Search - Robert Schumann, Norman Shetler, Peter Schreier :: Schumann: Songs, Vol. 1

Interesting - a "non expert" review

Wyote | Seoul | 03/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know where this collection ranks among the recordings of Schumann's songs. I don't know anything about the song "genre." I'm the naive listener that just listens a few times, and likes it or doesn't.



I like it. Enough that I have now purchased vol. 2, and we'll see how that goes.



I confess, like a lot of other music, I had to listen to it about 5 times before it really grew on me. The first time I heard it, I liked this and that, but not the music in general. Each time I listened, I liked it more than the time before. Of course, some songs are better than others, but all in all it's good listening.



If you are pretty new to classical music, I should suggest that you start with more famous things - consult one of the "So You'd Like To" guides. This music is unlikely to knock anyone's socks off, the way that Mozart's "Requiem" or Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" or Chopin's "Nocturnes" do.



But if you've heard the 20 or so most famous things, and you want to venture on roads somewhat less traveled, this is a fine way to go. There's kind of a "second level" of classical music, which is good music but not so famous, and this is in there. In this category, to the curious I'd also recommend Mozart's "Prague Symphony," Mendelssohn's "Songs without Words," Dvorak's "Mass in B Minor," and Scarlatti's harpsichord concertos (recommended to me by an "Amazon friend," and I'm glad of it).



(I may be overstating my ignorance a little at this point. I've been listening to classical music for a few years now, and reading some books about it. I'm getting better. But still, there are people who _really_ know their stuff, and I know some of them, and I know that I'm not one of them.)"