Schumann Piano Concerto and Symphony No. 4 concert. In 2006 Riccardo Chailly conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Martha Argerich as piano soloist. In addition, disc has 6 short pieces by Schumann:
"Adagio & Allegro brillante" arranged by Tchaikovsky, from Études symphoniques
"Von fremden Ländern und Menschen" from Kinderszenen (Argerich)
"Préambule" from Carnaval
"Valse allemande" from Carnaval
"Intermezzo: Paganini" from Carnaval
"Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins" from Carnaval
Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Released in 2010, disc has 5.1 PCM sound. Grade: NA
Chailly, gleefuly enthusiastic and expressive with his rubber face, could probably conduct with his hands tied behind him. Under his leadership, the Gewandhausorchester in 2010 was rated 17th in the world by Gramophone magazine. This is a very nice all-Schumann disc. It would be hard to imagine a better performance of the 4th Symphony than the one presented here. Chailly has a special relationship with Argerich, the chain-smoking kaffeine-krazy keyboard kamikaze of my youth who is now a plump Granny wearing an Hawaiian shirt skirt. Her performance was a little eccentric compared to my old Radu Lupu LP recording of the concerto. But she still has the knack for making the piano croon. This was especially noticeable when I compared her version of the concerto with the patrician-level rendition of this from Murray Perahia and the Royal Concertgebouw, also available in HDVD. When I hear Perahia play the concerto, I think of viewing old-master paintings in a beautiful museum in the capital of a nation. When I hear Argerich, I think of hiding in the shadows next to a moonlit meadow and stealing kisses before curfew. Which would you rather be doing right now?