Customer Reviews

Clara Schumann: Piano Music

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's no secret that Clara Schumann was an amazing woman, an amazing pianist and, contrary to the paucity of available CDs, a very fine composer and talent. There is a enough compositional diversity here to titillate the most jaded ear. Selections range from the wonderful Three Romances, Op. 11, through the satisfyingly original Piano Sonata in G Minor, the delicious Op. 6 vignettes ("Soirees Musicales"), the excellent Op. 20 Schumann Variations, and conclude with the poignant Romance in A Minor. Clara is no Schumann toss-off. Her compositions are immediately attractive, inventive and technically secure. She is her own woman, and her music more than mere parlor foray or mimicry.

Again, Naxos has cornered the market with this superb collection of enchanting piano music by the grievously underestimated Clara, each piece played with charm, sensitivity and panache by Yoshiko Iwai, and beautifully recorded as well. Here is a more than revealing look at a woman, a composer, a pianist who was much, much more than simply the wife of Robert Schumann.

[Running time: 71:29]

Clara Schumann (1819-1896)has been getting increased attention in recent years. Only a month ago, I attended a world premier of an opera by the American composer Robert Convery titled simply "Clara" based upon the events of this great woman's life.
A recent historical novel by Janice Galloway also titled "Clara"
has also been widely read and praised. There has also been an increasing number of CDs which explore Clara Schumann's rather limited compositional output, particularly her songs and piano music. Clara Schumann did most of her composing in her teens, before her marriage to Robert. She composed sporadically during the marriage, largely for celebrations with Robert such as birthdays. When Robert died in 1854, Clara stopped composing altogether even though she outlived her husband by 44 years.

The disk under review features a good selection of Clara Schumann's piano music on the budget-priced Naxos label performed by Yoshiko Iwai. On the basis of this recording, Ms. Iwai is an outstanding romantic pianist. She exhibits fluid and graceful rhythm, a light and meditative touch, and great sensitivity to this music. I wanted to hear something of Clara Schumann, and it was a delight to find Ms. Iwai as well.

Ms. Iwai's recital consists of five pieces which range over Clara Schumann's career as a composer. The earliest pieces on the program are six "Soirees Musicales" opus 6 written when the composer was 16. These are pleasing works of a young composer who was obviously under the deep influence of Chopin. The works themselves are in Chopin's forms, including a tocatta, two mazurkas, a polonaise, ballade,and nocturne.

The next two chronological works are the strongest musically on this album. The first is the "Three Romances" opus 11 written when Schumann was 20. These romantic works also show the influence of Chopin but show lyric and individual gifts as well. In the words of Pamela Suskind, who edited an edition of Clara Schumann's piano music, these three romances "reflect considerable talent, inventiveness, and skill".

The musical highlight of this disk is Clara Schumann's sonata in g minor. This work was not published in the composers lifetime but dates from about 1841. The work is in four movements featuring a long meditiative opening movement, a short songlike adagio, a scherzo, and a melancholy rondo. This is a lovely sonata that would bring credit to any composer.

The final two works on this CD date from 1853, just before Robert's death. The first consists of seven variations on a theme by Robert Schumann, opus 20. Clara Schumann wrote this work to celebrate Robert's birthday and never intended it for public performance. It is, indeed, a private work, which focuses heavily on Robert's theme with only minimal variations. The final work, also written in 1853 is a short Romance in A minor written for a blind friend of the composer.

I enjoyed approaching this music simply by turning out the lights, putting on the CD, and hearing it through. This music is meditative and quiet and some of it, such as the sonata and the opus 11 romances, show, I think, a distinctive talent. It is invaluable for those who love music to be able to explore works in addition to the most famous handful of works by the most renowned and gifted composers. There are many so-called minor composers whose works have received little attention who are able to delight and to inspire. Clara Schumann is one of these composers, both for the dignity of her life, and for some precious moments in her music. Those wanting to explore Clara Schumann's piano music will enjoy this CD and Ms. Iwai's pianism.

Clara Schumann: Piano Music is a very good recording with the amazing Yoshiko Iwai. I dare say that I had never heard of Clara Schumann and I must admit that it came to me as a surprise that she too was a composer. Naxos has done an ok job with the book-let but the text is a bit small and the photo as well. The picture on the front is nice if a bit uninspired. The essay is well-written but the english section does not list an author. Even so I give this recording 4 well-deserved stars.

Clara Schumann is well known for having been one of the more significant female musical figures of the nineteenth century. Apart from being a great pianist, she was also responsible pushing her husband Robert to compose pieces in a more classical mold (advice which could be deemed bad). In addition, she was a source of inspiration for the young Brahms. Despite these facts, her musical output is relatively small, a fact that was probably a result of the prejudice against female composition during this time period.
While these prejudices were extremely unfortunate and unfounded, Clara's compositions are still undoubtedly mediocre. While she may be an interesting figure in the history of women's rights, one would be fooling himself to think that she does not suffer in comparison to her great contemporaries, and even to her lesser ones. Her music does not come close to achieving the profundity of her husband Robert, Chopin, and Brahms (or even Liszt and Mendelssohn), and she even lacks the musical inspiration of such lesser composers as Edvard Grieg, Neils Gade, and William Sterndale Bennett. Although she occasionally comes upon a pretty melody (notably in the notturno of the soirees musicales and the second romance, op. 11), her music lacks originality or large-scale unity. Her scherzos are generally oversimplifications of those by Chopin, much as her romances are pale in comparison to the nocturnes of Chopin or John Field. Her sonata is an ineffective example of the form, and the most notable portion of her repetetive variation set is theme in f-sharp minor, written by her husband (Brahms' opus 9 is a variation set on the same theme, and is an infinitely more creative and satisfying composition).
The playing on this CD is good, and there are a few pretty pieces. Still, this CD is more to pique your curiosity than to satisfy you musically.

As a woman, I would like to say that it is completely unnecessary to pay attention to a ocmposer for the sole fact that she is female. There are enough good female composers today that we need not dredge up Robert Schumann's wife and listen to her inneffective period pieces. If you want early romantic music, you know where to go: Chopin, R. Schumann, Schubert, Berlioz. If you want a composer's wife, at least listen to Alma Mahler.