Robert Schumann(1810-1857)
     Kinderszenen, Opus 15

Clara Haskil
Philips 456829(Great Pianist series)
Recorded 1955(Amsterdam)
Comparative Versions: Lupu/Moiseiwitsch/Moravec

In past reviews, I have waxed most enthusiastically about my favored
performances of Kinderszenen: Moiseiwitsch, Arrau, Kubalek, Horszowski,
Schnabel, and Moravec.  Without hesitating to ponder the matter, Clara
Haskil's interpretation joins this esteemed body of artists.

Very often, folks want to know what style a performer uses for a particular
work.  In some respects, that's not a meaningful subject.  An artist who
serves the music has no particular style, concentrating on conveying the
composer's psychology and the music's themes.  This is exactly what Haskil
does in her reading of Kinderszenen.

Ms. Haskil knows that Schumann is revealing his childhood and *also*
his adult feelings as he looks back in time; she knows that Florestan
and Eusebius, Schumann's alter-egos, are always a factor in his music.
Armed with this knowledge, Haskil expertly and with artistry blends these
contrasts into stunning performances of memorable proportion.  So, it is
not a style that she conveys, but an architecture and emotional breadth
and depth that gives us Schumann's mind and spirit.

In the 1st Scene, "Foreign lands and people", Haskil fully provides
the dual themes of a child dreaming of unknown horizons and the adult
contemplating the connections between childhood dreams and adult realities.
The subtle tugging of her descending lines while she varies tempo and
dynamics makes the world of difference between her interpretation and
the one by Radu Lupu which tends to forego the adult view.

The most important ingredient of Haskil's performances is her ability to
invest a note with both the child's wide-eyed innocence and the adult's
life experiences.  She does this routinely throughout the work, and it
results in many transcendent interpretations.

The only scene I initially didn't take to was the 12th Scene where Haskil
is quite energetic in portraying a sleeping child.  However, she's turned
me around to the view that active dreams have their own rewards.  For a
role-model of serenity, the Moravec performance on Supraphon presents a
very different type of dream, and it is illuminating to hear one
performance immediately after the other.

Exuberance and gusto play a major role in many of the scenes, and Haskil
also excels here as well.  "Catch me" is a bundle of excitement in her
hands, and her "Happiness" scene has the joy just about leaping out of the
speakers and through my eardrums.  Nobody captures the boundless exuberance
of Kinderszenen better than Haskil.

Don's Conclusions: This Philips Great Pianist set is easily worth its
price for Haskil's Kinderszenen alone.  But of course, there's much more
on the program: Beethoven's "Hunt" and "Tempest Sonatas, two Mozart piano
sonatas and two sets of variations, the Schubert Sonata in B flat, and
Schumann's "ABEGG" Variations.  Clara Haskil was a consummate artist and
her Great Pianist set is an essential acquisition for piano enthusiasts.
Concerning just her version of Kinderszenen, it's on a par with
Moiseiwitsch's and that means it is at the top of dozens of alternative
performances on record.  The sound quality is fine for the time period
and does not for a moment interfere with Haskil's playing.  Rush to your
computer and order these recordings from your most reliable virtual store!
The premise that "notes have meaning" has no greater support than found in
Clara Haskil's Kinderszenen where they have multiple meanings.

Don Satz
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