An identical coupling recently appeared from Mitsuko Uchida on Philips and prompted both praise and reservation from JOC. Yet both performances operate on a different level of achievement from Miceal O’Rourke who is outwitted on every flank by Schumann’s dizzying changes of mood and pace. Sadly, he possesses neither the fingers nor temperament for such romantic volatility and, taking ‘safety first’ as his slogan, responds unsatisfactorily to even the most rudimentary directions regarding tempos, dynamics and characterization. In Carnaval Florestan-inspired demands for passionato, agitato, vivo, presto and precipitandosi are scarcely met halfway. Even those who allow for the greatest leeway will note a general air of reluctance and, less generally, a “Reconaissance” that is neither pianissimo nor animato and a “Valse allemande” that by no stretch of the imagination could be described as graceful or vivace.
Kreisleriana is marginally better, largely because the demands are less obviously high-flying or virtuosic. But, again, O’Rourke lacks the confidence or resource to reach out and try for greater focus or commitment. In No. 6 he evinces at any rate some sense of poetry (though he is far from acute) but in the sehr rasch vehemence of No. 7 he is quite without the necessary degree of articulacy or vividness.
Those interested primarily in this coupling will do better to turn to the aforementioned record by Mitsuko Uchida. There are of course many other more outstanding performances (Lupu in Kreisleriana and the ever-quixotic Cherkassky, for example). Chandos’s recordings are satisfactory, Carnaval includes “Sphinxes” and all repeats are observed.'