Search - Elizabeth Rich :: Robert Schumann: Carnaval,Op.9/Novelletten,Op.21

Sarah Bernhardt Plays the Piano

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/03/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Picture a middle-aged silent screen star leaning, half-collapsed, against a table, the back of one hand pressed tightly against her forehead, emoting for all she's worth. That's what the playing of Elizabeth Rich reminds me of. There's a lot of sighing, swooning, calling out in alarm, crying buckets of tears. This reminds me - sans the wrong notes - of the willful playing of Vladimir de Pachmann, the great pianist-ham of yore. In fairness, there is less chewing the scenery in the 'Novelettes' but in 'Carnaval' one hardly knows from one section to the next what is coming. There are languorous moments with wobbly tempi followed by flurries of notes that blur accents, harmonies, melodies. Pass this one up, unless this old-fashioned and highly individual style of playing appeals to you.Scott Morrison"