Fanfare 7
****
A great album for those who want to hear Romantic piano music played delicately, quietly, and lyrical.
SCHUMANN Kinderszenen. Fantasy in C. SIBELIUS 10 Pieces: Impromptu, Notturno, Romance. 6 Impromptus: No. 5  David Munk-Nielsen (pn)  OUR RECORDINGS 8.226938 (65:02) Reviewed from a WAV download: https://we.tl/t-gQy5ktiHYh
In previous reviews of piano music by Robert Schumann, I’ve come to classify Schumann pianists as “Florestanites” and “Eusebians.” It’s well known that Schumann had two alter egos, the powerful, romantic “Florestan” and the dreamy, poetic “Eusebius.” Through many of his multi-movement piano suites, he’d append initials to the various section titles as “F.” or “E.” depending on which side of his personality he felt had created them. Schumann also used these identities for several of his articles of music criticism.
In this collection, Between Fire and Silence, and especially in his performance of Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), David Munk-Nielsen definitely marks himself as a Eusebian. In his liner notes he explains, “I have always been drawn to the wide contrasts specifically in this repertoire, from the quiet and intimate to the passionate and almost explosive, hence the title of the CD.” But his readings of Schumann in particular tend very much more towards the quiet and intimate than the passionate and explosive.
Indeed, it seems as if he sandwiched the short Sibelius pieces, three from 10 Pieces and one from Six Impromptus, in between the two big Schumann works precisely to showcase his more emotional, more Florestanian side. The moment he starts the “Impromptu,” number one of the 10 Pieces, we seem to be in a different musical world, and not just because of the chronological difference between the two composers. If he hasn’t already (the OUR Recordings website lists this as his first release), I’d like to hear Munk-Nielsen do a complete Sibelius CD.
My personal favorite recording of the Kinderszenen is a 1950’s LP on the Remington label by pianist Ernö Dohnányi (grandfather of the late conductor Christoph von Dohnányi), which backed the Schumann work with four études by Dohnányi himself. I especially like that one because of the charming spoken introductions by Dohnányi, giving the title of each of the piece’s 13 sections in his delightful Hungarian-accented English before he plays it.
For the Fantasy in C I reached for the recent recording by Burkard Schliessmann on the Divine Art label. It’s curious that Schliessmann takes the outer movements of the Fantasy more quickly than Munk-Nielsen (12:50 vs. 13:17 in the first movement and 9:03 vs. 11:04 in the third), but Munk-Nielsen races through the second movement in 7:57 to Schliessmann’s 8:11. It’s in the second movement of the Fantasy that Munk-Nielsen turns in his most Florestan-like playing of any of Schumann’s music here.
David Munk-Nielsen has made an excellent debut recital that shows him to be a great exemplar of the more delicate, poetic sides of 19th and early 20th century Romanticism. I can hardly wait to hear him explore more of that repertoire (a disc of the Chopin Nocturnes, maybe?). Strongly recommended, especially to those who want to hear Romantic piano music played quietly and lyrically. Mark Gabrish Conlan