With three of Schumann’s finest piano works assembled on one generously-filled CD, these performances by Wilhelm Kempff are a not-to-be-missed bargain. The recordings, which date from the early 1970s, are admirably clear and well balanced, and the performances have great charisma and distinction. Kempff always could be relied on to produce performances that were totally unselfconscious, and in Schumann this enabled him to characterize the capricious mood-swings of the composer’s “Florestan” element just as effectively and powerfully as he could penetrate the introspection and vulnerability of its alter-ego, which Schumann described as the “Eusebius” aspect of his own complex personality. So in the Op. 15 Kinderszenen, it’s the disarming simplicity of approach–the limpid phrasing and purity of these performances–that captures your attention, and sustains it.
Some listeners might find Kempff’s reading a degree plainer and simpler in its portrayals than Radu Lupu’s version for Decca. You sense this chiefly in the way Lupu’s natural and inevitable sense of pulse and timing sometimes bring added piquancy to the music, and this same minor criticism could be levelled at Kempff’s interpretation of Schumann’s Waldszenen. But the principal glory of this reissue is Kempff’s fiery and magnificent account of Kreisleriana. It’s a performance that’s never afraid to throw its hat into the ring–this sinuous, fascinating, and gripping traversal fully engages all the rich contrasts (not to mention the emotional instabilities) of Schumann’s view of the quirky and eccentric Kapellmeister Kreisler, as recounted in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s tale.
To contrast Kempff with Lupu, both of whom are masterful in this music, it’s Kempff who provides greatest penetration and insight, without taking such an impetuously radical view of it as Lupu. Although Lupu’s Decca recording of 1993 has marginally greater impact, with its pin-sharp bass register and crystalline treble, I prefer the warmer, more spacious ambience of DG’s newly refurbished sound for Kempff. At the price, this disc is one you can’t afford to miss, and the performances have a richness and ecstasy redolent of an age of piano-playing sadly long gone.
