VA - Schumann Gold (2010)

Schumann Gold Review by Blair Sanderson
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann's birth, Deutsche Grammophon combed through its vast archives for the most representative excerpts and short pieces by this famous German Romantic composer, not only drawing on his collections of lieder and keyboard pieces, but also taking movements from long works, such as the symphonies, concertos, and chamber pieces. This 2010 twofer presents a distinguished roster of artists, from conductors John Eliot Gardiner, Leonard Bernstein, Rafael Kubelik, Georg Solti, and Herbert von Karajan, to pianists Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Horowitz, Nelson Freire, Maria-João Pires, and Radu Lupu, along with a large number of chamber instrumentalists and vocalists to make this a sampler of the label's stars, as well as a survey of Schumann's most memorable music. One might think a collection that spans several decades and offers both ADD and DDD recordings might sound uneven, but the audio quality is fairly well balanced in volume and consistently clean across the album's 33 tracks. Because examples are given of all of Schumann's key works and favored genres, this is a fine introduction to his music, and Schumann Gold provides easy access to many fine offerings in DG's catalog.