Prokofiev • C Schumann • R Schumann • Szymanowski
C Schumann: Romances, Op. 22; R Schumann: Fantasy in C major (arr. Kreisler); Szymanowski: Mythes etc; Prokofiev: Five Pieces from Cinderella
Natalia Lomeiko (violin), Dinara Klinton (piano)
Orchid Classics ORC100313 76:21 mins
Clip: C Schumann: Three Romances, Op.22 - Allegretto (Natalia Lomeiko & Dinara Klinton)
According to the booklet ‘transcendence into otherworldliness’ is what unites the music on this latest album from Yehudi Menuhin protégé Natalia Lomeiko and pianist Dinara Klinton.
As a recital the programme works decidedly well, sandwiching Szymanowski’s technically formidable Mythes between the fancy-full Schumanns and, drawing the sultry heat from Szymanowski’s Nocturne and Tarantella, an injection of Prokofiev at his most urbane.
In part it all coexists so beautifully because of the chemistry between Lomeiko and Klinton.
Not only do they think and breathe as one, their respective sounds coalesce with heart-stopping unanimity.
From the opening bars of the Clara Schumann, poised, probing and suffused with yearning, the balance between the two instruments is perfectly judged – drawing the ear ineluctably into a partnership that will reward at every turn.
Robert Schumann’s Fantasy in C – a late work for violin and orchestra not the youthfully ardent Op. 17 love letter to Clara – has sometimes sounded sprawling, but this duo secures a coherence that reconciles the rhapsodic and the virtuosic, the exalted and the exulting.
Szymanowski’s three Mythes often bring out the best in those fortunate enough to make light of their fearsome demands.
La fontaine d’Aréthuse positively shimmers; Narcisse is limpid and dreamlike; and the buzzy quarter tones and spectral harmonics lend vivid, febrile immediacy to the finale.
Musical storytelling at its irresistible best. Paul Riley