Unsung Schumann for Piano & Orchestra

[Kriton]

Being a Schumann fanatic, I couldn't resist buying the new RCA 3CD-set with his complete works for piano & orchestra. This set contains, of course:

- The famous piano concerto
- Both concert pieces for piano & orchestra
- The concerto for 4 horns & orchestra in the version for piano & orchestra (a version which apparently is not, as often stated, by Raff, but by Schumann himself)
- The piano concerto movement in D Minor (reconstructed by Beenhouwer)

So far so good - we already had recordings of those. Interesting it becomes with the next first recordings:

- The piano concerto in F Major (reconstructed)
- The fantasy for piano & orchestra in A Minor (or better: the 1st version of the 1st movement of the famous piano concerto)
- The ABEGG-Theme for piano & orchestra

And 2 pieces of works by other composers, orchestrated by Schumann:

- Henselt: piano concerto in F Minor, op.16
- Clara S.: piano concerto movement in A Minor

I'm listening to the first cd as we speak. The ABEGG-Theme in this version is cute, but probably only recorded for the sake of completeness. The piano concerto in F Major is quite another matter. In the booklet a parallel (regarding key) is being drawn with (to?) Hummel's last concerto. I must admit, in the music itself, I hear Hummel too - although more inspired. Of course this youthful work couldn't (and shouldn't!) be measured with its endlessly more famous A Minor counterpart, but it is a pleasureable listening experience all the way. As to the fantasy: sadly, the only differences I could discover on a 1st hearing, are in the opening and in the cadenza, but I'll give it a listen with score. The concerto movements (one by Clara) are what we already know. I'm looking forward to playing the other 2 discs!

The recording satisfies, although I find it rather 'harsh' at moments of orchestral tutti. Impressive, nonetheless. A note regarding the pianist: Lev Vinocour appears not only to be a fine musician, but also a musicologist and music philosopher. He wrote an extensive essay accompanying the CDs, from which I quote the following sentence:

"Ideally, the higher task of this encyclopedic recording resides in making every music lover realize, solely with the music, that it is high time to form a fresh view of these romantic works, a view free of preconcieved doctrines."

I'm going to add the term encyclopedic recording to my vocabulary, since it applies to more favourite recordings of mine. To those of us who aren't particularly fond of Schumann, but rather listen to, say, Thalberg (...): this set doesn't hold much of an interest. For those who are prepared to take a shotgun to Thalberg anytime, for lovers of romantic rarities for piano & orchestra - even if reconstructed by others - or Henselt fans, I think this recording constitutes a must-buy.

Switching to disc 2!

[Jonathan]

Hi Kriton,
That does sound very interesting but I do have one question, did Schumann really orchestrate Henselt's concerto or is this differently orchestrated to the version that e.g. Marc-Andre Hamelin recorded for Hyperion?
Another one for the wish list...

[Kriton]

Hi Kriton,
That does sound very interesting but I do have one question, did Schumann really orchestrate Henselt's concerto or is this differently orchestrated to the version that e.g. Marc-Andre Hamelin recorded for Hyperion?
Another one for the wish list...

Vinocour writes in his essay that he used Schumann's version for the 1st time, whereas Hamelin and 3 others (he counts 4 recordings) made do with the Henselt reworking of the piece. Apparently, Schumann completed the concerto for Henselt, was responsible for the German premiere, and sent it back to Henselt, who then arranged Schumann's performing version. To quote the pianist/musicologist/man with the big nose: "In sum, the present recording of A.H.'s piano concerto, in R.S.'s arrangement, represents te first time it has been heard since 1845(...)!".

[chill319]

"Ideally, the higher task of this encyclopedic recording resides in making every music lover realize, solely with the music, that it is high time to form a fresh view of these romantic works, a view free of preconcieved doctrines."

That's a pretty standard line.  Do you think the pianist follows through with insightful and unexpected interpretations (as opposed , say, to the timbre of a period instrument)?

Although I wouldn't claim doctrines were involved, I recently revisited the Richter/Ancerl recording of Tchaikovsky PC 1 and was amazed at how different it was from every other version I've heard.

[Kriton]

That's a pretty standard line.

Indeed it is. I just never heard the phrase 'encyclopedic recording' before.

Do you think the pianist follows through with insightful and unexpected interpretations (as opposed , say, to the timbre of a period instrument)?

I've just finished listening to the discs (skipped the Henselt for now), my preliminary judgement is as follows:

Unknown pieces: great fun, well executed.
Concert pieces: very well played, expressive, detailed, knows his late Schumann.
Piano concerto in A Minor: go for another recording, the tempo in some places almost made me fall asleep, the obtrusive orchestral sound made me wide awake again. But, then again, I'd be daft expecting this to be the highlight of the set.

And then, of course, there's the Henselt piece, which I'm saving for another rainy holiday - probably tomorrow... I want to compare this with my other Henselt recordings. I'll get back to you, if you want, after listening to it. But know I'm going to sleep. And Fauré is going to be of much better help with that than Henselt.

[Jonathan]

Hi again Kriton,
Many thanks for the info about the Henselt!  Cd is now on the wishlist...

[chill319]

Thanks for the thoughtful response, Kriton. I'm an enthusiastic advocate for late Schumann myself.

[Richard Moss]

Do you have a  link or catalogue reference for this disk set please?  I've tried unsuccessfully on the usual sites (MDT, Archiv, Presto etc) and nothing is coming up. 

I have a particularly nostalgic spot for Schumann as it was a recording of his 4th symphony I first heard as a 12yr old in school in the mid-50s that really turned me on to Classical Music and I then bought (and still have) the 1950s LP by Von Karajan and BPO as my very first purchase.

Any help appreciated!

[Kriton]

Do you have a  link or catalogue reference for this disk set please?

http://klassik.sonymusic.de/Lev-Vinocour/Schumann-Complete-Works-For-Piano-And-Orchestra/P/2347491

[Richard Moss]

Many thanks for the link