Reviewed: 2019-10-21
Genre: Classical
FCCs: none
Review: This disc “ranks among the most charming and engaging debuts I can recall. Isata Kanneh-Mason chooses for her first visit to the studio not a selection of the same old same old but a single-composer programme of works with which few will be familiar and by someone who, without the current attention on her bicentenary year, is regularly overlooked. Moreover, we are presented not with a string of solo piano works but a representative survey of Clara Schumann’s oeuvre: a piano concerto, a sonata, chamber music, short solo works and transcriptions, all presented in chronological order of composition. So, before a note is heard – three cheers!” – Gramophone
If You Like: Martha Argerich, Imogen Cooper, Khatia Buniatishvili
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
Piano Concerto in A Minor Op. 7
**1/ Allegro maestroso (6:11) – full orchestra starts> midtempo with shifting melodies> piano solo> uptempo orchestral jam with piano up front> crescendo> full orchestra swells in volume then mellows to fade
*2/ Romance: Adante non troppo, con grazie (4:55) – piano starts> slow solo> joined by cello> fade
****3/ Allegro non troppo (10:11) – piano starts> uptempo orchestral jam with cascading piano up front> piano solo> uptempo orchestral jam with piano up front> slows to slow tempo, then swings back up> morphs into a midtempo melody shift, then swings to fast tempo jam> crescendo end
3 Romances for Piano Op.11
*4/ No. 1 in E flat minor (3:03) – piano starts> midtempo solo> slows to fade
5/ No. 2 in G minor: Andante – Allegro passionate (6:17) – piano starts> midtempo solo swells in volume, then mellows> slows to fade
*6/ No. 3 in A flat major, Moderato (4:24) – piano starts> midtempo solo> slows to fade
**7/ Scherzo No. 2 in C minor op. 14 (4:52) – piano starts> fast tempo solo> slows to slow tempo, then swells back uptempo> quick stop
3 Romances for violin & piano op. 22
*8/ No. 1 in D flat major – Andante motto (3:08) – piano starts slow> joined by violin> swells to midtempo & fades
*9/ No. 2 in G minor – Allegretto (2:46) – piano starts slow> joined by violin> swells to midtempo> quick stop
**10/ No. 3 in B flat major, Leidenschaftlich schnell (4:15) – piano/violin duet starts uptempo> swells in volume> melody shift to fast duet> quick fade
**11/ Widmung (2:14) – piano starts> uptempo solo slows to midtempo, builds back up & slows to fade
12/ Mondnacht (3:51) – piano starts> slow quiet solo> slowly builds to crescendo & fades
Piano Sonata in G Minor
**13/ Allegro (8:59) – piano starts> uptempo solo builds in volume, then mellows, then swings back up to fast tempo> crescendo> slow solo builds back to fast tempo> pause> midtempo solo> crescendo end
14/ Adagio (3:07) – piano starts> slow solo> slow fade
*15/ Scherzo (2:53) – piano stats> uptempo solo> pause> midtempo solo> swings uptempo> quick stop
**16/ Rondo (5:15) – piano starts> uptempo solo> pause> midtempo solo> swings uptempo> pause> uptempo solo> crescendo & quick stop