Tags
Language
Tags
March 2024
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
25 26 27 28 29 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 1 2 3 4 5 6

Imogen Cooper plays Brahms & Schumann (2013)

Posted By: peotuvave
Imogen Cooper plays Brahms & Schumann (2013)

Imogen Cooper plays Brahms & Schumann (2013)
EAC Rip | Flac (Tracks + cue + log) | 217 MB | MP3 320Kbps CBR | 181 MB | 1 CD | Full Scans
Genre: Classical | Label: Chandos | Catalog Number: 10755

This is Volume 1 in Imogen Cooper’s new series on Chandos Records, dedicated to the complete works for piano by Robert Schumann. Recognised worldwide as a pianist of virtuosity and poetic poise, Imogen Cooper has established a reputation as one of the finest interpreters of the classical and romantic repertoire. She has dazzled audiences and orchestras throughout her distinguished career, bringing to the concert platform a unique musical understanding and lyrical quality.

‘Duality, intermingling and juxtaposing identities, the dream world, the subconscious, wild humour, the supernatural, disguise, the outsider’. These are all words used by Imogen Cooper to describe the inner world of Robert Schumann. On this recording, she offers her interpretations of two works by this deeply inspired composer: Fantasiestücke and Kreisleriana. Both display in full Schumann’s extraordinary ability to express the gamut of human emotions in a highly imaginative language that draws the best from both piano and performer.

Schumann dedicated his Fantasiestücke to a young Scottish pianist by the name of Roberta Laidlaw, with whom he had a close, if brief, relationship during his eighteen-month-long separation from Clara Wieck, whom he was patiently courting. In one of the most important early studies of Schumann’s music, published in the journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Franz Brendel compared this work to ‘a landscape painting in which the foreground gains prominence in sharply delineated, clear contours while the background becomes blurred and vanishes in a limitless perspective’.

Kreisleriana was inspired by a complex character created by the writer E.T.A Hoffmann: Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler. In reflecting the complex personality of Kreisler, Schumann’s Kreisleriana seems to take on the very same alternating characteristics that are ascribed to this character. At times the music comes across as wild, eccentric, and clever, at others it displays a mood that is truly tender, lyrical, and romantic.

The last work on this disc is the solo piano arrangement which Johannes Brahms made of the Theme and Variations movement from his String Sextet, Op. 18, and dedicated to Clara Schumann. She received the manuscript of this arrangement on her forty-first birthday, 13 September 1860. She was delighted to be able to play the variations herself, as she wrote in a letter to Brahms three days later. Nonetheless, the first public performance did not take place until a concert in Frankfurt on 31 October 1865.

Composer: Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms
Performer: Imogen Cooper

Reviews: What is it that makes a good Schumann pianist? There have been many approaches to his music over the course of the last century. Some stress the manic, extroverted, quirky, even nervous quality of his music, while others lean more towards the inward, poetic, self-reflective aspects. Is he more Florestan or more Eusebius? Or is it the inherent contrast between one and the other that matters most? Perhaps it is impossible to be in perfect equilibrium in this regard, and what might matter most of all are the works that one is approaching.


Imogen Cooper, in the current recital, leans more towards the poetic, the more inwardly effusive aspects of Schumann’s music; here in dealing with the composer’s fantasy works—as both the Fantasiestücke , op. 12, and Kreisleriana , subtitled Fantasien are—she seems to be right at home. Throughout the recital she maintains a lovely lyrical sense in the music. The opening of “Des Abends” is both tender and evocative. She maintains a lovely transparency of sound, achieving a haunting glow in this music; the melody seems to float above the gentle accompaniment, even most so when the pianist plays pianissimo. And what is so magical about her playing at this low dynamic level? That she achieves an extraordinary sense of phrasing in these remarkably quiet moments: There is here, as in the pianissimo moments of “In der Nacht,” a natural sense of ebb and flow. The lighter, yet faster moments are beautifully wrought as well. The sections marked Schnell in “Fabel” are not only bouncy and light, they are above all else remarkably full of that innocent spirit that contrasts so well with the more poignant moments of the work. Those instances of inwardness, too, are remarkably touching in these performances. The second composition of Kreisleriana or “Warum?” from the op. 12 set is just magical in these regards. What I find a bit lacking here are the more aggressive moments, those of Florestan: The bombast of “Aufschwung” is underplayed (though the way she delicately voices the tenor part in this work is worth the price of the disc alone!); the tension of the opening number of Kreisleriana is also missing—all here sounds just too smooth, too easy-going. Her Brahms benefits from this somewhat lighter overall approach. In a work originally conceived for the string sextet medium, here reworked and gifted to Brahms’s lifelong friend Clara Schumann, Cooper achieves a wonderful sense of voicing and textural/chordal balance. Never does the work feel light in emotional content, but the airiness that she brings to it is often that quality which I find missing in most performances of this music.


