Though he infrequently wrote for the cello specifically, Schumann still had an affinity for the instrument. It holds an important place in his chamber music scores, and he included the cello as potential secondary instruments on a number of his duo works with piano. Apart from the Five Pieces in Popular Style -- the only chamber work scored specifically for the instrument -- the remainder of the cello's repertoire from Schumann comes in the form of transcriptions. This Naxos album, entitled Music for Cello and Piano ...
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Though he infrequently wrote for the cello specifically, Schumann still had an affinity for the instrument. It holds an important place in his chamber music scores, and he included the cello as potential secondary instruments on a number of his duo works with piano. Apart from the Five Pieces in Popular Style -- the only chamber work scored specifically for the instrument -- the remainder of the cello's repertoire from Schumann comes in the form of transcriptions. This Naxos album, entitled Music for Cello and Piano curiously omits the Five Pieces and focuses entirely on transcriptions and works for which the cello was listed as an alternate instrument. Cellist Karine Georgian and pianist Jan Willem Nelleke (who penned the transcriptions of the Op. 105 Violin Sonata and Clara Schumann's Op. 22 Three Romances) join for what proves to be a surprisingly lackluster affair. Given Georgian's pedigree as a Rostropovich protégée and a Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medalist, it's unexpected to hear so many...
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