These performances
are not new to the catalogue. They derive
from Gieseking’s German radio broadcasts
between 1938 and 1947 and have been
reissued before. If you have Archipel
0076 then you have this disc, the contents
of which are entirely the same. The
Sonata has previously been reissued
by Music and Arts; this and other items
here have also appeared on Bianco and
Nero and doubtless I’ve missed sundry
other appearances. Gieseking’s discography
is in a bit of a state with multiple
recordings, broadcasts (dated and misdated)
and locations noted or misattributed.
Time for someone to get digging.
The performances, albeit
they are sometimes imperfect digitally,
represent some of Gieseking’s most incandescent
broadcast playing. He seems energised
to a remarkable degree throughout the
entire span of the performances, roughly
a decade’s worth. In particular he revels
in the contrasts of Kreisleriana
bringing turbulence and dynamism in
equal measure. The 1942 Berlin broadcast
is perfectly acceptable as well. Listen
to the full-on Agitatissimo with
which it begins or the vitality of the
Con molta espressione that succeeds
it. With decisive grandeur in the Second
Intermezzo and an eloquent emotive heart
in the Lento assai this is a
riveting piece of work.
This 1943 Carnaval
is very much to be preferred to the
more circumspect commercial reading.
He tears straight into the Préambule
with visionary force and the articulation
is sometimes breathless to the point
of semi-coherence. But in his defence
this brings with it a corollary of intense
expression in Eusebius – real
intimacy of touch allied to an almost
over-sensitive response to the writing;
darting, alert, and charged with the
grandeur of Schumann’s rhythmic licence.
The Sonata receives a similarly inspiring
reading. Gieseking’s commitment to Schumann
comes with the parallel cost of some
digital fluffs and rhythmic fudging
but when he mines such depth from the
Introduzione of the first movement
and when he vests the Aria with
so palpable a sense of uneasy delicacy,
one will surely forgive him these lapses
of enthusiasm. Note too how adroitly
he times those probing left hands descents
in the Aria.
Davidsbündlertänze
reprises all these qualities in its
marriage of fiery abandon and delicate
withdrawal. Nothing could better exemplify
his playing than the rugged purpose
of his Balladenmässig though
the warmly expressive and rounded singing
tone of the Nicht schnell seventh
movement comes mighty close. The Fanatsie
is a 1947 Frankfurt reading, not Berlin
as stated, and in its capricious drama
and vital inexactitude it precisely
mirrors the tenor of Gieseking’s Schumann
playing throughout this set.
Playing of this level
of intensity is not guaranteed to unite
critical judgement. Throughout the decade
covered by these performances, though,
Gieseking time and again proves a Schumann
interpreter of powerful, sometimes overwrought
intensity. With good sonics for the
time, these recycled performances cast
their spell anew.
Jonathan Woolf
for details
Walter Gieseking (piano) 
