Schumann:
- Carnaval and Papillons
Robert Schumann created some amazing piano music. These pieces date from the earlier part of his short life, and they show us examples of different colors, different images, and different musical character.
- Carnaval (1835) is like a portrait gallery, or even a masked ball, rather than a conventional set of musical variations.
- Papillons (‘Butterflies’), was composed four years earlier and is modeled on the ball scene from the novel Flegeljahre by Schumann’s literary idol, Jean Paul.
The selections are performed in the following order:
Schumann:
- Carnaval, Op. 9
- Papillons, Op. 2
- Toccata in C major, Op. 7
Performed by Cecile Licad (piano)
I have heard Cecile Licad perform the music of Saint-Saens, Rachmaninov, and Chopin. Clearly she’s an experienced, fine pianist. This CD is our chance to hear her play some Schumann.
Schumann’s highly virtuosic Toccata combines Classical and Baroque influences. Unfortunately this music reflects the paralysis of the third finger of Schumann’s right hand: Almost all of this extremely difficult piece can be played without the use of that very finger.
Here is Cecile Licad in Chopin’s No.12 Etude, Op.10:
And next, here is Catherine Collard performing Schumann’s “Papillons”:
http://youtu.be/2uGs9JpXJLk
Finally, here is Svyatoslav Levin playing the Schumann Toccata Op. 7:
Tags: Schumann, Toccata, Papillons, Carnaval, Cecile Licad