If you love piano music of
Robert Schumann, you owe it to yourself to hear this disc. To begin with, the repertoire is fabulous. The disc opens with the Piano Sonata, Op. 14, in its original five-movement form and not the more familiar three-movement form foisted on the composer by his publisher, then continues with the Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Wieck, Op. 5, in its earlier form as a set of free variations and not the more concise set of classical variations reworked by the composer years later, and finally concludes with what is arguably
Schumann's greatest solo piano work, the Fantaisie, Op. 17, in its final three-movement form. Better yet, the performances are among the finest any of these pieces have ever received. French pianist
Eric le Sage has the virtuoso technique to tackle the magnificently difficult March at the center of the Fantaisie and the emotional control to restrain the violent passions of the Sonata. And best of all,
le Sage has the insight to create a program entirely dedicated to the ardent affair between the composer and Clara Wieck, his "distant beloved," without compromising the works' powerful musical integrity. Recorded in the Salle de musique of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, Alpha's digital sound is neither too close nor too distant, but rather utterly natural.