Schumann op 44

…is the excellent balance between the keyboard and the string ensembles, that is, between the 1830 fortepiano and the natural gut strings of the historically informed violinists, violist and cellist. That balance is no small thing; it allows the contrapuntal formalism of Schumann's compositions to be realized. The 'touch' of the leather-covered hammers on the lighter strings of the fortepiano makes a cleaner, clearer, pleasanter sound to my ears as well. But that's perhaps an effect of my own immersion in the sounds of pre-Schumann music.

Schumann's Piano Quintet is one of the world's (and my) favorite pieces of chamber music. But the less-outgoing Piano Quartet eventually reveals its secrets, too, and it's another wonderful piece. These are fascinating performances. Menaham Pressler, on leave from the Beaux Arts Trio, blends his Old World charm with the New World energy of the Emerson Quartet.

Far from the dark, tortured image often associated with his music, the works on this album testify to an astonishingly serene period in Schumann’s life. A fine subject for this first album by the Hanson Quartet for harmonia mundi, whose members are partnered by Adam Laloum for a thrilling reading of a masterpiece of the Romantic repertory: the Piano Quintet.

June 8, 2010 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of robert Schumann, one of the most important romantic composers of the 19th century. To celebrate his vast and impressive output, Deutsche Grammophon and Decca have compiled this 35-CD box set of his most important masterworks. Though this is not a complete edition, it includes every major work and a number of rarities covering every aspect of Schumann’s output.