Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor; Cello Concerto in A Minor. - Walter Gieseking, Tibor de Machula, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Berlin Philharmonic - compact disc reviews - sound recording reviews

National Review, May 28, 1990 by Ralph De Toledano

Recently I have been hinting that perhaps we spend too much time in adoration of the very great in musicBeethoven, Bach, Mozart, Berhoz, Brahms, etc.-forgetting that there are others who not only add to our knowledge and appreciation of the art but also give us very real satisfactions. The guilt is as much that of those who tend to mold our taste as that of the "average" listener.

Having reached my anecdotage, I get increasing pleasure from music which in my brasher years I turned away from. And so I call to your attention Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor, recorded by Walter Gieseking, and his Cello Concerto in A Minor, by Tibor de Machula, both conducted by Wilhelm Furtwiingler with the Berlin Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon 427 799-2), digitalized from mono to CD. Furtwangler, one of the greatest conductors of our time, opposed Hitler and finally fled to Switzerland during the war-but we barred his passage to the United States when the festivities were over, though we admitted Herbert von Karajan, Hitler's drum major. The Schumann Piano Concerto gives us Gieseking playing the kind of music he played best. And it shows us how fine Furtwangler could be-warm, moving, precise, and getting the very best out of an orchestra. Schumann's melodic gifts were not of the greatest, but they are more than sufficient to make us listen with involvement, and be happy that we are listening.