Search - Schumann, Anda :: Carnaval Opus 9

Among the finest interpretations of Carnaval (and Kreisleria

SwissDave | Switzerland | 12/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own dozens of recordings of Carnaval, plus a handful each of the Symphonic Etudes and Kreisleriana. I won't go into detail, but do yourself a favour and listen through the entire track samples here: this Carnaval and Kreisleriana (both in fine 1955 mono) speak for themselves. I'd not known these interpretations until a few months ago, but would rank Anda's Carnaval as one of my top handful favourites, along with the "obvious" other three reference versions:



Schumann/Rachmaninoff: Carnaval Op. 9 (1929) - Philips, Brilliant Classics etc.

Schumann/Cortot: Carnaval Op. 9 (1928) - HMV/Philips, Enterprise, Music&Arts etc.

Schumann/Arrau: Carnaval Op. 9 (1939) - Parlophone-Odeon/EMI, Enterprise, Marston, Pearl



followed by additional recommendations (there is no such thing as THE perfect Carnaval!):



Schumann/Arrau: Carnaval Op. 9 (1966) - Philips

Schumann/Michelangeli: Carnaval Op. 9 (London 1957) - EMI/Testament

Schumann/Michelangeli: Carnaval Op. 9 (1957) - BBC/DG

Schumann/Hess: Carnaval Op. 9 (1938) - EMI/Philips, Enterprise etc.

Schumann/Rubinstein: Carnaval Op. 9 (1962/63) - RCA

Schumann/Freire: Carnaval Op. 9 (2002) - Decca

Schumann/Katchen: Carnaval Op. 9 - Decca

Schumann/Ashkenazy: Carnaval Op. 9 (1986) - Decca



As to Anda's Kreisleriana, it's often slow, pensive, songful and lyrical in contrast to the more tumultous and quixotic Horowitz (the earlier 1969 reference recording on Columbia/Sony, of course), and yet so different from the also poetic, earlier 1956 Kempff recording on DG (where I tend to like the slow movements best). Again, I'd not place Anda above Cortot and the above as a Schumann interpreter, but like what he has to say equally as well and certainly would not want to be without it, its mood changes increasingly growing on me the more often I listen to it.



As to Anda's 1953 Symphonic Etudes here, his playing is impressively orchestral in places, a feat in itself, no doubt, but the composition as a whole, long lines rather than a succession of etudes, continues to speak to me most through the recordings by Cortot (the London live recording from 1929 on e.g. Philips Great Pianists of the Century), Sofronitsky (live in Moscow 1959) and Richter (1971 Olympia/Regis).



In a nutshell: whereas the 1953 Symphonic Etudes here may not be of primary concern, you must hear Anda's 1955 recordings of Carnaval and Kreisleriana. Remastering quality, as usual on Testament, is most impressive.



Greetings from Switzerland, David."