Schumann: Complete Chamber Music [Box Set] [Box set]

Robert Schumann (Composer), Alberni String Quartet (Performer), Israel Piano Trio (Performer), Nash Ensemble (Performer), Thomas Rajna (Performer), Beata Cywinska (Performer), Ivan Klansky (Performer), Serouj Kradjian (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Alberni String Quartet, Israel Piano Trio, Nash Ensemble, Thomas Rajna, Beata Cywinska, et al.
• Composer: Robert Schumann
• Audio CD (April 4, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 7
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Brilliant Classics
• ASIN: B0000BAB5U
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,797 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #8 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Reeds & Winds > English Horn
  • #25 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Strings > Viola
  • #92 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Reeds & Winds > Oboe

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Set At A Bargain Price :-), January 27, 2011

By 

Kurt Leith "baldwood" (Vernon, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schumann: Complete Chamber Music [Box Set] (Audio CD)

This is the only complete set of Schumann's chamber music that I know of & having just listened to it I must say that I am very impressed, not only with Schumann's composing but with all the performances presented here!! Disc 1 opens with string quartets 1 & 2, comparable to Haydn, Mozart, early Beethoven & Mendelssohn in quality and style. Both are well constructed in the classical form and quite beautiful & lovely. Disc 2 contains the 3rd string quartet which shows some development in the form, a little more adventurous than the 1st two, which leaves me to wonder what heights Schumann would have achieved had he continued writing in the genre. Next up are his 3 piano trios & Phantasiestucke for piano, violin & cello op. 83, brilliantly written and one of the highest points of the set for me: the strings here are played with a rather rough edge, bringing out the best qualities of the cello & violin as far as my taste is concerned. Very lively and rich sounding, as the strings would continue to be throughout the rest of the set. Disc 4 contains excellent versions of the piano quintet & quartet, again, outstanding!! Disc 5 contains a work for clarinet & piano which is very beautiful, and three of the most brilliant works for viola that I've ever heard(trio for clarinet, viola & piano, op. 132, Marchenbilder for viola & piano op. 113, and adagio & allegro for viola & piano op. 70); how often do you hear the violin's deeper voiced cousin featured as a lead instrument? Not often in my experience, and the viola shines here!! Discs 6 & 7 round out the collection with great works for cello & piano and Schumann's violin sonatas, respectively. Very rich, beautiful recordings as is true with the whole set. Groups & performers featured here include the Alberni Quartet, the Israel Piano Trio, the Nash Ensemble as well as Thomas Rajina, Ivan Klansky, Beata Cywinska & Serouj Kradjian on piano; Jolanta Bartosiak on viola(WOW!!); Marek Jerie on cello & Ara Malikian on violin. Outstanding composing meets outstanding musicianship here on all seven discs for a bargain price. Highly recommended!!

Enjoy :-)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely satisfied with this lovely collection, January 13, 2012

By 

Peter Schellhase (Gaithersburg, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schumann: Complete Chamber Music [Box Set] (Audio CD)

I just received this collection as a gift after hearing parts of it on Pandora. The first disk of the collection opens with the sublime First Quartet. As much as I love many of the other pieces, it's proving difficult to listen past the first disk because I keep repeating it.

The String Quartets are some of the most abstract music that Schumann wrote, without any program, limited to the range of color strings provide, and deprived even of Schumann's favorite instrument, the piano. As such, they represent his compositional craft at its purest and best. The piano quintets, sonatas, and fantasies are also wonderful.

All of the performances are great, with compelling dynamics and tempos that express the soul of the music without overplaying. The production is relatively crisp but not thin, with each instrument distinct, a comfortable room sound that supports the intimate but social quality of the music.

This reasonably priced collection is worth the investment with nearly seven hours of delicious music. For the Schumann lover, I also recommend his complete symphonies performed by the Vienna Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein--a very different sort of music experience.

5.0 out of 5 stars Schumann the Great, October 9, 2011

By 

B. A. Dilger "floating world" (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Schumann: Complete Chamber Music [Box Set] (Audio CD)

Schumann died at a relatively young age. Somehow he managed to write some of the most beautiful music in the world. His chamber works were especially charming, and a must-have in anyone's collection. I chose this set because it contained every piece he wrote, from the precision of the string quartets to the sonatas for cello and piano, or violin and piano. plus great renditions of his piano trios. There is just so much talent these ensembles put into the pieces that it was well worth the purchase.