Customer Reviews

Robert Schumann: Radu Lupu - Kinderszenen/Kreisleriana/Humoreske

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I won't say much, because I'd just be echoing the favorable comments of the others. Just say that this is great playing and I have not heard a finer version of Kreisleriana or a more electrifying Humoreske, whose restrained energy was a suprise to me. The Kinderszenen was beautiful as well, played at a quicker whimsical pace, not as slow and maudlin as some recordings of this I've heard. Lupu coaxes a one of a kind tone from the piano. Robust, full, but never harsh or banging. This man has strong fingers. My only beef is that the recording levels are set way way too low! And the microphones sound like the piano is recorded in a tile bathroom, way too much reverb. Besides these difficulties, Lupu's playing, to his credit, shines through. A worthwhile purchase, a great contrast to Horowitz and Argerich.

If I am not mistaken this very CD is the last commercial recording Radu Lupu has made to date. It was issued in 1995 to a great international acclaim as it gained an Edison Prize as the "Best Instrumental Record of the Year". Devoted entirely to Schumann's miniature cycles (Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana and Humoreske) this recorded account features once more some of Lupu's long praised gifts in creating a fabulous atmosphere surrounding the music he chooses to play. His unerring insight in late-classical and romantic repertories, along with his exquisite care for sonority (amazing timbres, otherworldly colours, velvety touch) and an unfailing sense of telling musical stories, made Lupu - from the beginning of his career, some four decades ago - one of the most sought-after performing pianists on the international stage. Ever since, his tendency towards the introspection and unveiling the deepest secrets of the score to be shared with the composer within a magic communion and - if happens - with his audience, has singled him out as a profound meditative musician among the super-class keyboard virtuosos of our age. An honest musician with an astounding technical ease and not simply a piano showman! The sobriety of his pianissimos - austere and delicate - unfolds his manly melancholy shaping so inspired, for instance, the slow pieces of Kinderszenen (Traumerei, Der Dichter spricht, Kind im Enschlummen). The lack of ostentation and a sober musicality surface even in the tormented numbers of the Kreisleriana and bring to Lupu's renditions a seductive romantic effect, a charming air of inevitability. That's why his recordings are so lauded and quickly sold out. That's why his live concerts are illuminating events for any genuine music-lover, mementos to be cherished for a lifetime!

Five stars!

I can't say much about the Humoreske since I don't know the piece so well, but Kinderszenen is played gorgeously, with a simple beauty that recalls Horowitz's late interpretation of this piece. Lupu's Kreisleriana is by far the best recording of this work so far. But I still have a few reservations about it. His delivery of the triplets in the first movement is rather odd, but I could see how it is a response to Schumann's phrase markings. I could imagine the coda of the third movement being even more explosive (especially the big low Neapolitan chord which Horowitz played like an explosion in his DG recording). But Lupu plays the slow movements well, even if he ignores Schumann's dynamics for the main theme of the second movement (no one seems to follow Schumann in this spot!). Unfortunately, Lupu also misses a note in the seventh movement (the octave C's in the left hand don't sound quite like an octave) -- which is unfortunate since this missed note is right on the climax of the movement! Also, the final climax of the last movement (hammered out octaves in both hands right at the end of the D minor section) is completely tappered out in a decrescendo when Schumann's dynamics indicate intensification! But despite these nagging faults, I love this Kreisleriana, even more that the excellent recordings by Perahia and Horowitz.

Radu Lupu (1942) is unquestionably, one of the most prestigious pianists of the world. He possesses artistic integrity, genuine sound, and above all that pristine tune, product of a fevered outcome of talent, imagination, eloquence, aristocratic nuance and personality.

There's no a single work he had produced lacking of all these epithets, that's why you can be sure at the moment acquire any of his records.

These Schumann`s works had not been played with such lofty lyricism since Wilhelm Kempff and Ivan Moravec. That's the level of such recording.

Don't miss any recording of this extraordinary artist, honest musician, a superior soloist in an instrument where a good part of them are superfluous.

The familiar qualities of Lupu's playing are all in evidence here, and the Decca recording is excellent as usual. But somehow this ends up seeming rather bland interpretatively compared to my favourite Schumann recordings (Cortot especially in Kreisleriana). Go for Lupu's Schubert instead.