So the question remains: Florestan or Eusebius? Here Cooper seems to opt for the latter. Her playing at its best here is stunning. And if it is these characteristics of Schumann that are most important to one, then this is the disc of choice. Though I do miss the more aggressive aspects in some pieces already noted, there is an elegance to her approach which is highly attractive. If one likes their Schumann slightly more assertive then stick with Cortot, Horowitz, or Argerich (for Kreisleiana ) and Richter (for selected pieces out of Fantasiestücke ). Equally impressive is Rubinstein’s account of the op. 12 (on RCA Red Seal, together with outstanding performances of Carnaval —one of the finest on record—the F#-Major Romance, and “Vogel aus Prophet”); though far more straightforward in approach, his music-making is a joy to behold. But if one is most interested in the poet Schumann then one should look no further than Cooper’s extremely fine recital here.

Tracklisting:

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Fantasiestucke, Op. 12 (1837) 29:13
(Fantasy Pieces)
Miß Anna Robena Laidlaw zugeeignet
1 Des Abends (Evening). Sehr innig zu spielen 3:37
2 Aufschwung (Soaring). Sehr rasch 3:24
3 Warum? (Why?). Langsam und zart 2:44
4 Grillen (Whims). Mit Humor 3:45
5 In der Nacht (In the Night). Mit Leidenschaft - Etwas langsamer - 4:29
Tempo I
6 Fabel (Fable). Langsam - Schnell - Langasm - Schnell - 2:46
Tempo I [Schnell] - Langsam
7 Traumes Wirren (Restless Dreams). Äußerst lebhaft 2:47
8 Ende vom Lied (The End of the Story). 5:33
Mit guten Humor - Etwas lebhafter - Tempo I

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
9 Theme and Variations (1859) 10:29
in D minor - in d-Moll - en ré mineur
from String Sextet No. 1, Op. 18 (1859-60)
in B flat major - in B-Dur - en si bémol majeur
Arranged by the composer for solo piano
Für Clara Schumann gesetzt: Zum 13. September 1860 als freundlichen Gruß
Andante, ma moderato

Robert Schumann
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838) 35:43
Fantasien
(Fantasies)
Seinem Freunde Herrn F. Chopin zugeeignet
10 1 Äußerst bewegt 2:53
11 2 Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch - Adagio - Intermezzo I. 10:19
Sehr lebhaft - Erstes Tempo - Adagio - Intermezzo II. Etwas bewegter - Langsamer (erstes Tempo) - Adagio - Erstes Tempo
12 3 Sehr aufgeregt - Etwas langsamer - Erstes Tempo - 5:19
Noch schneller
13 4 Sehr langsam - Bewegter - Erstes Tempo - Adagio 3:50
14 5 Sehr lebhaft 3:02
15 6 Sehr langsam - Etwas bewegter - Erstes Tempo 4:38
16 7 Sehr rasch - Noch schneller - Etwas langsamer 2:22
17 8 Schnell und spielend 3:16
75:32

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 4 from 7. December 2014

EAC extraction logfile from 11. January 2015, 14:54

Imogen Cooper / Schumann & Brhams: Piano Works

Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-216D Adapter: 1 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 96
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr1%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%


TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:36.62 | 0 | 16261
2 | 3:36.62 | 3:24.53 | 16262 | 31614
3 | 7:01.40 | 2:45.16 | 31615 | 44005
4 | 9:46.56 | 3:45.57 | 44006 | 60937
5 | 13:32.38 | 4:29.43 | 60938 | 81155
6 | 18:02.06 | 2:46.60 | 81156 | 93665
7 | 20:48.66 | 2:47.65 | 93666 | 106255
8 | 23:36.56 | 5:37.64 | 106256 | 131594
9 | 29:14.45 | 10:33.55 | 131595 | 179124
10 | 39:48.25 | 2:53.20 | 179125 | 192119
11 | 42:41.45 | 10:19.68 | 192120 | 238612
12 | 53:01.38 | 5:19.34 | 238613 | 262571
13 | 58:20.72 | 3:51.03 | 262572 | 279899
14 | 62:12.00 | 3:02.15 | 279900 | 293564
15 | 65:14.15 | 4:38.37 | 293565 | 314451
16 | 69:52.52 | 2:22.53 | 314452 | 325154
17 | 72:15.30 | 3:18.42 | 325155 | 340046


