While it is always wonderful to have a recording of Schumann's early C minor Piano Quartet coupled with his mature E flat major Piano Quartet, the result of that coupling is usually only half a disc of listenable music. Because while the E flat major quartet is surely one of the masterpieces of the repertoire, the C minor quartet is, as its composer once sadly described it, "botched." The reason for this is straight-forward. The E flat quartet written when Schumann was 32 has the passion of youth joined with the technique ...
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While it is always wonderful to have a recording of Schumann's early C minor Piano Quartet coupled with his mature E flat major Piano Quartet, the result of that coupling is usually only half a disc of listenable music. Because while the E flat major quartet is surely one of the masterpieces of the repertoire, the C minor quartet is, as its composer once sadly described it, "botched." The reason for this is straight-forward. The E flat quartet written when Schumann was 32 has the passion of youth joined with the technique of maturity, while the C minor quartet written when the composer was 19 has the passion of youth expressed without temperance -- or indeed, competence. Schumann's E flat quartet is assuredly on the same level as Mozart or Brahms' works in the genre, but his C minor quartet is worth hearing only if you really love the E flat quartet.Nevertheless, the Trio Parnassus with guest violist Hariolf Schlichtig insists on performing both works with absolute and unswerving dedication in this...
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