Say what you will, these recordings of Schumann's piano music between 1967 and 1975 for Deutsche Grammophon by
Wilhelm Kempff were then and remain now the touchstone for Schumann piano playing. You could say that at the point in his career at which these recordings were made,
Kempff's technique wasn't up to the tougher pages, and you would be right. In the coda of the Fantasie's March, in the Kreisleriana's Prestos, and in the Symphonische Etuden's knottiest textures,
Kempff wasn't always able to make all the stretches, hit all the notes or nail all the rhythms -- much less match the tempos specified by the composer. But you couldn't say
Kempff didn't know how to play Schumann. He knew how to articulate the inner lines, how to voice the harmonies, and, crucially, how to sustain a legato melody with only the outer fingers of his right hand. You couldn't say that
Kempff didn't understand Schumann. He knew the ups and downs of the Davidsbündlertänzer, the bliss and terror of the Waldszenen, and the agony and ecstasy of the Fantasie. And you surely couldn't say that
Kempff couldn't express Schumann. From the emotionally intimate Kinderszenen to the virtuosically extravagant G minor Sonata to the effortlessly serene Arabesque,
Kempff knows how to put Schumann's music across as few before him and fewer after him. Captured in Deutsche Grammophon's cool, clear stereo sound,
Kempff's playing isn't perfect -- it's ideal.