German-Spanish cellist Gabriel Schwabe likes themed works. After a first record (Naxos) dedicated to the cello and piano works of Brahms and one of Saint-Saëns's cello and orchestral works for the same publisher, this third album is given over entirely to Robert Schumann's cello works, including new compositions, like the Three Romances for oboe and piano, arranged by the cellist himself. In this new recording, we find all of his youthful spirit and his manner of playing almost without touching, passing ever-so-lightly over the depths of Schumann's melodies, in a dizzying forward flight. This almost-Mendelsohnian way of playing rejuvenates works which have been heard a hundred times before, just as his complicity with pianist Nicholas Rimmer forms a perfect duo, whose quality has been fully evident on the previous albums.
But it is another pianist, Lars Vogt, an avid orchestral director, who accompanies Gabriel Schwabe with great subtlety on the sumptuous Concerto in A Minor. There isn't a hint of anguish or nostalgia in this performance, but rather the assurance of youth, forging ahead with optimism, in a classical style that is close to Haydn. Schumann has hardly ever looked so radiant. © François Hudry/Qobuz