Schumann originally
provided the movements of his early
‘Papillons’ (composed 1829-1831) with
a textual context, assigning each movement
to a moment from the novel ‘Flegeljahre’
by Johann Paul Friedrich Richter. The
novel concerns the romantic entanglements
of the twins Walt and Vult who act as
precursors for Schumann’s own pair of
alter-egos, Florestan and Eusebius.
But some of the movements were actually
earlier pieces re-used and retro-fitted
to the scenes from the novel and Schumann
later dropped the whole unnecessary
structure, leaving us with a sequence
of twelve charming pieces.
The cycle of piano
miniatures which Schumann called ‘Intermezzi’
was begun shortly after the completion
of ‘Papillons’; each movement written
during a lull in the composition of
the Symphony in G minor. He says in
his diary, ‘Every one of the Intermezzi
sprang directly from life; only the
last details are wanting. It has been
a beautiful week: pure, gentle, calm
and busy’ Whilst ‘Papillons’ are
relatively common in Schumann piano
recitals, the Intermezzi are rarer.
Their inclusion here is due to the nature
of this disc, it is volume 9 of Thorofon’s
complete Schumann piano edition.
Complete editions of
Schumman’s piano music on disc have
been surprisingly rare. Peter Frankl,
Karl Engel and Jörg Demus have
all recorded cycles, but these are not
common on CD. Thorofon’s new cycle is
based around the young pianist, Franz
Vorraber whose preparation for the recorded
cycle involved playing the complete
Schumann piano works in a series of
twelve recitals; repeating the complete
cycle on a number of occasions.
Vorraber’s pianism
has an enviable clarity and rationality
with a good sense of line. But I felt
that he lacks that sense of manic intensity
necessary for Schumann’s pianism. Though
his playing is by turns poetic, dramatic
and intense there is an overriding sense
of rationality; I wanted to feel that
the poetic moments were intensified,
with more a feeling of changeability
and capriciousness.
It does not help that
in the studio recording of ‘Papillons’
the piano has an unfortunate tendency
to sound hard and glassy in the upper
register. In the other piece, recorded
live rather than in the studio, Vorraber
achieves a more, intimate confiding
tone. This is particularly suitable
in the two Sonatas, written for two
of Schumann’s elder daughters. These
are charming works and Vorraber does
seem to catch their mood.
If you are looking
for a recording of ‘Papillons’ then
there are plenty of other recordings
which I might recommend over this one.
But if you are interested in decent
modern editions of some of Schumann’s
rarer works then this disc is quite
satisfactory without being ideal.
Robert Hugill
Franz Vorraber (piano)