In partnership with six different instrumental soloists, French pianist
Eric le Sage here demonstrates, as he also did in his 2007 Alpha recording of
Robert Schumann's solo piano music, that he is deeply attuned to
Schumann's characteristic balance between the passionate and the intimate. This is especially true of the first disc, on which he teams with oboist
François Leleux, clarinetist
Paul Meyer, violist
Antoine Tamestit, and hornist
Bruno Schneider in performances that emphasize the sheer loveliness of
Schumann's writing; beauty of tone, balance, and melodic grace take center stage. On the second disc,
le Sage teams up with violinist
Gordan Nikolitch for
Schumann's three sonatas for violin and piano, and the results are quite different and compelling. Here,
Schumann is a more dramatic, a more driven, even a more obsessive composer. Although he sometimes seems to be pushing his technique and intonation too far,
Nikolitch's dedication never falters, and his forceful interpretations are made all the more convincing by his tenacity. Le Sage responds with his most powerful playing on these two discs. Recorded in the Salle de musique of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, Alpha's digital sound is real and natural.