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Schumann’s piano output contains only 2 sonatas (3 if the Op.14 concerto without orchestra is included), the reason for this is that he was not at all comfortable working within the classical structures, preferring freer structures. The masterpieces – the Fantasy Op.17, the Humoreske Op.20, Carnaval, Pappilons, Kreisleriana and the Symphonic Etudes rank among the greatest works in the piano repertoire. The torrent of imagination and emotion Schumann poured into these works is extraordinary by any standards.
These 13 CDs contain his entire output for solo piano, plus his only completed piano concerto (again his problem with classical forms lead him to abandon 2 other piano concertos), which has become one of the best loved piano concertos in the repertoire.
June 1994
“What I enjoyed most is Brautigam's vitality— vitality of imagination no less than of fingers. You are immediately gripped by his plunge into the Op.8 Allegro, with its arresting octave 'motto'. His mercurial fancy
and ear for hidden melodic strands in the ensuing stream certainly makes nonsense of hasty dismissal of this work as mere old-style virtuoso note-spinning. Moreover, such is his unflagging impulse in the eight
Novelletten that never for a moment are you tempted to accuse Schumann of overrepetitively patterned figuration.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
