A decade after his highly acclaimed “In Concert” album, master pianist András Schiff continues his documentation of Robert Schumann’s music in a 2-Cd set recorded at Neumarkt’s Reutstadl. Rertoire includes Papillons op. 2, Klaviersonate fis-moll op. 11, Kinderszenen op. 15, Fantasie C-Dur op. 17, Waldszenen op. 82, Thema mit Variationen (Geistervariationen). The Fantasy in C Major is heard with alternate endings: as well as the official published version, Schiff includes a preliminary version he finds more musically convincing. András Schiff gives his thoughts on the matter in a very interesting note in the CD booklet which also gives background information by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert on each of the compositions.
Robert Schumann: Geistervariationen
András Schiff
- CD 1
- Papillons, op. 2
- 1Introduzione. Moderato - I.00:54
- 2II. Prestissimo00:19
- 3III.00:46
- 4IV. Presto00:52
- 5V.01:17
- 6VI.00:59
- 7VII. Semplice00:57
- 8VIII.01:12
- 9IX. Prestissimo00:44
- 10X. Vivo01:54
- 11XI.03:05
- 12XII. Finale01:51
- Klaviersonate fis-moll, op. 11
- 13I. Introduzione. Un poco Adagio - Allegro vivace13:11
- 14II. Aria03:06
- 15III. Scherzo e Intermezzo. Allegrissimo05:09
- 16IV. Finale. Allegro un poco maestoso11:49
- Kinderszenen, op. 15
- 17Von fremden Ländern und Menschen01:11
- 18Curiose Geschichte01:01
- 19Hasche-Mann00:31
- 20Bittendes Kind00:45
- 21Glückes genug00:42
- 22Wichtige Begebenheit00:47
- 23Träumerei02:02
- 24Am Camin00:59
- 25Ritter vom Steckenpferd00:37
- 26Fast zu ernst01:41
- 27Fürchtenmachen01:34
- 28Kind im Einschlummern01:52
- 29Der Dichter spricht02:02
- CD 2
- Fantasie C-Dur, op. 17
- 1I. Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen11:48
- 2II. Mäßig07:47
- 3III. Langsam getragen (ursprüngliche Fassung)11:31
- Waldszenen, op. 82
- 4Eintritt02:05
- 5Jäger auf der Lauer01:24
- 6Einsame Blumen01:55
- 7Verrufene Stelle03:28
- 8Freundliche Landschaft01:10
- 9Herberge02:03
- 10Vogel als Prophet03:00
- 11Jagdlied02:39
- 12Abschied03:35
- Thema mit Variationen "Geistervariationen"
- 13Tema. Leise, innig01:39
- 14Var. I01:27
- 15Var. II. Canonisch01:27
- 16Var. III. Etwas belebter01:31
- 17Var. IV01:27
- 18Var. V02:40
- Fantasie C-Dur, op. 17
- 19III. Langsam getragen (Fassung letzter Hand)10:57
Schiff has assembled a collection that provides some new insights into Schumann’s approaches to composition and delivers those insights with a solid technique as sure to inform the curious listener as the seasoned connoisseur.
Stephen Smoliar, Examiner
Der Ungar András Schiff, einer der unbestrittenen Klaviergötter unserer Zeit, ist mit der Musik Robert Schumanns vertraut wie nur wenige seiner Zunft. Er verfügt über das technisch-klangliche und analytische Rückgrat, um jede seiner Vorstellungen bis ins feinste Detail zu verwirklichen. (...) Schiff bietet vom Finale der Fantasie op. 17 sowohl die Früh- als auch die Endfassung, verzaubert in den Miniaturen der "Kinder-" und "Waldszenen" und errichtet weite Bögen in der fis-Moll Sonate. In den nachgelassenen, gänzlich weltentrückten "Geister-Variationen" ist er zuhause wie sonst kaum jemand. Große Kunst für hohe Ansprüche.
Crescendo
András Schiff, a lifelong advocate of Schumann, has returned to manuscript sources for this recital, which begins early with “Papillons” op. 11 and spans the composer’s career through to “Geistervariationen” (“Ghost Variations”), in the middle of writing which Schumann attempted suicide. It was his last completed piano work, and is as shadowy and mysterious as the title suggests. Schiff plays the hushed opening theme as if holding his breath. In addition to the published version of the Fantasy in C, Schiff offers the unexpected, alternative ending, long hidden in a library in Budapest. So there is much to explore here, as well as Schiff’s formidably incisive, subtle and persuasive pianism to relish.
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer
Wann ist dieses vermeintlich schlichte Werk letztmals so innig und ehrlich, so bescheiden und gehaltvoll auf Schallplatte festgehalten worden? Die Schumann-Gesamtaufnahme mit Eric Le Sage ist in der Summe wirklich eine grandiose Einspielung, doch im Falle dieses op. 15 stellt Schiff sie in den Schatten. Zu "Geistervariationen": András Schiff findet stets den passenden Ton - mit glasklarem Anschlag, Zurückhaltung beim Pedal sowie einer Vielfalt an Farben und Stimmungen. Überragend!
