There may be more polished and better engineered versions of these pieces in the catalog. Still, what a boon for collectors to have all of Schumann’s works for piano and orchestra available on a single disc, filled to the brim with 81 minutes of music. Lupo clarifies the melodic traffic in the concerto’s note-spinning finale, and elsewhere allows Schumann’s contrapuntal strands to emerge from the chordal thickets with easy assertion, as opposed to Rudolf Serkin’s inimitable charged bravura. I find the Op. 86 Concertstuck more texturally engaging in Schumann’s revision of the solo piano part for a quartet of horns, but the original version is well worth hearing. Peter Maag’s no-nonsense support, keen ear for balances, and rhythmic spring strengthen the case for Schumann’s allegedly problematic orchestrations. In sum, a release that deserves not to slip through the cracks.
