Schumann Argerich Kremer - Piano Concerto (6 tracks) +Album Reviews

Unknown but unbelievable

04/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What an unexpected joy it was to discover this relatively unknown violin concerto. As a concert pianist I purchased this disc in order to hear Argerich's approach to the piano concerto (one of my favorites). It was the violin concerto, however, which has struck me to the heart. What an unbelievably beautiful work. The entire developoment section of the opening movement must be amongst the most wonderfully crafted music ever penned - achingly tender and quietly impassioned. The Langsam movement is also a profoundly beautiful utterance. Throughout Kremer's playing is insightful and captures the essence of the work. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe are a wonderful group and this CD provides some of the most beautiful orchestral sonorities I have encountered on recordings thus far. I LOVE this CD."

An excellent coupling of an old warhorse and a little-known

David Arenson | 10/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I always enjoy Nikolaus Harnoncourt's take on things. By going back to the original scores and following the dictates of the composer, he sometimes ignores performance tradition but captures nuances and intentions that have been lost. Such is the case here, especially with the violin concerto, where he and Gidon Kremer take the third movement at a slow pace -- a stately polonaise -- as the composer intended. (The accompanying booklet spells out Schumann's views quite clearly.) Not everyone likes this approach, but I do: the result is an elegant, moving and even playful work. For those who have not heard the concerto, the first movement epecially is a gem, one of those why-I-like-Schumann revelations brimming with musical ideas in the composer's unique personal style. The violin concerto has been unfairly maligned over time by those who say Schumann's powers were diminishing when he wrote it. If these are the ravings of a soon-to-be-madman, they are still better than most of the music written in his era!

The piano concerto, an old warhorse which has threatened to sink under its own overperformed weight, is played with verve and panache by Martha Argerich, a performance almost universally proclaimed as one of the best on disc. If you think you've heard the piano concerto a few times too many, Argerich and Harnoncourt put some of the magic back in the piece."

Somewhat resolved but powerful

David Arenson | 03/23/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"the reason why I bought this disc is listenig to famous piano concerto. but when I first listend to this,I am immidiately trapped to violin concerto.until now I can hardly find the reason why this great piece isn't that famous. kremer's vilolin, as usual,powerful, but there is something different . it's a little resolved and more emotional. I think, schmann had a very great talent to catch and express personal feeling. its melancholy atmosphere appealed me than any other music"

Great Performances of Schuman's Best Known & Little Known Co

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 04/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Without question the most riveting recording I have heard of the Schumann piano concerto is this critically acclaimed version with Martha Argerich as soloist which is from a live performance recorded successfully by Teldec as if it was a studio recording. Argerich, Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe have taken a rather vivid, fresh take on this venerable warhourse, truly clearing some of the cobwebs in performance practice, by taking a more historically-informed approach. And yet it is an approach which doesn't forsake Argerich's intense, often quite dramatic, playing for which she has become well known. I disagree with a different customer reviewer who observed that this performance doesn't quite yield a "conversation between piano and orchestra", since she seems to have found excellent musical partners in both Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe who have no trouble matching her tempi. Having heard Argerich perform this work live and in several other notable recordings, I'd say that this one may be the best, simply because she has fascinating partners in Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, who've excelled in demonstrating Schumann's gifts as a fine composer of orchestral music steeped in great melodies, more so than in other recordings I've heard.

Most classical music fans interested in this recording will find equally impressive Gidon Kremer's impassioned, lyrical account of the Schumann violin concerto from a live concert performance, which regrettably remains obscure (However, I still recall a most vivid, lyrical live performance of it by acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavarkos with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra several years ago at Carnegie Hall.). Indeed, aside from Kavarkos's performance, I have heard this work before only via an earlier recording by a young Joshua Bell with Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the Cleveland Orchestra which dates from the mid 1990s. Kremer's impassioned, emotionally intense performance, especially of the first two movements, may be the memorable I've come across, simply because he conveys through his playing the emotional anguish which Schumann felt as he was losing his grip on his sanity. Much to my surprise, the third movement is played slower - and I think more convincingly by Kremer, Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe than in other performances I've cited - as a true polonaise, emphasizing Schumann's affinity for Polish folk music. But I concur with another reviewer that this concerto is indeed a musical document of a tragedy - Schumann's rapid descent into madness - tracing the gradual unraveling of Schumann's skill in orchestration from the start of the second movement to the very end of the third, which seemingly concludes on such a subtle, unfinished note."

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