Composer: Robert Schumann
Performer: Gabriel Schwabe, Nicholas Rimmer
Orchestra: Northern Sinfonia
Conductor: Lars Vogt
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8573786
Release: 2018
Size: 1.2 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129
02. Adagio and Allegro in A flat major, Op. 70
Fantasiestücke, Op. 73
03. I. Zart und mit Ausdruck
04. II. Lebhaft, leicht
05. III. Rasch und mit Feuer
Romances, Op. 94
06. No. 1, Nicht schnell
07. No. 2, Einfach, innig
08. No. 3, Nicht schnell
Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102
09. No. 1, Mit Humor
10. No. 2, Langsam
11. No. 3, Nicht schnell, mit viel Ton zu spielen
12. No. 4, Nicht zu rasch
13. No. 5, Stark und markiert
F-A-E Sonata, WoO 22
14. II. Intermezzo (Arr. G. Schwabe for Cello & Piano)
Schumann’s love of the cello, which developed when he learned the instrument as a young man, is expressed most fully in his ‘Cello Concerto in A minor.’ It is a work marked by freshness of spirit and singing lyricism and stands as a rich example of mid-19th-century Romanticism. The series of characterful small pieces that include ‘Funf Stucke im Volkston’ reveals Schumann’s joy in the cello’s unique lyrical capabilities. The ‘Drei Romanzen’ and the ‘Intermezzo’ from the ‘F-A-E Sonata’ are presented here in new arrangements for cello and piano by Gabriel Schwabe. Gabriel Schwabe has established himself among the leading cellists of his generation. He is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, including the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann and the Concours Rostropovich in Paris. As a soloist he has worked with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Malmo and Norrkoping Symphony Orchestras and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. He plays a rare Italian instrument made in Brescia (c. 1600).
German-Spanish cellist Gabriel Schwabe likes themed works. After a first record (Naxos) dedicated to the cello and piano works of Brahms and one of Saint-Saëns’s cello and orchestral works for the same publisher, this third album is given over entirely to Robert Schumann’s cello works, including new compositions, like the Three Romances for oboe and piano, arranged by the cellist himself. In this new recording, we find all of his youthful spirit and his manner of playing almost without touching, passing ever-so-lightly over the depths of Schumann’s melodies, in a dizzying forward flight. This almost-Mendelsohnian way of playing rejuvenates works which have been heard a hundred times before, just as his complicity with pianist Nicholas Rimmer forms a perfect duo, whose quality has been fully evident on the previous albums.
But it is another pianist, Lars Vogt, an avid orchestral director, who accompanies Gabriel Schwabe with great subtlety on the sumptuous Concerto in A Minor. There isn’t a hint of anguish or nostalgia in this performance, but rather the assurance of youth, forging ahead with optimism, in a classical style that is close to Haydn. Schumann has hardly ever looked so radiant.