Robert Schumann: Hommage A Bach / Andreas Staier (Harmonia Mundi)
UK release date: 12 January 2009
As the idea of 'period performance' creeps ever closer to the last century, it's fascinating to hear Schumann's piano music played on an instrument for which it was intended, an 1837 Erard piano.
Yet this is much more than a straightforward recital, as this is Schumann himself looking back in time, paying tribute to Bach in a well chosen selection of works covering early, middle and late periods from the composer's career.
Explorers of Schumann's piano music don't often get as far as works like the Scherzo, Gigue, Romanze und Fughette, the collective published by the composer as his Op.32, let alone the later, Op.126 publication 7 Clavierstcke In Fughettenform. Yet both reveal a keen use of counterpoint building on Bach's obvious influence. In the former collection Staier gets the dotted motif of the first piece just right in his crisp delivery, while somehow attaining an organ-like sonority with his use of the pedal in the second of Op.126, without harming the melodic definition.
Prior to this he performs a succession of short pieces from the Album For The Young, finding the lovely childlike simplicity of the Choral, which sounds a bit like somebody playing the upright piano in your front room. The endearing simplicity of the short pieces shines through, though Staier is not afraid to use the Erard's notably powerful fortissimo.
In the better known Waldszenen the first piece is beautifully shaded, the second crisply articulated - while in the softer music Staier finds that particular form of intimacy Schumann reveals in his piano music. In the Hunting March later on he uses mostly effective 'rubato', though comes close to overdoing it near the end.
'Kinderszenen', meanwhile, receives a lively performance, with a crisp Kuriose Grschichte and a sharply ordered marching band in Weichtige Begebenheit. The celebrated Traumerei appears to be faster than it actually is, while the fast running Bitendes Kihn fair races through the hands.
An extensive booklet note by Staier himself completes a most revealing and affectionate survey showing clearer than ever the influence of Bach on the Romantics. Perhaps Staier could now do the same for Mendelssohn in his anniversary year?
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