Alexander Melnikov & Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Schumann Piano Concerto
(Harmonia Mundi)
In May 2014 I reviewed the first volume in a new series of recordings of Schumann’s concertos and piano trios. I described the disc as “ultra-special” and hailed the project as “a great series in the making”. The musicians involved are pianist Alexander Melnikov, violinist Isabelle Faust and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, while the orchestra are the immaculate Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, whose playing embodies the words “light and lucid”, and the conductor is Pablo Heras-Casado. Faust was away first in Volume 1 with a beautiful account of the Violin Concerto, while the three musicians produced a rich-blooded performance of the Third Piano Trio. Here is Volume Two, with Melnikov playing a superb version of the Piano Concerto which rather redefines, on his 1837 Erard piano and in the measured tempo of his finale, just how to get round Schumann’s treacherous, mercurial minefield without loss of momentum. This is super-articulate, sparkling and revelatory, with a blistering performance of the Second Piano Trio.
Michael Tumelty
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