Search - Schumann, Luisada :: Carnaval/Papillons/Arabesque

Newly Sprung Schumann

John Atherton | CINCINNATI, OHIO United States | 09/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Entrancing. Luisada, who's not well known in America but much loved in Europe, brushes away all respectful solemnity and whisks us off to Schumann's masked ball. His pianistic gifts include polyphony and luminous tone, but you'll most prize his temperament. Luisada's just as impish as he looks.

I don't know if anyone's done a study of musical performance and physical expression, but I suspect the two are intertwined. Arrau usually looked anguished and sounded it. Rubinstein's expressions were kaleidoscopic when he was acting all the parts in some delicious personal anecdote, but at the piano he was unfailingly dignified and -- for better and occasionally for worse -- his playing usually sounded that way too. Luisada looks like he's about to share a marvelous joke, and his playing is full of hijinks and rich humor. Gulda loved jazz, but Luisada really sounds jazzy. He also brings to mind Samson Francois, minus the alienation.

Does Luisada sometimes miss the deeper note? French (or, in his case, French-trained) musicians often tread lightly through dark German forests. But Schumann was not Brahms. A bigger problem is that Luisada's improvisatory style makes Schumann sound perhaps too episodic. Sometimes it's enough just to play the music. But that's a quibble. If Luisada lacks simplicity he has other qualities in abundance. I think you'll love this disc."