Briefly available via French EMI’s Rouge & Noir “two-fer” reissue series, these 1970s Schumann recordings with pianist Jean-Philippe Collard now reappear courtesy of Arkivmusic.com’s on-demand reprint program. Collard’s technical polish and subtle nuances of touch lend interest to the Symphonic Etudes. His tasteful rubato and variegated articulation strike an ideal balance between Variation II’s Marcato and Canto directives, while other details worth mentioning include Variation IX’s super-supple fast chords and the uncommon clarity of Variation XI’s rumbling figurations. Textually speaking, Collard incorporates the five posthumous variations, and opts for some but not all of the repeats.
For all of Collard’s intelligent voicings and transparent textures in the Abegg Variations, his modest tempo fluctuations soften the music’s backbone and scintillating potential. By contrast, Collard’s straightforward sensitivity in the Op. 5 Impromptus (actually a variation set) makes the music sound more interesting than it actually is, and plays up its premonitions of Schumann works to come (the Op. 7 Toccata, for instance).
Of the three Romances, the longest and quirkiest–No. 3–inspires some of Collard’s most persuasive work. His intimately scaled interpretation of the F minor sonata contrasts with more dynamically volatile versions by pianists as antipodal as Horowitz and Schiff. Collard’s Carnaval is alternately workaday (the conservatively paced opening and closing movements, the accurate but foursquare Paganini and Asch-Scha, the less-than-capricious Arlequin) and masterful (Reconnaissance’s melting legato melody effortlessly spun over poised repeated notes, a Chopin movement that suggests both lyrical repose and forward urgency). While this is not a Schumann “must have” by any means, I’m happy to savor Collard’s finest moments. [2/9/2010]
