Flat Major "Spring": Larghetto, Attaca
Symphony No. 1 in B Flat Major "Spring": Scherzo - Molto Vivace
Symphony No. 1 in B Flat Major "Spring": Allegro Animato E Grazioso
Manfred Overture
Hermann und Dorothea Overture
Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano No. 2 in F Major: Sehr Lebhaft
Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano No. 2 in F Major Mit ...
Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano No. 2 in F Major in ...
Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano No. 2 in F Major: Nicht Zu ...
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major "Rhenish": Illegro
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major "Rhenish": Scherzo
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major "Rhenish" Intermezzo
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major "Rhenish": Andante
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major "Rhenish": Finale
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Melodie (Melody)
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Soldatenmarsch ...
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Trerliedchen ...
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Ein Choral (A Chorale)
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Stn (Little Piece)
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Armes Waisenkind (Poor ...)
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Jrliedchen ...
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Wilder Reiter (Wild ...)
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Volksliedchen (Little Folk
Album F Jugend (Album for the Youth): Frcher Landmann ...

Schumann: The Complete Piano Works (Box Set)

Average customer rating:

Good for the rare pieces.....but...
Mystery Solved
Mystery meat

Schumann: The Complete Piano Works (Box Set)

Manufacturer: Nuova Era
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Canons | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Haydn: Complete Symphonies (Box Set)
Liszt: Piano Works
Schumann: Complete Chamber Music [Box Set]
The Complete Piano Music of Sergei Rachmaninov
Mendelssohn: Complete Piano Music

ASIN: B000058THK
Release Date: 2001-03-06

Customer Reviews:

Good for the rare pieces.....but..........2006-11-08

Overall, you will be hard up to find a more thoroughly complete two hand piano survey of Schumann's piano opus. However, for the more "popular" pieces such as the op 17, or the kinderszenen, these are decent to mediocre versions are best. They arent bad, Jorg Demus is a skilled pianist, though has always in my view been more successful in a supporting role, as evidenced by his masterful accompaniment in Dichterliebe and assorted Schubert lieder. If you are familiar with Richter's masterful Schumann interpretations-or Horowitz for many of the works, or Lupu, Argerich, these pale in comparison. If you are out for quantity-I would recommend the Ashkenazy set-though it is incomplete. Again, many of the works by schumann that you can only find here will only be of interest to the absolute Schumannaholic, which I am, but it is kind of a two way street because if you are a schumann madman, then you will know how third tier these performances truly are.

Mystery Solved.......2006-10-07

First off, thanks to WTA for his extremely thoughtful and comprehensive review, which helped me decide to purchase this Nuova Era set (his reasoning about the unlikelihood that Demus would record this huge corpus again was especially insightful).

I own the original 20-LP/6-volume Musical Heritage Society set issued between 1971 and 1973. Having seen the CD set in a store last year, I was puzzled about whether it was a transfer of these invaluable discs, which contain vast tracts of Schumann that you will be hard pressed to find elsewhere (included, for instance, are several posthumously issued works and even a few pieces played from unpublished manuscripts). WTA's review gave me enough clues to suspect that these discs were exactly what I'd been waiting for.

Having just received them, I'm happy to confirm that they are indeed the MHS performances (minus most of the four-hand works, however; see below). I instantly recognized the character of the piano sound and the recording acoustic (both much improved on CD), and a quick check of rhetorical gestures in a sonata movement that I especially value in Demus's hands showed the CD and LP versions to be identical. MHS did not always provide track timings for individual sections of the big piano suites. But where such detail exists, respective CD and LP timings are consistently mere seconds apart -- easily the result of different engineering choices for silent lead-ins and lead-outs to each track.

A further clue comes from a small note on the jewel-box tray inserts, indicating a 1989 digital remastering. I can think of no fully digital (DDD) recording that would be getting remastered so early in CD history. Anything from the '80s would almost certainly be making its first appearance in the new storage medium. Moreover, the sound has none of the hallmarks of DDD recordings (as WTA notes, for instance, Demus's recordings have detectable [but nonintrusive] background hiss).

