Schumann

Dame Mitsuko Uchida, universally acknowledged as one of the worlds foremost Schumann interpreters, follows her last album of the composers music (Davidsbündlertänze and Fantasie in C) with another sublime Schumann programme.

Uchidas latest Decca recording brings together the romantic fire and intensity of the Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor Op. 22 with two remarkable works from Schumanns final years, Waldszenen and the Gesange der Fruhe.

These works ideally suit the artists personal blend of cerebral perception and heart-felt intuition in performance.

Her albums repertoire explores music created by an artist burdened by deep depression and mental illness. His Gesange der Fruhe (Songs of Dawn) were sketched within the space of four days in February 1854, shortly before Schumann attempted to commit suicide by throwing himself in the Rhine. The work proved to be his last complete piano composition.