Schumann Cello

Philippe Herreweghe directs these Schumann concertos with severity and urgency, with an impact that’s particularly strong in the opening movement of the A minor piano concerto. The soloist is Andreas Staier, who plays a mid-19th century J.B. Streicher instrument. But it’s not just the use of period instruments (this is certainly the kind of piano Schumann would have known) that proves so fascinating here; rather, it’s the minutely detailed way in which soloist and conductor interact during this performance. Note, for instance, how astutely Herreweghe’s wind players articulate the sorrowful first subject group after the soloist’s opening salvo, a passage that sets the tone for all that follows.

Schumann knew his way around the cello almost as intimately as he did the piano. That said, it’s a mystery why he wrote so little for it, especially as the cello is often compared to the human voice, for which the composer wrote more than 400 songs. Still, what he left behind is wonderful, from the tempestuous Cello Concerto to the joyful Adagio and Allegro and thrilling, deeply felt Phantasiestücke, inspired by Mendelssohn. Performing them is a crack team: cellist Gautier Capuçon, pianist Martha Argerich and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, inspirational under Bernard Haitink, their playing full of élan and a profound passion for this incredible music.

Mischa Maisky, a wonderful soloist in the Cello Concerto, plays with great eloquence and although there are moments of self indulgence, they do not seriously detract from one's pleasure and satisfaction. Some may find that he emotes too heavily at times: the soulful throb he produces when playing in sixths (bars 303-11) in the Langsam movement is an instance in point, but generally, this is a glorious performance.