Schumann: Piano Concerto - Schumann: Concerto Movement

Album review

Soviet-born, Austria-based pianist Oleg Marshev, working with the little-known but entirely able South Jutland Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ziva, here adds another recording of the Robert Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, to the dozens or hundreds on the market. It's a brisk, tough reading that ignores Schumann's own assertions that he was not trying to write a virtuoso concerto; Marshev blows through the famous flat-sixth-degree accent at the beginning and establishes momentum that carries all the way through an unusually fast reading. It's original enough to stand out even if it lacks the poetic quality one usually associates with Schumann. The real news here, however, lies in the balance of the program. Listeners unaware that Clara Wieck Schumann composed a Concerto Movement in F minor should be apprised that it has nothing to do with the full-length piano concerto she wrote as a teen; it originated in 1847 but was left unfinished after 175 bars were composed. This is not much, but it's enough to set the general tone, which seems strongly influenced by Chopin's Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21: the orchestral melodies are blocky and give way to brilliant piano figuration. The piece is played here in a completion by Belgian pianist Jozef de Beenhouwer, and it's a reasonably interesting find for those interested in Clara Schumann. The Introduction and Allegro appassionato, Op. 92, and Introduction and Allegro Concertante, Op. 134, of Robert Schumann are both late works, built around brilliant passagework, and both fare well in Marshev's crisp style. The sound from Denmark's Danacord label sets off Marshev's piano effectively. This may not be a primary pick for the Piano Concerto in A minor, but for Schumann buffs it's a worthwhile library addition.
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