Schumann - The Masterworks - Box Set 35CDs

Label : DG
Format : Ape
Cover : Booklet

June 8, 2010 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of robert Schumann, one of the most important romantic composers of the 19th century. To celebrate his vast and impressive output, Deutsche Grammophon and Decca have compiled this 35-CD box set of his most important masterworks. Though this is not a complete edition, it includes every major work and a number of rarities covering every aspect of Schumann’s output.

Presented in a rigid box (each side features a different portrait of Schumann) with a flip-top lid, this deluxe, limited edition will not be around for long.

Some reviews of the original recordings which make up this set:

Violin Sonatas no 1 & 2
The first two Violin Sonatas both date from 1851 and are an oasis of freshness in Schumann's last creative period. Kremer and Argerich are splendidly reflective and mercurial by turn and have the benefit of an excellent recording.
-- Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]

Arabeske, Symphonic Etudes for Piano
I was enormously impressed by the masterful stature of this new reading. With full-bodied, generously pedalled sonority, a strong sense of direction and a suggestion of cumulative urgency and might, Pollini really does bring home the fact that Schumann chose to call these studies "symphonic". [In] the Arabeske, Pollini eschew[s] all drawing-room prettification in favour of firm outlines and boldly contrasted episodes.
-- Joan Chissell, Gramophone [9/1984]

Allegro in B Minor, Gesänge der Frühe, Kreisleriana
The Allegro in B Minor...is such spirited and expressive music that its unconventional form hardly matters. It is a perfect vehicle for Pollini, who plays it rhapsodically.
This little cycle of five character pieces [The Gesänge der Frühe], are highly expressive, and full of contrast—in figuration, tempo, and mood. There is nothing particularly new in Schumann’s piano style in these pieces, but they are inspired—especially the fourth, the only one in a minor key, which sweetly melts away into major at the end.
Kreisleriana is performed in a very straightforward manner; there are plenty of expressive details, but generally, rubato is minimal. Pollini’s characteristic coolness works very well here in underplaying Schumann’s exuberant passion... Pollini is masterful at delineating inner voices.
-- Susan Kagan, Fanfare [9/2002]

Bunte Blätter; Nachtstücke; Drei Romanzen
There is much exquisitely beautiful music in these little pieces (the longest on the disc is just over eight minutes) – for instance, the first of the Drei Stücklein in Bunte Blätter is a tender, almost Mendelssohnian song without words, and Ashkenazy performs it accordingly, with singer-like legato and arching, breathing phrases. -- BBC Music Magazine

Dichterliebe, Liederkreis
This new coupling of two performances from the latter stage of Fischer-Dieskau's career is a joy... The real pleasure in rehearing these two performances, of what must for most people be the best loved of Schumann's song cycles, is to relish again how with his voice now lighter and inevitably less rich than in his early days, Fischer-Dieskau uses it with even greater artistry. His feeling for words has deepened: he no longer jabs at some key words and phrases, or lets sumptuous tone overcome appreciation of meaning, but seems to have penetrated still further into the subtle relationship between poetry and music. He has, I think, never given a greater performance of "Auf einer Burg". "Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen" now has a more sardonic edge in the tone; and Eschenbach is more responsive than I had noticed before in emphasizing the hollowness of this bitterly observed wedding as he gives a light, dead thump to the repeated D's and A's in the bass that come round twice each under the waltz rhythm and the inexorably running semiquavers. "Ein Jangling" has also acquired a more ironic tinge than in earlier Fischer-Dieskau performances, which were simply beefier and less observant of the rueful emotion in the song. One could continue: suffice it to recommend most warmly this pair of beautiful, intelligent performances by two great Lieder artists.
-- Gramophone [11/1980]

Symphonies, Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Konzertstück
Of all the 19th-century composers who have been given the ‘period instrument treatment’ in the last couple of decades, Schumann’s reputation has perhaps gained the most. Long criticised for his supposedly opaque orchestration, and for symphonic structures which fell somewhere between the tunefulness of Schubert and the serious integrity of Brahms, it has taken the clear textures and energy of the period bands to bring this music back to life.

There have already been several reassessments on disc, but this handsome new DG collection strikes me as the best complete set so far. Ever the original, Gardiner has performed these symphonies with the violins and violas standing (as was the practice in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Schumann’s day); and though it might seem perverse to say one can hear the results on CD, I was certainly aware when listening to these thrilling performances of a vigour and projection to the string playing which is all too often lacking. Speeds are brisk but never driven too hard: awkward moments such as the scherzos in the First and Fourth symphonies have an appropriate lightness, but Gardiner is prepared to enjoy movements such as the Adagio espressivo of No. 2, with its exquisite oboe melody.

Like Harnoncourt in his recent Teldec Schumann cycle (with the COE – modern instruments but ‘period’ manners), Gardiner gives an airing to the seldom-heard original 1841 version of Symphony No. 4; but whereas the Harnoncourt set fits on to two CDs, Gardiner’s extra playing time allows not only the more familiar 1851 revision of this work, but also Schumann’s two not-quite symphonies and the wonderful Konzertstück for four horns. The recordings manage to be both magnificently detailed and warm, and DG production values are high throughout. Strongly recommended.
-- BBC Music Magazine

Piano Concerto
Ashkenazy's performance, balancing the demands of drama against poetry, comes down rather more in favour of the former than one might expect, but it is a refined reading as well as a powerful one, with the finale rather more spacious than usual.
-- Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]

Scenes from Goethe's Faust
Britten inspired his orchestra and his fine cast of singers to vivid performances, which are outstandingly recorded against the wam Maltings acoustic. This is magnificent music, and readers are urged to explore it - the rewards are considerable.
-- Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]

Das Paradies und die Peri
Gardiner and his collaborators have produced a committed, colorful, enthusiastic rendition of Das Paradies und die Peri that is highly recommendable. If you don't know the piece, this will do the trick nicely. If you know the piece already, you'll find this set thoroughly enjoyable.
-- Marc Mandel, Fanfare [11-12/1999]

Complete tracklist : Schumann - The Masterworks