So for all these reasons, I feel confident in declaring that this set is basically the old MHS offering. There are two sad omissions, however:

(1) The CD set includes all the solo pieces in the LP set, as well as a short, posthumously published F-minor Scherzo on CD 12 that MHS seems to have left out. Nuova Era, alas, omits the vast majority of the often-delightful four-hand works, for which Norman Shetler joined Demus (most of these items appeared in MHS's five-disc finale). The Sketches for Pedal Piano, Opp. 56 & 58, are here (perhaps because they were originally conceived for a now-forgotten solo instrument that had a pedalboard [Alkan was said to have been its greatest master]; on a modern instrument, Schumann's pedal-piano music thus takes two pianists), but -- shame on Nuova Era! -- Shetler gets no credit as the second pianist. If you'd like a fine but inexpensive tour of the four-hand output, try the three-disc VoxBox ("Schumann Complete Works For Piano 4-Hands") featuring Peter Frankl, Andras Schiff, et al.

(2) The CD set lacks the superb MHS album notes by Douglas Townsend. Also missing is Demus's own illuminating statement about recording these works across a span of about three years. These are thoroughly digested interpretations: Demus not only memorized every note but also played every last work in concert. Complete recordings like this one are not necessarily commercial gimmicks, as some so carelessly assert. A serious and sensitive musician who takes on such a task will uncover secrets and interconnections that only exposure to a composer's full output in a given area can progressively disclose. As Demus explains (in Herman Adler's translation from the German), "Only by knowing Schumann's creative output in its totality has it been possible to uncover fresh facets in overfamiliar standard works. [. . .] In the music of no other composer do we find as many cross-relations and associations throughout his work. Schumann likes to quote himself as well as other composers, as did, later, his French brother-in-spirit, Claude Debussy. [. . .] Only knowledge of this entire universe will result in something I would call *Stilsicherheit* (stylistic assurance)."

But let's not dwell on what's *not* here. As WTA observes, this is a deeply rewarding collection that every serious Schumann-lover will want to explore. Are these performances the last word on Schumann's poetic realm? Of course not: no such "last word" exists. The essential thing is that throughout this enormous journey, Demus never falsifies the music, and he plays with an honesty that can be far more illuminating than flashier approaches.

So, Schumann-lovers, get this set as cheaply as you can -- but one way or another, get it while you can!

Mystery meat.......2006-04-10

I don't think I've ever before experienced such frustration in trying to assess a product. Here a well-regarded and fairly well-known pianist sits down and records all (even that's up for grabs) the piano music of a pretty well-known and well-regarded composer and barely a peep out there in Internet land.

What I did encounter after a lot of searching, and according to different reviewers who deigned to barely mention this bulky and hard-to-ignore boxed set, was this dopey basketful of professional opinions:

1) The recording quality was poor according to one guy
2) The piano was out of tune according to some editor who happened to also be a piano tuner
3) The music was criminally recorded using a piano with beat hammers and strings
4) Demus may or may not have recorded the set with a period instrument that also may have had beat hammers and strings
5) Nobody should record Schumann on a period instrument according to another expert (without really letting us know if this was the case here)
6) The interpretations were wooden
7) The interpretations were fabulous despite the crappy sound and beat up old out-of-tune piano
8) Nobody was sure if this was his complete Schumann recorded in the 1970s and released on Musical Heritage or these were new DDD recordings as listed

OK--as the notes with this set absolutely stink and no one out in Internet land seems to have any consistent and coherent thing to say about it, this then is my judgement, based on careful listening and a few intelligent guesses.

