Your guide to classical music online

Pires’ Schumann Concerto & Quintet

Jed Distler

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

Long time collectors who remember Guiomar Novaes’ intimate, impulsive approach to the burlier portions of Schumann’s Piano Concerto will find a sonically upgraded parallel in the form of Maria João Pires. The Portuguese pianist’s finest work is in the slow movement, where she plays up the piano/orchestra dialogue for all it’s worth, abetted by Claudio Abbado’s responsive accompaniment. In the outer movements, though, Pires’ handling of the gnarly chordal sequences lacks the bedrock security and tonal heft Murray Perahia brings to his Abbado-led version on Sony. The latter, moreover, features the Berlin Philharmonic, which plays with more finesse and sophistication than the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Indeed, the Berliners are in better form here than in their earlier Schumann Concerto with Abbado, with Pollini manning the keyboard.

Pires and cohorts have tweaked the Schumann Piano Quintet’s stinging edges to a fault, while their dazzling, blended virtuosity is quashed by over-resonant miking better suited to, say, a Bruckner symphony. Loud tuttis are particularly mushy, in contrast to EMI’s robust, focused sonics for Martha Argerich and friends. If you want Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Piano Quintet on one disc, Rudolf Serkin’s supercharged versions from the early 1960s (CBD Great Performances) have tremendous authority and pack an emotional wallop.


Recording Details:

Reference Recording: Rudolf Serkin (Sony)

ROBERT SCHUMANN - Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 54; Piano Quintet in E-flat major Op. 54

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the