# An interesting rendition of the Schumann Violin Concerto



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

After being rather unsatisfied with Kremer's performance of the work, I turned to Henryk Szeryng who was pretty great.

But today I stumbled upon this oddball rendition with Isabelle Faust and the Freiburger Barockorchester:






Somehow the smaller orchestra and cleaner sound of the period instruments really bring a greater level of drama and edge to the work. The bass drum/timpani being brought out in the tutti sections was a particularly visceral effect. I don't know if I'd call this my favorite interpretation but it is striking and unique.

What do you guys think?


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Well, the opening of the Langsam (Adagio) sounds like a butt-ugly mess with what is usually one of the most beautiful cello openings totally obscured by some (I think) awful sounding horns. After 4 listenings of the opening, the cellist sounds amateurish also. Will have to listen again in the AM.

This is closer to what I'm used to:


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

The Faust/Freiburger is my favorite version out of the ones I've heard (admittedly not many). HIP, with its roots in 20th century modernism, has no claim to "authenticity," but that's usually my preference in Romantic-era music anyways. One of the movement's virtues in my eyes is a greater alertness to dynamics, which has also affected non-HIP recordings. That being said, I think the Schumann Violin Concerto is pretty boring and no interpretation - HIP or non-HIP - has changed that opinion.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

DaveM said:


> Well, the opening of the Langsam (Adagio) sounds like a butt-ugly mess with what is usually one of the most beautiful cello openings totally obscured by some (I think) awful sounding horns. After 4 listenings of the opening, the cellist sounds amateurish also. Will have to listen again in the AM.


Yeah, it wasn't very convincing. Sometimes period playing works better and sometimes modern playing works better. I think that opening is an example of the former.

The gut strings, 19th century valves, and the all contribute to a thinner sound and the cellist was playing in a very Baroque style (it is a Barockorchester after all) which sounds amateurish in a Romantic work.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

chu42 said:


> ...
> The gut strings, 19th century valves, and the all contribute to a thinner sound and the cellist was playing in a very Baroque style (it is a Barockorchester after all) which sounds amateurish in a Romantic work.


It's an interesting sound, but the string players are avoiding vibrato like the plague in their historical informedness but the soloist is laying it on. It's like she's stumbled into the wrong outfit.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

consuono said:


> It's an interesting sound, but the string players are avoiding vibrato like the plague in their historical informedness but the soloist is laying it on. It's like she's stumbled into the wrong outfit.


A little bit, yes, but she is still more restrained than most Romantic-repertoire violinists


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

chu42 said:


> Somehow the smaller orchestra and cleaner sound of the period instruments really bring a greater level of drama and edge to the work.


Late Romantic HIP: What Are We Waiting For?


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

chu42 said:


> After being rather unsatisfied with Kremer's performance of the work, I turned to Henryk Szeryng who was pretty great.
> 
> But today I stumbled upon this oddball rendition with Isabelle Faust and the Freiburger Barockorchester:
> 
> ...


I'm not sure which Kremer recording you listened to? There are at least two. I generally enjoy (a lot) the recording of his that I know - the one with Harnoncourt - but I have also had a lot of pleasure from the Faust recording. I can understand that some of the clipped phrasing (particularly in the Langsam) might irritate some but I'm fine with it. I'm unsure why you consider it "oddball" - is it because it is in a HIP style without even trying to be authentic?

This one is also a real delight:









And this has many merits, too:


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