Review of Isabelle Faust – Schumann: Piano Quartet

Isabelle Faust has now added a sublime composition to her long series of chamber music recordings with Robert Schumann’s piano quartet and quintet. At her side again: Jean-Guihen Couyras and Alexandre Melnikov, this time on a French Pleyel grand piano from 1851, and also: Antoine Thamstedt and (in op. 44) Anne Katharina Schreiber. Everything seems as carefully rehearsed as it is achieved spontaneously. The change between the “Sostenuto” section and the “Allegro” at the beginning of the quartet keeps you listening. The scherzo is whiny and nervous, the andante is arius, and the finale is angry. Even with the quintet lineup, augmented by the second violin, the ensemble finds a romantic, poetic approach in the sense of Schumann. Balanced in terms of dynamic dimensions and chosen timing, the recording impresses in its compelling expressions: graceful, moving and at the same time controlled in detail.

Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, op. 47, and Piano Quintet in E flat, op. 44.

Isabelle Faust and Anne Katharina Schreiber (violin), Antoine Tamstet (viola), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Alexandre Melnikov (piano)
Harmonia mundi

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