I seem to have been listening to a lot of discs of Schumann’s piano music
recently — one of my favourites.
The present disc opens with the Humoreske, Op. 20, and whilst this is the
slowest of the five versions that I have it does not feel drawn out. In
Cooper’s hands its romanticism is given more emphasis and as a result the
link with the other music presented on this disc is strengthened. Of all my
recordings of this work I still find Radu Lupu’s excellent recording (Decca
440 496-2) the one I return to.
The Humoreske is followed by the second of the Drei Romanzen Op. 28. It is
with this work that Cooper links Robert and Clara, a link which she
reinforces in her own booklet notes. Cooper here errs on the brisk side, not
that you notice much, as once again she brings out the romantic nature of
the music perfectly well. This piece is linked to the following work, the
Romance which is the third of the
Quatre Pièces caractéristiques
Op. 5 by the teenage Clara. The connection is clear to the listener, as
whilst Clara is clearly a composer of worth in her own right, the influence
of her future husband is clear.
If the link between Robert and Clara was one of influence in Clara’s
Romance, in
Le Ballet des Revenants, the fourth of the
Quatre Pièces caractéristiques, the connection is more tangible.
This work was composed around the same time as and shares a short motif with
the first movement exposition of Robert’s Op. 11 Sonata. The two short
pieces by Clara are well placed on this disc, I am ashamed to say that
whilst I know her songs and the more famous Piano Trio, her piano music is
new to me. It shows a romantic maturity far greater than you might expect
from someone in her mid-teens. On this evidence I will be investigating more
of her piano music.
The final piece on the disc is the aforementioned Sonata Op. 11. Here
Cooper gives a strong and impassioned performance, one which stands well
with the other recordings I have. This is the work in which she really
displays her prowess as a Schumann interpreter; the one where she gets to
the heart of the music.
This is a very enjoyable disc. The juxtaposition of the music of Robert
and Clara Schumann works well. Imogen Cooper gives a performance of great
merit and insight, which is backed up by her excellent and scholarly booklet
essay. The recorded sound is, as always with Chandos, exemplary. The
engineers capture Cooper's playing in a quite natural and sympathetic
acoustic.
Stuart Sillitoe
