Gramophone

Orchastral Review 

 Before you yawn at yet another Schumann/Grieg coupling, you should  know that this one is different: Reed Tetzloff and John Eliot Gardiner  don’t offer the Schumann we all know. What they do offer, though, is not  clear. We’re promised the concerto in the ‘intermediate version, c1843’ – but there is no such thing. The work started out as a single-movement Phantasie,  composed in 1841 and never published; and while Schumann revised it on  and off, it was only in 1845 that he settled on the current version and  composed the second and third movements to make the three-movement  concerto we know today. What’s on this release, then, is a composite  that Schumann never envisaged. The first movement apparently represents  his thinking at some unspecified moments between 1841 and 1843; the two  remaining movements show up in their familiar 1845 guise.

But who’s responsible for reconstructing that first movement? What  sources were used? What editorial choices were made? The notes are  unforthcoming. That said, this edition does have its share of  fascinating variants, not in formal terms (in this regard, it’s  essentially the version we know) but in terms of colour. Most obvious,  from the opening salvo, there are orchestral interventions and  extensions of instrumental lines that were erased from the final  version, which offers a purer, but orchestrally less interesting,  backdrop for the soloist. These early thoughts are thus worth hearing.  (Fortunately, Tetzloff and Gardiner don’t follow suit with the early  version of the Grieg championed by Love Derwinger – BIS, 9/93 – which,  in contrast to the Schumann draft, is riddled with graceless choices.)

As for the performances, Tetzloff has a strong Romantic spirit,  offering a rich tonal palette, an alluring rhythmic flexibility, a  sensitivity to local harmonic surprises and the power needed to ring out  the more virtuoso passages. Granted, while in his notes he’s careful to  distinguish the ‘chamber-like intimacy’ of the Schumann and the ‘heroic  discourse’ of the Grieg, a fair amount of heroism has seeped into the  Schumann. That’s especially true in the finale, with its hard accents  and its full tone. But even here, his conviction is apt to sweep away  your objections – and the Grieg, a few fussy moments aside, offers even  fewer grounds for complaint. Gardiner is more lithe and Romantic than  usual, and he makes the most of the opportunities for dialogue between  orchestra and soloist. Tetzloff may not join Lipatti among the  standard-bearers for this pairing but this is an auspicious release.

Peter J Rabinowitz