Jerome Rose and Robert Schumann make a congenial pair (sssh, don’t tell Clara!). The pianist commands plenty of technique to negotiate the composer’s gnarlier figurations, and he keeps his ears out for polyphonic undercurrents many pianists leave unattended in the heat of battle–for instance, the canons passing back and forth between the hands in the F-sharp minor sonata’s first movement, or the left-hand syncopations accompanying the brief lyrical episode in the G minor sonata’s tumultuous finale. In the latter sonata’s Scherzo, Rose manages to make more of the sudden dynamic contrasts than Martha Argerich’s more generalized reading, although he doesn’t match her fire and imagination elsewhere, let alone Richter’s demonic polish.
And next to the harmonic and dramatic tension Vladimir Horowitz evokes in his diversely textured, multi-colored live traversal of the Third Sonata, Rose’s estimable craftsmanship yields relatively blander results. But he sings out the third-movement “Clara Wieck” variations quite beautifully (although he plods through the theme without Horowitz’s fluid sense of line) and shapes a veritable tone poem from the F-sharp minor sonata’s slow movement. Among recorded Schumann Firsts, I still prefer Pollini’s crisp objectivity, Gilels’ impassioned drive, plus the breathtaking poise, color, and control Perahia and Andsnes bring to their remarkable versions. Astute listeners might notice a strange misreading in the opening movement: near the end of the exposition in the transition that leads into the A major chordal theme, Rose plays E-sharp rather than E-natural. Still, it’s rare to have all three Schumann Sonatas grouped together on one disc, and for that reason alone collectors might consider acquiring Rose’s more than servicable, often insightful performances.