1) The interpretations are great, wonderful, really enjoyable, idiomatic--some might consider them slightly wooden because there's next-to-no pedal which leads me to believe it is a period instrument he's recorded on. This isn't Argerich slamming away at these so don't expect that. Yamaha fans will be disappointed. Demus clearly knows his Schumann and plays crisply and accurately.
2) The sound quality, while hardly SACD, is just fine and, again if this is a period instrument and I sure tend to think so, what I'm hearing would be about right. I rather like the engineering as the result is intimate and warm
3) Honestly, did Demus record all these in the 1970s without them getting any attention and then do it all over again in the 1980s just to get ignored again? I hear distinct tape hiss if I listen closely, this doesn't sound like a 1989 DDD recording (which the box claims it to be) which is probably why the recording has some warmth and (audible tape hiss)
4) Who am I to argue with an editor/piano tuner but if this piano is out of tune I'm not noticing it one zot. Also, didn't they tune pianos a little differently way back in 1850 or so?

SO--I'll guess this is the complete piano music of Robert Schumann (perhaps minus one small piece according to yet another miffed commentator, although he keeps talking about a 12 CD set and this has 13 discs!)recorded in the 1970s with Jorg Demus playing a piano built around 1850 or so with everything that implies. I'll also guess that a lot of reviewers out there, left to fend for themselves without some promotional sheet from the label, maybe without even free promo copies, were really reaching a bit. Even if I'm wrong I seem to be doing better than the second-guessing I found elsewhere and anyway the result is really enjoyable. I simply like this set a lot even if someday I may discover it is, in fact, Ernest Borgnine playing a badly tuned pool hall upright in 1953. Less than no stars to Nuovo Era for never seeming to get the presentation of this delightful set right--license it to Brilliant and they'll do it up properly for Pete's sake and maybe you'll actually sell a few. They might even be able to kick down that DDD tape hiss a bit. It's also too danged expensive given even the putative late recording date--it shouldn't be more than $120 under any circumstances. I got mine for less than $40 at a classical cut-outs and deletions place.

Conclusion: This whole situation is sad. Jorg Demus is a great pianist and he obviously loves Schumann. Schumann's piano music is worth the effort. This should be a well-known and highly-regarded set and I'm happier with this than with any other big box of piano I may own, short of a Brahms set.

Average customer rating:

Stunning musicality, one of the greatest recordings ever
Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Myra Hess

Myra Hess

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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Emil Gilels 3 (III) (Great Pianists of the Century series) - Brahms / Chopin / Clementi / Grieg / Schubert / Schumann (2 CDs)

ASIN: B00001IVPC
Release Date: 1999-09-14

Tracks:

Sonata In C Minor, K. 11
Sonata In G, K. 4
Carnaval, Op.9: Preamble
Carnaval, Op.9: Pierrot
Carnaval, Op.9: Arlequin
Carnaval, Op.9: Valse noble
Carnaval, Op.9: Eusebius
Carnaval, Op.9: Florestan
Carnaval, Op.9: Coquette
Carnaval, Op.9: Replique
Carnaval, Op.9: Papillons
Carnaval, Op.9: A.S.C.H. - S.C.H.A. (Letters dansantes)
Carnaval, Op.9: Chiarina
Carnaval, Op.9: Chopin
Carnaval, Op.9: Estrella
Carnaval, Op.9: Reconnaissance
Carnaval, Op.9: Pantalon et Columbine
Carnaval, Op.9: Valse Allemande
Carnaval, Op.9: Intermezzo: Paganini
Carnaval, Op.9: Aveu
Carnaval, Op.9: Promenade
Carnaval, Op.9: Pause
Carnaval, Op.9: Marche des 'Davidsbundler' contre les Philistins
Goyescas: Quejas o la maja y el ruisenor (from: Goyescas)
Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 102 No. 5
Waltz in A Flat,Op. 39 No. 15
Intermezzo in C, Op. 119 No. 3
Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op.54: Allegro affettuoso
Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op.54: Intermezzo. Andantino grazioso
Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op.54: Allegro vivace

Tracks:

