MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Humoreske Op. 20 (1839) [30:13]
Studien Fur Den Pedalflugel Op. 56 (arr. Piotr Anderszewski) (1845) [21:31]
Gesänge der Frühe (Morning Songs) Op.133 (1855) [12:46]
Piotr Anderszewski (piano)
rec. Philharmonic Concert Hall, Warsaw, Poland, 14 March 2010, 11 August 2010
VIRGIN CLASSICS 9486252 [63.31]

Experience Classicsonline


This is a really wonderful Schumann recital and one of the most moving piano recitals I have ever heard. Piotr Anderszewski has an integrity and intensity, as well as an artistic originality, that one very rarely finds among classical pianists. He captures the schizophrenic mood-swings, the dreamy lyricism, the capriciousness and brooding melancholy of these works in a way that I have not heard before. 

He starts his recital with the Humoreske which is one of the composer’s more complex early piano creations. The opening section is full of lyrical, tonal and rhythmic contrasts: the dreamy opening section is beautifully phrased and shaped while the ensuing episodes are full of playful invention and contrast. I found Anderszewski’s tempi in the second and fifth sections rather sluggish although he brought out the multi-layered textures of the piece and a lot of the musical detail that one can miss in concert performances. The third and fourth sections were elegant and lyrical, while Anderszewski brought a real intensity and commitment to the last section of the work. Overall, I found this a very thoughtful and moving performance of the Humoreske that seemed to get to the heart and essence of Schumann’s music.
 
The six studies for pedal piano were a set of canons originally written for an instrument which was a cross between a piano and an organ. Anderwzewski has made his own arrangement of the work for piano solo and, having heard this, I do hope that many more pianists will now play this wonderful work in the concert hall. The first piece harks back to the style of Bach and Anderszewski sets in motion murmuring contrapuntal lines but through the use of pedal underscores the romantic nature of the piece. The second piece is a cradle song which is quintessential Schumann and which is charmingly and elegantly played. Anderszewski’s playing of the next two pieces in the set is absolutely glorious: he deploys a ravishing tone and exquisite and beautifully judged phrasing to bring out the lyricism and tonal contrasts of these wonderful works. In the fifth piece Anderszewski uses deft ornamentation and and a crisp staccato to suggest an army of elves, goblins and trolls.
 
The Gesange der Fruhe or Morning Songs is Schumann’s last compositions for piano and it was written just before the composer’s tragic mental breakdown. Anderszewski’s performance of the first two pieces in the set is profoundly thoughtful and moving with the chorale melody and triplets of the second piece in particular conjuring up the mental anguish and turmoil the composer must have been suffering. Anderszewski creates a sinuous web with the demisemiquavers of the fourth piece of the set while the recital ends with the quiet and insistent resignation of the last piece.
 
Robert Beattie 

 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.