“The big news here is the terrific playing of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. The strings, polished during Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 year tenure as music director, sound even more impressive under Alexander Shelley…” Gramophone Magazine
This album is the first of four in a recording cycle that explores the closely intertwined personal and artistic connections between three musical giants: Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Robert Schumann’s and Johannes Brahms’ symphonies will be paired and combined with Clara Schumann’s chamber works and orchestral pieces, including some special gems.
“I have always loved these symphonies and saw many links between them. It’s always been my dream to record them and release them together. No story of these two composers is complete without Clara, as famous in her lifetime as her husband, and a strong influence on both Robert and Johannes. We crafted this vision with Clara Schumann scholar Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers, to combine the symphonies with pieces by Clara in ways that provide an insightful narrative to the intertwined lives and works of these three Romantics.” Alexander Shelley
“Shelley wields a taut baton, presenting textures that are slender yet not too wispy, filled with spirited rhythms but sensibly measured tempos.” BBC Music