Symphonische Etuden: Thema
Symphonische Etuden: Etude I
Symphonische Etuden: Etude II
Symphonische Etuden: Etude III
Symphonische Etuden: Etude IV
Symphonische Etuden: Etude V
Symphonische Etuden: Etude VI
Symphonische Etuden: Etude VII
Symphonische Etuden: Etude VIII
Symphonische Etuden: Etude IX
Symphonische Etuden: Etude X
Symphonische Etuden: Etude XI
Symphonische Etuden: Etude XII (Finale)
Piano Sonata In E, Op.109: Vivace, ma non troppo - Adagio espressivo - Tempo I
Piano Sonata In E, Op.109: Prestissimo
Piano Sonata In E, Op.109: Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung
Piano Sonata In A-flat, Op.110: Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
Piano Sonata In A-flat, Op.110: Allegro molto
Piano Sonata In A-flat, Op.110: Adagio ma non troppo
Piano Sonata In A-flat, Op.110: Fuga. Allegro ma non troppo
'Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring'

Amazon.com

The famous images of Dame Myra Hess defying German bombs during World War II to organize National Gallery concerts or play in the shelters during the raids have become iconic for a time when music making really seemed a matter of life or death. But as integral a part of her time as she was, Hess also managed to distance herself from its penchant for extravagant, juicy, romantic style; she actually anticipated something of the "objective" stance to come from keyboard artists in the future. Her Schumann Carnaval--which has the earliest provenance (1938) on the set and was one of her own favorite recordings--sings its clarified beauties through the distractions of tape hiss with a marvelously clear-headed vision. Hess's limpidity of approach sketches a "Eusebius" and "Florestan" that are not frantic contrasts but surprisingly close in spirit, while Schumann's Bachian lineage is always in evidence (and just listen to her counterpoint in the two Scarlatti gems). Not quite so compelling are the sometimes too sober and controlled 1954 Symphonic Etudes, but a real treasure here is the highly regarded second recording Hess made of the Schumann Concerto (1952) under Rudolf Schwarz: exquisitely mellow and imbued with poetry. Hess was also a commanding Beethoven interpreter, with special insights into the late sonatas. The autumnal breath she weaves into the Opus 109, with its spectacularly executed trills in the quickening of the variations, makes this one of the lasting accounts. The set concludes with Hess's signature arrangement of the chorale from Bach's Cantata 147: sure, steadfast, of moving dignity. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

Stunning musicality, one of the greatest recordings ever.......2001-04-15

Myra Hess was a master of expression and artistry, all of her true gifts shining through beautifully in this incredible CD. It is now one of my most cherished posessions- I find it both moving and inspiring.

Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Myra Hess.......2000-06-25

Myra Hess has an exquisite singing tone on the piano... she interprets each composer's selection with sincerity and beauty... What a wonderful collection of various composers! This recording is a must-have in every classical music-lover's collection!

Average customer rating:

Schumann: Piano Concerto/Carnaval

Manufacturer: Ent. Media Partners
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Yves Nat plays Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 (recorded April, 1933); Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 (recorded March 1937); Kinderszenen, Op. 15; Carnaval de Vienne, Op. 26

Average customer rating:

Yves Nat plays Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 (recorded April, 1933); Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 (recorded March 1937); Kinderszenen, Op. 15; Carnaval de Vienne, Op. 26

Manufacturer: Dante Records Hpc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000G2KF
Release Date: 1999-12-01

The Complete Pre-War Schumann Recordings

Average customer rating:

Impeccable musical taste is not enough
A Lyrical Schumann

The Complete Pre-War Schumann Recordings

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Preambule: Quasi Maestoso - Piu Moto...
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Pierrot: Moderato
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Arlequin: Vivo
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Valse Noble: Un Poco Maestoso
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Eusebius: Adagio
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Florestan: Passionato
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Coquette: Vivo
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Replique: L'istesso Tempo
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Papillons: Prestissimo
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: A.S.C.H.-S.C.H.A. (Letteres Dansantes)...
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Chiarina: Passionato
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Agitato
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Estrella: Con Affetto
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Reconnaissance: Animato
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Pantalon Et Colombine: Presto
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Valse Allemande: Molto Vivace
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Paganini: Intermezzo. Presto
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Aveu: Passionato
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Promenade: Comodo
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Pause: Vivo
Carnaval ('Scenes Mignonnes Sur Quatre Notes'), Op.9: Marche Des 'Davidsbundler' Contre Les...
Bird As Prophet (from Waldszenen, Op.82 No.7): Langsam, Sehr Zart
Con in a, Op.54: I. Allegro Affettuoso
Con in a, Op.54: II. Intermezzo. Andantino Grazioso
Con in a, Op.54: III. Allegro Vivace

