Pianist
Joseph Kalichstein is probably known to most as the pianist in the venerable
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, although this album proves that he is not only a gifted chamber musician, but also a brilliant soloist and scholar. The program
Kalichstein presents on the present album is brilliantly selected. Beginning with a short work of Clara Schumann (Op. 6), it progresses into Robert Schumann's Op. 6 (no coincidence), his 18 dances that make up the Davidsbundler Dances, based partially on Clara's work. And who would be more likely to pay homage to the Schumanns than Brahms, whose Variations on a Theme of Schumann in F sharp minor effectively rounds out the program, save for a little encore of the Intermezzo from Schumann's Carnival in Vienna.
Kalichstein proves his scholarship by lucidly and informatively writing about the interconnections between these works, making the liner notes a very welcome addition to the album. His performance of these works is equally as coherent. The 18 Schumann dances and the 16 Brahms variations are quickly changing character pieces, and
Kalichstein keeps each dance and each variation remarkably fresh. Koch's recorded sound is a little more stark than some may be used to for Brahms and Schumann, but the added clarity actually provides a level of intimacy and transparency that many other recordings lack.