They're The New Generation

One of those periodic BBC Music mag cover disks that feature the then current Radio 3 New Generation Artists, this is a fine collection of chamber music by Schumann built around pianist Jonathan Biss in various combinations. The disk begins with solo piano performances of Papillons, twelve dance miniatures. Papillons has a dual meaning in German, that of both a mask and a larva and it is based around a novel by Jean Paul called the Fledgling Years which includes a set piece at a masked ball. Biss is then joined by soprano Emma Bell for four lieder performances. The songs here are selected from a cycle called Myrthen, written for Clara at the time of their long fought for wedding and setting the words of various poets. Martin Frost on clarinet then joins with Biss for a performance of Fantasiestucke Op 73, three short pieces with an important thematic idea from one carried over to the next in a different guise. Perhaps the most substantial piece on the disk is the final Piano Quintet in E flat Op 44, played by Biss with the Jerusalem Quartet. It's a work on a symphonic scale written in 1842 when Schumann was concentrating exclusively on chamber music and it is a work every bit as impressive as his quartets. All the performers here show great promise that is already being realised as their careers develop.