Robert Schumann: 12 Gramophone Award-winning recordings
Monday, May 15, 2023
All of the Gramophone Award-winning recordings of Robert Schumann's music – a great introduction to Schumann's distinctive sound world
Robert Schumann is a key figure in the Romantic movement; none investigated the Romantic’s obsession with feeling and passion quite so thoroughly as him. Here are the Gramophone Award-winning recordings of Schumann's music – all of them outstanding – complete with links to the original Gramophone reviews and opportunities to listen on Apple Music.
See also: Top 10 Romantic composers
Schumann Piano Concerto
Leif Ove Andsnes pf Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Mariss Jansons
‘Andsnes is firmly supported by Jansons and the Berlin Philharmonic, with playing not just refined but dramatic too in fiercely exciting tuttis. Schumann’s cello melodies are gloriously warm, with textures in both works admirably clear, and Andsnes fully responds to Schumann’s espressivo and ritardando requests.’
Schumann Lieder
Christian Gerhaher bar Gerold Huber pf
‘Gerhaher and Huber achieve an almost alchemistic feat in making so much artistry feel so natural. Despite the constant self-reflection, their approach never – to my ears at least – comes close to self-indulgence. With excellent sound from Sony, this is an album to treasure and to savour – and to listen to again and again.’
The Songs of Robert Schumann, Vol 1
Christine Schäfer, Graham Johnson
‘Imaginatively supported by Johnson, Christine Schafer illuminates each of these songs with her pure, lucent timbre, her grace and breadth of phrase and her unselfconscious feeling for verbal meaning and nuance.’
Schumann Dichterliebe & other Heine settings
Gerald Finley bar Julius Drake pf
‘In close collusion with the ever-sentient Julius Drake, Gerald Finley gives one of the most beautifully sung and intensely experienced performances on disc of Schumann’s cycle of rapture, disillusion and tender regret.’
Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op 44
Leif Ove Andsnes pf Artemis Quartet
‘Leif Ove Andsnes has an uncanny knack of revealing the inner truth of the music he plays without recourse to excessive gimmickry. He also has exquisite taste when it comes to choosing his chamber music collaborators, as this pairing of the two cornerstones of the piano quintet repertoire demonstrates.’
Schumann String Quartets Nos 1 & 3
Zehetmair Quartet
‘These are not comfortable performances. They pass on cosmetic appeal and would rather grate and rail than pander to surface ‘gloss’. So be warned. But they are profoundly beautiful in their truthful appropriation of music that can be both poignant and aggressive.’
Schumann Études symphoniques, Op 13
Shura Cherkassky pf
‘I doubt whether any recorded performance could match this latest one for its daringly varied, yet always convincing repeats for its sense of every note having been made the player's own without for a moment overstepping the borders of style and taste.’
Schumann Waldszenen, Op 82
Arcadi Volodos pf
‘Waldszenen is perhaps the finest jewel here, with Volodos bringing his story-telling genius to every piece. Its outwardly unassuming nature is deceptive, as the many great pianists who’ve been drawn to it have shown. But Volodos is absolutely up there with the best of them, Richter and Pires included.’
Schumann Bunte Blätter, Op 99
Arcadi Volodos pf
‘If I were to choose just one item from this recital for my desert island, it would have to be Schumann’s Bunte Blätter, an audacious gathering with a graphic shift from the lighter to the darker side of romanticism.’
Schumann Complete Piano Trios
Leif Ove Andsnes pf Christian Tetzlaff vn Tanja Tetzlaff vc
‘There’s a fine line between discipline and freedom in much of Schumann’s later music – his propensity for wide-slung, technically awkward melodies can be a challenge for performers – but here the effect is unfailingly effortless.’
Schumann Piano Trios Nos 1 & 2
The Florestan Trio
‘Competition is strongest in the vintage field, but I would unhesitatingly place the Florestan ahead of their digital rivals.’