Amazon.com

Originally recorded between 1931 and 1938, this reissue shows its age in both sound and playing style. The piano tone is tinny and doesn't sustain, especially in the solos, but one soon ignores that because the playing is so fine. Myra Hess was always the epitome of a noble restraint, finesse, subtlety, and elegance--a combination rarely heard today. Her phrasing and rubatos have wonderful poise, every note has character and expression, and she plays with tenderness, delicacy, and plenty of romantic ardor, but there is never a moment of exaggeration or sentimentality.

Her Carnaval is a pure delight, and in the Concerto, where the piano sounds better, she brings out all the wistful, dreamy poetry and vigorous affirmation. However, the orchestra (unidentified, perhaps for good reason) is woefully inadequate though conducted by the estimable Walter Goehr. The winds sound strident, the strings thin and out of tune, as if there were too few of them; there are some shaky moments between soloist and accompaniment, as if they had not rehearsed enough. How any record company could have given such a poor backup band to so renowned a soloist and conductor is a mystery and a disgrace. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Impeccable musical taste is not enough.......2003-12-16

Dame Myra Hess was one of the most beloved pianists of the first half of the twentieth-century, not only as a soloist but also as a chamber music collaborator with such greats as cellist Pablo Casals. She represents an ideal of refinement, good taste and elegance that seems very remote today.

On the evidence of this Schumann recording it would seem that Dame Myra's primary appeal to today's listeners might be as a chamber musician. There is nothing wrong with her traversal of Schumann's Carnaval except that it simply is not exciting enough; it does not capture the composer's essential spirit of fantasy and eccentricity. Many indicated repeats are omitted, which compromises the composer's concept more than the occasional spot of untidy playing.

The same virtues and faults are apparent in the other pieces on this CD. The Concerto, being cast in a more standard classical form, responds better to Hess's approach and there are many beautiful moments within what again winds up as a rather sedate interpretation. She is not helped here by a second-rate and poorly recorded orchestra. Indeed, the sound throughout is very dated, boxy and congested at dynamic climaxes. The engineers did their best with the material they had, but there is a limit to how much transfers from 78rpm discs can be enhanced. To appreciate Dame Myra's art one first of all needs to hear it more clearly than it is heard here.

A Lyrical Schumann.......2003-09-16

This CD consists of three historic performances of the music of Robert Schumann by the great pianist Myra Hess. The works were recorded in 1931, 1937, and 1938. The recordings are not up to modern standards but the sound is acceptable. This CD is valuable for its music and for Myra Hess' pianism.

The disc includes Schumann's early suite "Carnival", op.9. This is the music of a young man, both impulsive and reflective. The music is full of the fervor of early romanticism with its programme celebrating art and imagination and opposing materialism and "philistinism". The work is in 21 short, titled movements, each of which is derived from the same four-note motto.

Hess gives Carnival a beautiful, lyrical reading. Her tempos are fast, but they have the rhythmic freedom this music demands. Her performance does not have the clangor or bravura that many pianists bring to this great score. Rather, it is a subdued, somewhat classical reading of Carnival emphasizing song and reflection. It is a legitimate interpretation of a great work of the romantic piano literature.

The second major work on the album is Schumann's piano concerto in a minor, op.54., recorded in 1938 with an unidentified orchestra conducted by Walter Goehr. Myra Hess gives a lyrical, impassioned performance of this great concerto. The orchestral playing is less good and the recorded sound is not of high quality. Nevertheless, this piece is worth hearing for the intimate quality of Hess's playing.

The third work on the CD is a short selection "the prophet bird" from Schumann's "Waldszenen", op.82. Ms Hess gives the work a haunting performance.