Brahms • R Schumann Brahms: Intermezzos, Op. 117; C Schumann: Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann; R Schumann: Kreisleriana; Blumenstück; Romance in F sharp, Op. 28/2; Piano Sonata No. 3; Abendlied Benjamin Grosvenor (piano) Decca 485 3945 85:49 mins
Following on from his solo Liszt album, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor continues his tour of the Romantic piano repertoire with a recital mostly dedicated to Robert and Clara Schumann. It’s a sizeable programme – nearly 90 minutes – beginning with Kreisleriana, the solo piece that captures the quintessential essence of Robert Schumann, in eight movements inspired by ETA Hoffmann’s eccentric fictional musician, Johannes Kreisler. It’s music of contrasts and extremes, of the extrovert Florestan and introvert Eusebius, two of Schumann’s alter egos. Grosvenor doesn’t stint on the tempestuous aspect, unleashing restless energy in the opening Äusserst bewegtnor does he underplay the music’s poetic lyricism in, for instance, the Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch. Yet there are ingredients missing. For all that Schumann knew dark torments, his music also channels an almost childlike wonder in life’s miraculous nature, qualities that pianists like Martha Argerich find, but which Grosvenor downplays here.
Grosvenor’s approach is more wholly satisfying in the rest of the programme. There’s a marble-statue nobility to his playing, a sense of his powerful technique being harnessed to expression, and a seriousness-of-purpose which well serves the ‘Quasi variazioni (Andantino de Clara Wieck)’ from Robert’s Third Sonata and Clara’s Variations Op. 20 on a Theme by Robert Schumann. The second Romance Op. 28 and Blumenstück, Op. 19 are beautifully done, while Grosvenor offers his own gorgeous arrangement of the ‘Abendlied’ from Op. 85. To end, we hear three of Brahms’s Intermezzos: elegiac, bittersweet lullabies of sorrow. These rich performances suggest Brahms is where Grosvenor should head next.
Rebecca Franks
