leadingtone: SchumannKinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op….

leadingtone:

Schumann
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15
Of Strange Lands and Peoples | Curious Story
Blind Man’s Bluff | Pleading Child
Contented Enough | Important Event | Reverie
At the Fireside | Knight on the Stick-Horse
Almost Too Serious | Frightening
Child Falling Asleep | The Poet Speaks

Martha Argerich

Hey, remember that time Martha recorded Kinderszenen and Kreisleriana? I always forget about that release. They’re almost certainly my favorite recordings of those works on both counts. Argerich has a special affinity for Schumann; she is able to project across a variety of different material the innocent quality intended by the composer. The phrasing is limpid and clear, the shading infinitely varied while never approaching caricature. This is a work in which the problems are more musical than technical, and in this regard she is able to inject new life into a well-worn standard. For sentimental and historical significance there’s probably no besting the famed performance from Horowitz’s late return to Vienna, but here we have perhaps the most thoughtful, sensitively crafted, and expertly engineered reading on record. 

Schumann composed his “Scenes from Childhood” in the early days of 1838 as the response to a remark from his young wife Clara that he often behaved “like a child.” By early February he had finished thirty Kindergeschichten, from which the thirteen comprising the published set were later chosen. The pieces’ individual titles came later as “suggestions” and so were not part of the original conception according to the composer. Though the music is at times emotionally profound, its light and friendly spirit is in contrast to the heavier, richer moods generally being explored by Schumann at the time (Noveletten, Kreisleriana, etc.).

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~ by Jordan Randall Smith on March 16, 2014.