Schumann, Intermezzo, Op. 4, No. 5 in Dm

[rachfan]

Probably quite a few pianists are unfamiliar with Schumann's Intermezzi.  Drawn from Op. 4, this seemingly improvisatory 5th Intermezzo certainly displays an original and strange beauty to it. It might be debatable though whether this piece could be considered as representative, or not, of Schumann's early style and idiom.

I played/recorded this intermezzo in 1992.



Update: I deleted the CD cut (29 downloads) and replaced it with the original tape recording for better fidelity.    

[pianiststrongbad]

Never heard this before or played it, so I can't really critique it in a definitive way.  With that said, I think you play this beautifully.  I really like the slower sections in terms of direction (dynamically and rubato).  The 2nd theme (the faster one which happens a few other times in the piece),  I felt that the direction was a bit bland and could be more.  I could hear in the beginning of it you did a nice crescendo.  And then after that I felt like it got stuck in terms of direction.  Perhaps you had something in mind there, its just not apparent to me.  But the rest of this is really really good.  You play with a lot of musicality.

[rachfan]

Hi Pianostrongbad,

Thanks for your comments!  I especially appreciated the one on musicality.  Although I don't have a "big technique", usually through interpretation I can capture the essence of a piece and put it over to the listener.  This intermezzo, however, seemed wierd to me while I was learning it.  It's definitely a rare bird.  Where it's an early work of Schumann, it could be that he was being a little experimental at that stage.  I once read that he considered these Intermezzi as Papillons.  So yes, in those two places you mentioned, I was probably challenged--or mystified--as to what I actually wanted to do there, which seldom happens to me.   Or maybe Schumann intended those places to seem lost in space and time.   Probably if a number of people were to listen to this piece, many might not be able to guess it was even written by Schumann, as it just doesn't seem characteristic somehow.  I think if I were to pick this piece up again and relearn it, I'd probably come up with some fresh ideas on how to refine it.   Again, thanks for your feedback.

[rachfan]

Drawn from Op. 4, this 5th Intermezzo has an original and strange beauty to it.  It's probably an excellent example of Schumann's early style, but it seems that few pianists have ever heard it.  Comments welcome.