Review: Schumann - Fantasy, Kreisleriana

Image: Jaehyong Park

Yeol Eum Son is a perfect example of the cruel dichotomy of piano competitions. She picked second prizes in both the Tchaikovsky and Van Cliburn piano competitions, and a third prize at the Rubinstein competition. The top prizes of these competitions went, among others, to Daniil Trifonov, Igor Levit, Alexander Gavrylyuk, and Nobuyuki Tsujii. After two successful albums for Decca, Son turns to Schumann, a composer she memorably performed in these competitions. This release finds her an assured interpreter of this sometimes elusive music.

Purchase on Amazon

The performance of the Fantasy in C is more aligned with Pollini than with Pletnev, and possesses an almost Beethovenian quality, as if to hint at the composer this piece was dedicated to. Like András Schiff, Son uses a forgotten addition of the third movement, where the final bars quote again the Beethoven theme which closes the first movement. This is a Fantasy that tells the narrative sincerely, responsibly executed and impresses for its sheer virtuosity, especially in the difficult second movement. It won’t satisfy those looking for a hyper-romantic view as Pletnev’s or, to a lesser degree, Perahia (Son’s final movement is rather dry and matter-of-fact), but it’s an impressive and quite successful performance nonetheless.

Related Classical Music Reviews

The Kreisleriana is a different story; The never-ending conflicts that comprise Schumann’s big piano cycles are met with outstanding sensitivity, and the tone, pedal and phrasing control are all superb. I was glad to hear Son is not afraid to use a lot of pedal in the first movement, as lately many pianists sacrifice Schumann’s tumultuous writing for the sake of “clarity”, this new fashioned ideal. Hear how expertly the quiet chords of the fourth movement (track 4) are penetrating while remaining hushed, or how the seventh movement (track 10) allows for the main melody to come alive above the short-notes blur. Adding a good recording by the Ondine engineers and a responsive instrument, this album is worth purchasing for the Kreisleriana alone.