Schumann - Blummenstüche Op. 19

What? It seems that I never posted a Schumann's piece? Oh my god! When I love his music so much!
Serious misconduct! I hope I will be forgiven thanks to this post!
This is a mearvellous piece, scarcely ever played, unfortunately. But so characteristic of Schumann's musical language, in my opinion.
It is a live recording, from a performance during Summer 2010 (Japan, piano Yamaha CFIIIS).
I hope you will enjoy it.
Best, Bertrand

 

Hi Betrand,

You have really done well with tapering off the phrases
in terms of pacing and dynamics. This is amazing for a live performance.

The playing is very expressive and the
constant repeat of the main phrase remains interesting
and enjoyable to listen to.

You brought out the beauty of Schumann which is a
conflicting sort of very subtle tension and lyrical
melodic intensity.

Very sensitive playing. Really a great understanding
of the inner workings of Schumann.

Please post more Schumann.

How long did it take you to learn this piece may I ask?

Kaila Rochelle

 

Hi Kaila,
Of course you may ask all the questions you want about my relationship with music, and the way I approach some pieces!
But firstly, I would like to warmly thank you for your nice post, and for the one on Dohnanyi too. I am really happy you like them!
To be back to Schumann, Blummenstücke is a piece I began to study in 2008, if I remind well. But then I was just discovering the piece (as a player), and my first concern was to find ways out between the very joined lyrical voice, that obviously says some tender things, and the small detached notes at the link hand, that contrast by some seemingly lack of concern ... The solution obviously lies in the way the pedal (and half pedal ...) is managed. Just release it for a fraction of second when you release the medium notes at the link hand. But I didn't finish the work at this time, since I was also into other pièces I wanted to finish.
I came back to these blummenstücke about one year further (at the same time I decided to learn Mozart's K332 sonata) and then finished the work (to the extent it is possible to "finish" some work, as far as music is concerned ...). I spent some months on it, then let it once more for a while, and then once more came back to it. Then, I decided to program it for two planified performances, one in France, the other one in Japan (where it was recorded).
I hope this answers to your question!
About the possibility to post other Schumann pièces: the repertoires' pièces I have posted so far, and I planify to post in the near future, are all live recordings made during some Japan's concerts. I am no longer in the classical repertoire now, since I completely switched to composition some years ago (I will post some studio made compositions soon). Among these repertoire pièces, there is one more Schumann's piece (the well-known Arabesque), but when I made the selection for Piano Society, I was a bit reluctant to post it since it is spoiled by some clumsinesses here and there (especially, too much rubato at the end, I realized that when I heared the recording ... very important to listen to its own records to get aware the way one really plays!). Then I finally discarded it. But maybe I will post it, finally ...
Best,
Bertrand

 

Thanks for the reply. The Schumann sounds very developed.
It is so great when one gets to return to a piece over time.

Regards,
Kaila

 

Hi,
the same file, with the relevant pièces of information ...
Best, Bertrand