{"id":33935,"date":"2016-02-06T15:11:38","date_gmt":"2016-02-06T20:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=33935"},"modified":"2016-02-06T15:11:38","modified_gmt":"2016-02-06T20:11:38","slug":"record-keeping-jan-lisiecki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/02\/06\/record-keeping-jan-lisiecki\/","title":{"rendered":"RECORD KEEPING | Jan Lisiecki\/Schumann"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jan
Schumann:
Antonio Pappano, Jan Lisiecki & Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Schumann: Piano Concerto in a minor Op. 54. Introduction and Allegro appassionato Op. 92. Introduction and Concert-Allegro Op. 134. Traumeri Op. 15 No. 7. Jan Lisiecki (piano). Orchestra dell\u2019Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia\/Antonio Pappano. DG Total Time: 59.31.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Is there a \u201cright\u201d way to perform each great piece of classical music that has come down to us over the centuries? Surely, if one were to study the score, paying close attention to what the composer wrote, one could reach an irrefutable conclusion as to how the piece should be played.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the route to authenticity is not so easy. Study is important \u2013 no question. But veteran artists will tell you that the closer one studies the score, the more unanswered questions arise – especially in older music, where tempo markings are often imprecise, dynamic markings often leave one wondering \u2018just how loud\u2019 and \u2018just how soft,\u2019 and questions emerge about how the original instruments used compare to the instruments available today. The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

In the case of composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856), we are dealing with a fragile, often dreamy personality, whose music \u2013 as his mind wanders – tends to meander as if he were improvising. The results, while original and inspired, can also be elusive as to phrasing and tempo changes. Some of the best performances of his music sound convincing because they seem to conjure up the image of the composer himself sitting at the keyboard and letting his imagination rule. Anton Kuerti gave us this kind of Schumann concerto performance (CBC Records- out of print), as did Murray Perahia (Sony Classical 64577). Other pianists – Martha Argerich, for example – overwhelm the music by sheer force of personality and technique (Teldec 4509-90696-2).<\/p>\n

After listening to a performance as electrifying as that of an Argerich, Jan Lisiecki\u2019s new recording will seem lightweight and delicate. But again, with masterpieces such as the Schumann Piano Concerto, there is no one \u2018right\u2019 performance and Lisiecki\u2019s version with conductor Antonio Pappano is a perfectly acceptable realization of what Schumann wrote. For some listeners, Lisiecki\u2019s approach will bring a welcome clarity to this music, but to my taste, his rendition tends toward the superficial, often missing the poetic soulfulness of the music.<\/p>\n

This CD also contains Schumann\u2019s two other works for piano and orchestra – not concertos but one movement tone poems. The opening of Op. 92 is a sublime evocation of nature, with some gorgeous horn writing. Again, Lisiecki and Pappano tend to approach this music with a weightlessness that seems at odds with its romantic brooding. At the other extreme are Tzimon Barto and Christoph Eschenbach on another recent recording (Ondine ODE 1162-2), in a performance which gives the music an almost Brucknerian weight. Yet another compelling point of view!<\/p>\n

Jan Lisiecki\/Schumann<\/strong> is available for purchase at amazon.com<\/a> and iTunes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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For some listeners, Lisiecki\u2019s approach will bring a welcome clarity to this music, but to my taste, his rendition tends toward the superficial, often missing the poetic soulfulness of the music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":33936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5723,77,47,5739,51,52],"tags":[5875,1673,5874,2945],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/71WE-G7w9HL._SL1400_.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-8Pl","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33937,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33935\/revisions\/33937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33935"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=33935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}