Piano Music of Brahms, Clara and Robert Schumann: Karen Kushner, piano

Piano Music of Brahms, Clara and Robert Schumann: Karen Kushner, piano

Piano Music of Brahms, Clara and Robert Schumann: Karen Kushner, piano
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CD Details

Composer: Johannes Brahms
Composer: Clara Wieck Schumann
Composer: Robert Schumann
Performer: Karen Kushner
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-05-30
Music Label: Palatine Records
Soundtracks:
  1. Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1: Allegro
  2. Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1: Andante
  3. Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1: Scherzo: Allegro molto e con fuoco
  4. Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1: Finale: Allegro con fuoco
  5. Piano Sonata in G minor: Allegro
  6. Piano Sonata in G minor: Adagio
  7. Piano Sonata in G minor: Scherzo
  8. Piano Sonata in G minor: Rondo
  9. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Ã?uÃ?erst bewegt
  10. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
  11. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Sehr aufgeregt
  12. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Sehr langsam
  13. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Sehr lebhaft
  14. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Sehr langsam
  15. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Sehr rasch
  16. Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16: Schell und spielend

Music reviews of Piano Music of Brahms, Clara and Robert Schumann: Karen Kushner, piano

Music Review: A Recital of Music from Schumann's Circle
Rating: 5 Stars

[When this review was written and submitted the contents of this CD had not been listed by Amazon. It consists of Brahms's First Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 1; Clara Schumann's Piano Sonata in G Minor, WoO; and Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana, Op. 16.]

The notion for this recital of piano music from the mid-1800s is a brilliant one. It contains the sonata the twenty-year-old Brahms showed the Schumanns when he first met them in 1853, the sonata Clara Schumann wrote in 1841-42 shortly after she and Robert were married (and before she stopped writing original music in favor of pursuing her own career as a virtuoso pianist and as musical helpmeet for Robert -- not to mention as mother of their eight children), and one of Robert's signature works, written in 1838. These three musicians formed one of the most remarked upon friendships in the history of music. The story is well-known how Robert had to sue to gain permission to marry his Clara, how she supported the burgeoning family both before and after he entered an asylum where he eventually died, and how Brahms became almost a member of the family and Clara's closest friend after Robert's death. Brahms's career was helped immeasurably by the early enthusiasm of Robert and Clara for his music; Clara benefited immeasurably from Brahms's support after Robert's death.

That said, each of these works, for all that they are obviously of their period, differ in the sound-world they convey. Brahms's sonata, while not yet quite typical of his later output, is yet indicative of his immersion in the technique and tenor of classic-romantic music of the forty or so years before its composition. There is superb craftsmanship put in the service of an intellectually and emotionally satisfying structure never sought or achieved by either Robert or Clara. Clara's sonata, not published until 1991, is almost Mendelssohnian in its limpid grace. Robert's Kreisleriana, probably the best-known of the three works presented here, is a collection of character pieces in the febrile fantastical style that Robert cultivated, in this instance stimulated by the High Romantic short stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann, whose character Johannes Kreisler gives the set its name. (It is not coincidental that the Brahms briefly used a pseudonym, Johannes Kreisler junior, and indeed originally affixed it to the sonata heard here!)

All of these works have been recorded before. Although Brahms's First Sonata is not the most familiar of his three, it has been given marvelous recordings by such illustrious pianists as Julius Katchen and Sviatoslav Richter. Because I have recently moved and have not unpacked my CD collection, I have not been able to make direct comparisons between Karen Kushner's performance and those mentioned, but shortly after I began listening to this CD I decided I didn't need to. Kushner's approach is lighter and clearer than what I remember of Katchen's justly acclaimed version (now only available, alas, in the box set containing all of Brahms's piano music). This is a valid approach. One problem with Brahms's piano music is that it can become bass-heavy and as such the marvelous inner voices and daring harmonic and melodic touches can become obscured or blurred. This does not happen in Kushner's account; everything is crystal clear. The analogy that comes to mind is that she plays Brahms the way Boulez plays Mahler, with greater respect than most for the structure and inner workings of the music: a plus in my book. This is not to imply at all that there is a dearth of feeling; rather, there is both feeling and clarity.

In the Clara Schumann piece, written when she was only twenty-two, the emphasis is again on clarity and grace. Listen, for instance, to the light touch in the Scherzo; this is charm personified. Kushner brings out Clara's lyrical gift throughout the work. The sonata charts no new paths, but is worthy of being heard occasionally (or as often as one wants, with a recording as special as this one) and of being treasured for its modest beauty.

'Kreisleriana' has been recorded numerous times and it is futile to try rank any recording of this cornerstone of Romantic piano repertoire. This is densely contrapuntal music that requires making choices about managing several planes of melody at a time. Suffice it to say that Kushner catches the many moods of this collection of eight set pieces while surmounting the horrendous technical difficulties with aplomb, a couple of slightly rhythmically unclear passages aside. If I prefer her handling of the more lyrical movements (Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch; Sehr langsam) it is probably because of my mood of the moment. Her ability to frolic and muse in turn in 'Sehr aufgeregt' convinces.

Kushner, possibly best known from her duo-piano performances with the late Igor Kipnis, is a technically assured and musically perceptive performer. This recording is definitely worth having.

Scott Morrison

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