Humoreske

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This marvelous disc won all sorts of international awards when it was first issued a few years ago, and with good reason. Radu Lupu is a very special pianist. He doesn't record all that often, and he doesn't appear in concert all that frequently, either, owing to his reluctance to travel. He has long been regarded as one of the supreme interpreters of Schubert, but he is equally persuasive in this Schumann recital. He brings to this music his typically gentle, lovely piano tone, an acute sensitivity to the music's many moods, and most important of all, that sense of innocence and romantic poetry that gives Schumann's music its uniqueness. A great recording. --David Hurwitz

Robert Schumann: Radu Lupu - Kinderszenen/Kreisleriana/Humoreske, Music, Robert Schumann, Radu Lupu, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Fantasy/Fantasia for Keyboard, Keyboard, Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Playing, but Bad Recording

Piano playing of the highest order

The best Kreisleriana so far...

Beautifully played but he's better in Schubert

Robert Schumann: Radu Lupu - Kinderszenen/Kreisleriana/Humoreske

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Schubert: Impromptus D 899 & D 935 / Radu Lupu

Plays Schubert

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1; Piano Sonata No. 3; Rhapsodies, Op. 79; Piano Pieces, Opp. 117-119

Brahms: Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79; Piano Pieces, Opp. 117-119

Beethoven: The Piano Concertos; 3 Sonatas; 2 Rondos

ASIN: B00000422M
Release Date: 1996-01-23

Tracks:

Humoreske , Op. 20: Einfach - Sehr rasch und leicht - Noch rascher - Erstes Tempo - Wie im Anfang
Humoreske , Op. 20: Hastig - Nach und nach immer lebhafter und starker - Wie vorher - Adagio
Humoreske , Op. 20: Einfach und zart - Intermezzo
Humoreske , Op. 20: Innig
Humoreske , Op. 20: Sehr lebhaft - Stretto - Mit einigem Pomp
Humoreske , Op. 20: Zum Beschluss - Adagio - Allegro
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: I Von fremden Landern und Menschen
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: II Kuriose Geschichte
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: III Hasche-Mann
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: IV Bittendes Kind
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: V Gluckes genug
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: VI Wichtige Begebenheit
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: VII Traumerei
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: VIII Am Kamin
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: IX Ritter vom Steckenpferd
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: X Fast zu ernst
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: XI Furchtenmachen
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: XII Kind im Einschlummern
Kinderszenen, Op. 15: XIII Der Dichter spricht
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: I Ausserst bewegt
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: II Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: III Sehr aufgeregt
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: IV Sehr langsam
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: V Sehr lebhaft
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: VI Sehr langsam
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: VII Sehr rasch
Kreisleriana, Op. 16: VIII Schnell und spielend

Amazon.com essential recording

This marvelous disc won all sorts of international awards when it was first issued a few years ago, and with good reason. Radu Lupu is a very special pianist. He doesn't record all that often, and he doesn't appear in concert all that frequently, either, owing to his reluctance to travel. He has long been regarded as one of the supreme interpreters of Schubert, but he is equally persuasive in this Schumann recital. He brings to this music his typically gentle, lovely piano tone, an acute sensitivity to the music's many moods, and most important of all, that sense of innocence and romantic poetry that gives Schumann's music its uniqueness. A great recording. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Playing, but Bad Recording.......2001-12-06

I won't say much, because I'd just be echoing the favorable comments of the others. Just say that this is great playing and I have not heard a finer version of Kreisleriana or a more electrifying Humoreske, whose restrained energy was a suprise to me. The Kinderszenen was beautiful as well, played at a quicker whimsical pace, not as slow and maudlin as some recordings of this I've heard. Lupu coaxes a one of a kind tone from the piano. Robust, full, but never harsh or banging. This man has strong fingers. My only beef is that the recording levels are set way way too low! And the microphones sound like the piano is recorded in a tile bathroom, way too much reverb. Besides these difficulties, Lupu's playing, to his credit, shines through. A worthwhile purchase, a great contrast to Horowitz and Argerich.

Piano playing of the highest order.......2000-06-25

I'm not a great lover of Schumann's piano music, but this cd makes me wonder if I might be wrong. This is piano playing of the highest order. I wonder if I have ever have heard any better.

Lupu combines the virtues of a poet and a lion, or should I say wolf, since I have heard that "lupu" is Romanian for wolf. His phrasing, his shifts of dynamics is so poetical. Just listen to the deceptively simple Kinderszenen, it is so delicate, full of longing , melancholy and memory. But he is not only a poet. When this music calls for drama and power, he plays with all the intensity and virtuosity one could expect. But it's is not virtuosity for its own sake, no, it is to serve the music. The way he makes the piano sing in both the Humoreske and Kreisleriana, especially in the second part of the Kreisleriana, is magical. I have not heard anything like it.

Lupu seems to be an enigmatic and elusive personality and you can hear this in his playing. There is an inward feeling to it, you can almost feel like he is discovering the music for himself. The freshness of first discovery is there.

The music on this CD is so full of lovely inventions and melodies and Lupu realises the beautifully. It is a must for lovers of Schumann's music and/or pianism of the highest order.

The sound is a bit reverberant but fully acceptable.

The best Kreisleriana so far..........1999-12-04

I can't say much about the Humoreske since I don't know the piece so well, but Kinderszenen is played gorgeously, with a simple beauty that recalls Horowitz's late interpretation of this piece. Lupu's Kreisleriana is by far the best recording of this work so far. But I still have a few reservations about it. His delivery of the triplets in the first movement is rather odd, but I could see how it is a response to Schumann's phrase markings. I could imagine the coda of the third movement being even more explosive (especially the big low Neapolitan chord which Horowitz played like an explosion in his DG recording). But Lupu plays the slow movements well, even if he ignores Schumann's dynamics for the main theme of the second movement (no one seems to follow Schumann in this spot!). Unfortunately, Lupu also misses a note in the seventh movement (the octave C's in the left hand don't sound quite like an octave) -- which is unfortunate since this missed note is right on the climax of the movement! Also, the final climax of the last movement (hammered out octaves in both hands right at the end of the D minor section) is completely tappered out in a decrescendo when Schumann's dynamics indicate intensification! But despite these nagging faults, I love this Kreisleriana, even more that the excellent recordings by Perahia and Horowitz.

Beautifully played but he's better in Schubert.......1999-10-23

The familiar qualities of Lupu's playing are all in evidence here, and the Decca recording is excellent as usual. But somehow this ends up seeming rather bland interpretatively compared to my favourite Schumann recordings (Cortot especially in Kreisleriana). Go for Lupu's Schubert instead.

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