Christoph Vratz, WDR3
Über die "Papillons": "flink, grillenhaft und mit herrlichem Gespür für Rubati, die kleinen Verzögerungen, die schnell Gefahr laufen, in große Löcher auszuarten." Weiter schreibt er: "Die `Kinderszenen´ macht Schiff zu einem Füllhorn an Poesie. (...) Wie Schiff das Ende der `Wichtigen Begebenheit´ ins Nichts überführt, wie er die Mehrstimmigkeit in `Am Kamin´ auslotet, wie er den `Ritter vom Steckenpferd´ nicht als Armee-Soldaten, sondern als burschikosen Kinder-Ritt deutet ist fabelhaft. Am Ende, wenn `Der Dichter spricht´, klingt der Choral mit eingeflochtenem Rezitativ wunderbar schlicht und doch ergreifend beredt.
Christoph Vratz, Rheinische Post
András Schiff is not one to follow the crowd, so even in this much-recorded repertoire you know you can expect something different. These Schumann interpretations are head and shoulders above any other recent releases of the composer’s piano works. There is astonishing clarity of line and texture, intellectual focus in every interpretive decision, and a palpable sense of immediacy all too rare in studio recordings of piano music.
Gavin Dixon, Classic CD Reviews
"A lovely two-disc set of four early Schumann works, the later nine little tone poems of Waldszenen, and his last work, the so-called `Ghost-Variations´. (...) András Schiff brings a touching intimacy to the suites of short character pieces that make up Papillons, Kinderszenen and Waldszenen, while relishing the grander gestures of the First Piano Sonata. But it is the last movement of the C major Fantasie that makes this absorbing release more so, for Shiff plays Schumann´s original ending of the third movement which returns to the same Beethoven quote that ends the first movement. You might agree with Schiff (and me) that his first thought was the more inspired. If not, he also includes the standard ending as the final item on the disc. The musicological aspect aside, this remains a distinguished release."
Jeremy Nicholas, Classic FM Magazin
Though in chronological order, Schiff´s exquisite double-disc recital takes its title from the Ghost Variations of 1854, composed to a theme dictated by angels in the hallucinatory days before Schumann threw himself into the Rhine. Schiff is too subtle a musician to allow a single thesis to dominate. Yet the fine line between dream and delusion can be felt elsewhere, not least the C major Fantasy, played here in the Budapest edition, with Schumann´s more familiar revision an appendix.
Anna Picard, Independent on Sunday
"Here is a double CD set of astounding importance; an instant classic and immediately one of this reviewer´s dics of the year. (...) It also features the finest, most thrilling and moving performances of the great Fantasie in C major that I have heard. (...) His is a supreme set; an absolute must."
Michael Tumelty, Sunday Herald
Le pianiste hongrois András Schiff, bienôt 58 ans, revient au compositeur allemand qu´il joue depuis toujours avec sa sensiblité à fleur de peau et un toucher aux couleurs infiniment variées. András Schiff est amoureux de Schumann. Il le joue avec une soif d´introspection et une incandescence ailée qui contrastent avec des lectures plus mâles. C´est cette fragilité qui se niche au cœur de la musique de Schumann, les doutes, les chimères, qu´il laisse affleurer dans ses interprétations.
Le Temps
| YEAR | DATE | VENUE | LOCATION | |
| 2025 | November 12 | Konserthuset | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| 2025 | November 13 | Konserthuset | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| 2025 | November 19 | Konzerthaus | Dortmund, Germany | |
| 2025 | November 20 | Heinrich-Lades-Halle | Erlangen, Germany | |
| 2025 | November 22 | Teatro Nuovo | Udine, Italy | |
| 2025 | November 23 | LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura - Sala Teatro | Lugano, Switzerland | |
| 2025 | November 25 | Alte Oper | Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 2025 | November 27 | Queen Elizabeth Hall | London, United Kingdom | |
| 2025 | December 03 | Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia | Rome, Italy | |
| 2025 | December 06 | Teatro della Pergola | Florence, Italy | |
| 2025 | December 09 | Conservatorio Sala Verdi | Milano, Italy | |
| 2025 | December 12 | historischer Reitstadel | Neumarkt, Germany | |
| 2025 | December 18 | Pierre Boulez Saal | Berlin, Germany | |
| 2025 | December 21 | Pierre Boulez Saal | Berlin, Germany | |
| 2025 | December 26 | Pierre Boulez Saal | Berlin, Germany | |
| 2025 | December 29 | Pierre Boulez Saal | Berlin, Germany | |
| 2026 | January 01 | Pierre Boulez Saal | Berlin, Germany | |
| 2026 | January 04 | Pierre Boulez Saal | Berlin, Germany | |
| 2026 | January 07 | Konzerthaus | Vienna, Austria |
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