Five of the best Clara Schumann recordings
Five excellent performances of the great Romantic composer Clara Schumann
Piano Concerto
Howard Shelley (piano, conductor); Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Hyperion CDA 68240
Clara’s teenage concerto is the centrepiece of Vol. 78 of Hyperion’s popular Romantic Piano Concerto series in a performance that dances and dazzles.
Piano Trio
Antje Weithaas (violin), Tanja Tetzlaff (cello), Gunilla Sussmann (piano)
Avi Music AVI8553294
This live recording of the Piano Trio by three leading musicians was named top choice in Radio 3’s Building a Library programme. They find an ideal balance between its classical elegance and impassioned Romanticism.
Three Romances
Tasmin Little (violin), John Lenehan (piano)
Chandos CHAN20030
These miniatures for violin and piano pack a punch and Little’s soaring tone and nuanced performance brings out both their intensity and subtlety. They’ve also been arranged for cello by Steven Isserlis, which you can hear on a Hyperion recording.
Complete songs
Miriam Alexandra (soprano), Peter Gjsbertsen (tenor), Jozef De Beenhouwer (piano)
MDG9032114
Clara was a sensitive song composer and nearly 30 of her songs survive, written between 1832 and 1856. This 2019 release marks the first time they have all been recorded in their original keys.
Complete works for piano solo
Susanne Grützmann (piano)
Profil Medien PH07065 (4 discs)
This landmark set brings together all of Clara’s published piano works, from her first Polonaises to her final work, in 1856, the Romance in B minor. She dedicated to Brahms with the words ‘In loving memory! Clara’.
