Why do so many think the Schumann concerto sucks?

[thalbergmad]

A proper romantic concerto. Stenhammer knows how to let his imagination soar.

Thal

[ronde_des_sylphes]

The Schumann concerto is the apotheosis of petit bourgeois banality, and if piano playing was always just more of the same, I'd take up a really interesting hobby like watching paint dry or darning socks.

[thalbergmad]

Well said that man.

[themeandvariation]

https://books.google.com/books?id=7nDFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA244&lpg=PA244&dq=Romantic+Music+period,+bourgeoise&source=bl&ots=BjK6UjYfKm&sig=-NUZteNn9Kv7i3FFwEj2HNhIqc4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0hOTVa67NIncsAXUwL6ICg&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Romantic%20Music%20period%2C%20bourgeoise&f=false

It was thru the bourgeoise that this music - of the Whole romantic  movement - was born… The luxurious dream, however, cannot be separated from the possibility of 'the banal' in any of that repertoire… (and i don't think that that  is  necessarily  a bad thing… ) So why then, split hairs (!) and make Schumann the sacrificial lamb?  (btw, i do believe Schumann has a few moments in that concerto of exquisite beauty…. 1st mov't. , in a  development  section, where the harp like  arpeggios accompany the woodwinds.. )
(i am picking up a certain sense of sour grapes on this one…)
Cheers!

[ronde_des_sylphes]

I did specify petit bourgeois

On a serious note, I'd like to pose a question.

IF it is the case, as is often stated with Schumann and Mozart, that it is great music, but it takes a "special artist" to bring out its greatness, then why, when a different "special artist" - say Katsaris or Wild - makes something magical out of, for example, certain pieces of salon music, is the converse argument deployed i.e. it was a great performance making something out of mediocre material?

[themeandvariation]

It seems we are mixing 'performance' with the value judgment  of a composition…  This is inevitably a messy equation…. To me there is only One composer that consistently defies mediocrity : Bach .  (though there is nothing wrong with a little bacon grease for a smoother ride
 

[themeandvariation]

"is the converse argument deployed"…   Yes.  They can't have it both ways.. I agree.

(wish i could now modify part of my previous post…. perhaps more like: "There are but few composers who defy mediocrity consistently, and of whom, Bach is certainly in the running."