SCHUMANN-GRÜTZMACHER
Cello Transcriptions
Francesco Dillon, Cello
Emanuele Torquati, Piano
Brilliant Classics 94060 (2 CDs) / ****1/2
The German Romantic composer Robert
Schumann (1810-1856) wrote such a small body of music for cello – a great cello
concerto and handful of short chamber works – that it seems a real pity. This
album of transcriptions by German virtuoso cellist Friedrich Grützmacher
(1832-1903) of Schumann’s Lieder, selected piano pieces and an entire sonata is
a godsend for cellists seeking new repertoire.
Schumann’s most popular lied, Widmung
(Dedication), opens the selection of 17 song transcriptions. Also
included are Der Nussbaum (The Walnut Tree), Frühlingsnacht (Spring
Night), Mondnacht (Moonlit Night), The Two Grenadiers
(which concludes with La Marseillaise, the French national anthem) and
two numbers from song cycles Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman’s Love
And Life) and Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love), all familiar tunes.
The autumnal Second Violin Sonata
in D major (Op.121), in four movements, is also his most ambitious. Here it
becomes a glorious cello sonata, full of brooding passion and foreboding. The
transcriptions of piano pieces are mostly of miniatures, such as Schlummerlied
(Slumber Song), The Happy Farmer and Soldier’s March.
However all 13 pieces of Kinderszenen (Scenes From Childhood),
including the unforgettable Träumerei (Dreaming), take pride of
place. The Italian duo of Dillon and Torquati are excellent, making the best
case possible of Schumann’s lyrical gifts.
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