Track 1

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\01 - Des Abends (Evening). Sehr innig zu spielen.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 26.7 %
Extraction speed 4.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 61F64252
Copy CRC 61F64252
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [03FF361E] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 2

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\02 - Aufschwung (Soaring). Sehr rasch.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:00.26

Peak level 86.5 %
Extraction speed 5.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 54239385
Copy CRC 54239385
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [3B7FFCFF] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 3

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\03 - Warum (Why). Langsam und zart.wav

Peak level 37.2 %
Extraction speed 5.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 49EEC352
Copy CRC 49EEC352
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [79862ED2] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 4

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\04 - Grillen (Whims). Mit Humor.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:00.26

Peak level 78.9 %
Extraction speed 5.1 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC C32216AB
Copy CRC C32216AB
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [9641C03D] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 5

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\05 - In der Nacht (In the Night). Mit Leidenschaft - Etwas langsamer - Trmpo I.wav

Peak level 99.5 %
Extraction speed 5.6 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 8291543D
Copy CRC 8291543D
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [8E32C365] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 6

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\06 - Fabel (Fable). Langsam - Schnell - Langasm - Schnell - Tempo I [Schnell]-Langsam.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:00.28

Peak level 77.7 %
Extraction speed 6.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C2C1C4DC
Copy CRC C2C1C4DC
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [3CF55EC0] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 7

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\07 - Traumes Wirren (Restless Dreams). Äußerst lebhaft.wav

Peak level 65.1 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 2B2A9848
Copy CRC 2B2A9848
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [898564A9] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 8

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\08 - Ende vom Lied (The End of the Story). Mit guten Humor - Etwas lebhafter-Tempo I.wav

Peak level 80.1 %
Extraction speed 7.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 9EF14D35
Copy CRC 9EF14D35
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [4A343628] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 9

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\09 - Theme & Variations 1859.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:04.13

Peak level 91.1 %
Extraction speed 8.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EBFD3ADA
Copy CRC EBFD3ADA
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [ADFB65F1] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 10

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\10 - Äußerst bewegt.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:04.05

Peak level 70.5 %
Extraction speed 6.4 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 8991F92E
Copy CRC 8991F92E
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [9784DB5E] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 11

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\11 - Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch.wav

Peak level 83.5 %
Extraction speed 9.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC D6AECA5B
Copy CRC D6AECA5B
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [56BB8A97] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 12

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\12 - Sehr aufgeregt - Etwas langsamer - Erstes Tempo - Noch schneller.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:00.26

Peak level 77.7 %
Extraction speed 9.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EB20223E
Copy CRC EB20223E
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [9ADC7FF5] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 13

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\13 - Sehr langsam - Bewegter - Erstes Tempo - Adagio.wav

Peak level 30.9 %
Extraction speed 7.8 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 2D07B17B
Copy CRC 2D07B17B
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [1222AA93] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 14

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\14 - Sehr lebhaft.wav

Peak level 77.2 %
Extraction speed 8.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1871ECFA
Copy CRC 1871ECFA
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [ACF40891] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 15

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\15 - Sehr langsam - Etwas bewegter - Erstes Tempo.wav

Peak level 59.3 %
Extraction speed 9.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 13FB9347
Copy CRC 13FB9347
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [C08BEAB0] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 16

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\16 - Sehr rasch - Noch schneller - Etwas langsamer.wav

Peak level 72.9 %
Extraction speed 8.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC DF122513
Copy CRC DF122513
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [F62BD4A1] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 17

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann performed by Imogen Cooper - Piano Works (2013) [FLAC]\17 - Schnell und spielend.wav

Peak level 72.4 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC DAC062A8
Copy CRC DAC062A8
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [93BA011E] (AR v2)
Copy OK


All tracks accurately ripped

No errors occurred

End of status report

–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.4

[CTDB TOCID: LbSkpk8J6BHLGRAXfekHDzNmeF0-] found
Submit result: already submitted
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
2 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
3 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
4 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
5 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
6 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
7 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
8 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
9 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
10 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
11 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
12 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
13 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
14 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
15 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
16 | (3/3) Accurately ripped
17 | (3/3) Accurately ripped


==== Log checksum 7C37C748023AE59AE656553F4E90DE9468586F95400C58CA993380471287864F ====



Thanks to the original releaser
Download:

Nitroflare: FLAc | MP3
Uploadable: FLAC | MP3