Pierre-Laurent Aimard earned a reputation as a pianist unafraid of new music, and he usually achieved high praise for his recordings of twentieth century music. In the early 2000s, however, he returned to older repertoire, with mixed results. This recording of Schumann's Études Symphoniques and Carnaval is one of his better efforts.
The Symphonic Etudes are generally considered one of Schumann's more reasoned works, an exercise in composition as much as a set of exercises for the pianist.
Aimard, however, focuses on the temperament of the etudes rather than the ins and outs of Schumann's thoughts on thematic development. It's the careful attention to Schumann's Florestan and Eusebius characters -- named in one of Schumann's early titles for the work "Etudes im Orchestercharakter von Florestan und Eusebius" -- that makes
Aimard's performance work. He does always bring out the melody and always makes it move and feel like a singer's interpretation, particularly in variations such as in Etude No. 2, which has a Schubertian, pulsing, chordal accompaniment.
Aimard controls his energy and enthusiasm in the more outgoing variations to make every phrase count, just as he brings delicacy and beauty to the more inward-looking "Posthumus Variations" inserted as a group between Etudes No. 7 and No. 8. The finale could stand to have even more of the boldness that he puts into Etude No. 6.
Carnaval is all about character, and
Aimard plays with each dance a little more freely than he does the etudes. For the most part his playing is drier (i.e., with less pedaling), than most pianists', making the set less truly dance-like and more stylized in nature. His interpretations range from swirling excitement to hazy dreaminess, but some may find the more relaxed pieces too vague.
Aimard chooses to play the Sphinxes, the two four-note ciphers that are the keys to Schumann's themes in Carnaval, and they stick out like a twentieth century serial piece in the middle of the others.
Aimard has a tendency to overthink these two popular Schumann works, but there are many reasons to appreciate his interpretations.
The recording's sound is less dimensional than desired for these temperamental works.