Schumann & Brahms

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There’s a marble-statue nobility to his playing, a sense of his powerful technique being harnessed to expression, and a seriousness-of-purpose…To end, we hear three of Brahms’s Intermezzos: elegiac,... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2023, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 17th Mar 2023
Catalogue No: 4853945
Label: Decca
Length: 85 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

17th March 2023
Gramophone Magazine

April 2023
Gramophone Awards

2023

Shortlisted - Piano
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2023
Gramophone Magazine

Critics' Choice 2023

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This release includes a digital booklet

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Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16

Work length35:10

$8.80

$12.00

$16.40

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Recorded: 2022-04-24
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk

I. Äußerst bewegt

Track length2:48

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

II. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch

Track length9:56

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III. Sehr aufgeregt

Track length4:49

$1.10

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IV. Sehr langsam

Track length3:47

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V. Sehr lebhaft

Track length3:23

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VI. Sehr langsam

Track length4:30

$1.10

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VII. Sehr rasch

Track length2:23

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VIII. Schnell und spielend

Track length3:34

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Schumann: Romance in F sharp major, Op. 28 No. 2

Work length3:50

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Recorded: 2022-04-24
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk

Schumann: Blumenstück, Op. 19

Work length7:21

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Recorded: 2022-04-24
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk

Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 14: Quasi variazoni

Work length7:41

$5.50

$7.50

$10.25

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Recorded: 2022-04-24
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk

Theme

Track length0:48

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Var. I

Track length0:53

$1.10

$1.50

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Var. II

Track length1:39

$1.10

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Var. III

Track length0:57

$1.10

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Var. IV

Track length3:24

$1.10

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Schumann: Abendlied (No. 12 from Klavierstücke für kleine und große Kinder, Op. 85)

Work length3:27

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

arr. Grosvenor
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Recorded: 2022-04-24
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk

Schumann, Clara: Variations sur un thème de Robert Schumann, Op. 20

Work length11:33

$8.80

$12.00

$16.40

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Recorded: 2022-04-24
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk

Theme

Track length1:09

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Var. I

Track length0:51

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Var. II

Track length0:56

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Var. III

Track length1:13

$1.10

$1.50

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Var. IV

Track length0:58

$1.10

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Var. V

Track length1:00

$1.10

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Var. VI

Track length1:10

$1.10

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Var. VII

Track length4:16

$1.10

$1.50

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Brahms: Intermezzi (3), Op. 117

Work length16:30

$3.30

$4.50

$6.15

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Recorded: 2022-04-24
Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk

No. 1 in E-Flat Major

Track length5:14

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

No. 2 in B-Flat Minor

Track length4:54

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor

Track length6:22

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

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Recording of the Week, Benjamin Grosvenor plays music by the Schumanns and Brahms

17th March 2023

The British pianist is on typically eloquent, empathetic form in a programme which includes Robert's Kreisleriana and Blumenstück, Clara's variations on a theme from his Bunte Blätter, and their friend Brahms's autumnal Intermezzi Op. 117.

The acclaimed British pianist, Benjamin Grosvenor, still only 30 and yet a well-established favourite of critics and audiences around the globe, takes Robert Schumann’s haunting Kreisleriana as his starting point in his new album, Schumann & Brahms. This eight-movement work portrays the mercurial personality of the fictional Johannes Kreisler, created by E. T. A. Hoffmann: Kreisler’s highs and lows, and his dreamy nature, clearly mirror Schumann’s own tragic manic-depressive tendencies. Grosvenor responds to the composer’s autobiographical honesty with playing of sublime tenderness, dazzling variety, and imaginative empathy.

He accompanies the work with the melancholic Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann by Schumann’s beloved wife Clara (who, incidentally, stated that she was much disturbed by the visions conjured up in Kreisleriana). Further kaleidoscopic variety is provided by Robert’s Blumenstück, and Quasi Variazione: Andantino de Clara Wieck. The recital also includes Brahms’ Three Intermezzi, autumnal works which shed a fascinating light on the complicated relationship which existed between Robert, Clara and Brahms himself. Grosvenor’s own arrangement of Robert’s Abendlied completes the programme.

The recording is Benjamin Grosvenor’s seventh for Decca since 2011, when he became the youngest musician - and also the first British pianist in more than sixty years - to sign to the label. Since then he has won inter alia several Gramophone Awards, and the prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’année. After a spectacular win, at the age of just 11, in the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musician competition, he went on to become the youngest soloist ever to appear at the opening night of the BBC Proms in 2011.

Reviews

May 2023

There’s a marble-statue nobility to his playing, a sense of his powerful technique being harnessed to expression, and a seriousness-of-purpose…To end, we hear three of Brahms’s Intermezzos: elegiac, bittersweet lullabies of sorrow. These rich performances suggest Brahms is where Grosvenor should head next.

April 2023

All in all, this is an album that reaffirms Grosvenor’s status as one of the most accomplished pianists around.

17th March 2023

Listening to Grosvenor’s shape-shifting interpretation of Kreisleriana, it’s easy to see why Clara found elements of the work disconcerting, though from the opening bars it’s impossible to resist falling under its uncanny spell...Grosvenor’s immaculately-judged rubato (a constant throughout the programme) is an especial pleasure in Clara's set of variations, the theme subtly transformed with every appearance – it’s as if the music is being illuminated from a slightly different perspective at each turn.

26th March 2023

when Grosvenor touches the keyboard he makes a sound that seems so soft, so lovely, so wise in the balance of all the parts, you think you’re hearing some great maestro of old...overall this is stunningly good playing, which will confirm Grosvenor’s place in the top rank of young pianists.

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Recording of the Week, Benjamin Grosvenor plays music by the Schumanns and Brahms

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