Austere Schumann with Titanic Virtuosity!
Scriabinmahler | UK | 03/09/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"
If you admire Hamelin's super-human virtuosity, you will not be disappointed with this recording. In each piece there's a plenty of it, and this is no doubt the most technically accomplished of all Schumann recitals for recent years.
My only reservation is that it sounds too austere and somehow it lacks colours, atmosphere and delicacy (so essential to Schumann's piano music) in all three pieces. Having said that who else can play Schumann, nowadays, with rich poetry and subtlety that match past masters like Heinrich Neuhaus or Richter who could work miracle on keybord playing Schumann?
Schumann's music really shows limitation of imagination and poor use of pedalling so characteristic of our generation of pianists who do not pay much attention to how sound decays and mixes with other notes and harmonies. To many pianists today, 'subltely' means only playing softly because their focus is only on starting point of a note they create, so their pianism lacks in depth and richness of expression no matter how hard they try to create poetry and atmosphere ( Kissin or Ashkenazy is a typical examle ).
Hamelin is no exception in this respect, but he still manages pretty well compared to other pianists. If you admire his fingures, 5 stars surely, but out of respect for Schumann's music, I give only 4."