Johannes Brahms; Robert Schumann - Piano Sonata No. 2; Kreisleriana (Hélène Grimaud)

Information

Composer: Johannes Brahms; Robert Schumann

• (01-08) Schumann - Kreisleriana, Op. 16
• (09-12) Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op. 2

Hélène Grimaud, piano
Date: 1989
Label: Denon

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Review

I had a few reservations near the start of Kreisleriana – in the first piece the off-beat accents are so strong that the first beat is lost and with it the sense of syncopation, and in the second intermezzo of no. 2 the phrases are too separated for the flow of the music – but I increasingly settled down to enjoy a performance which enters equally into the feverish excitement and the withdrawn poetry typical of Schumann. I won’t throw out Horowitz and a host of others (there’s a phenomenal version of just the first three by Gieseking once available on Forlane and deriving from a Urania disc) but I’m glad to have it.

Brahms’s début as a sonata-writer (the second sonata precedes the first by a year) is an uncharacteristic experiment in Lisztian form; with its stop-go finale it may be the one truly unsatisfactory piece the composer ever wrote. Grimaud’s unfailing musicianship shows it in as favourable light as possible.

-- Christopher Howell, MusicWeb International

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Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, and left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Schumann suffered from a lifelong mental disorder, and died in 1856 without having recovered from his illness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schumann

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Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable. Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters, with a highly romantic nature embedded within.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms

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Hélène Grimaud (born 7 November 1969 in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a French classical pianist. In 1982, she was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire and won first prize in piano performance three years later. She continued to study with György Sándor and Leon Fleisher until her debut recital in Tokyo in 1987. Since then, Grimaud has given concerts with most of the world’s major orchestras and many celebrated conductors. Her recordings have been critically acclaimed and awarded numerous accolades. She is also a wildlife conservationist, a human rights activist, and a writer with three published books.

http://helenegrimaud.com/

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