It isn’t often that pianists produce depth and definition during pianissimo. Michael Endres does. His playing has a precisely judged ease‚ probably the result of study with Peter Feuchtwanger who also teaches the importance of muscular repose. For Endres‚ introspection matters too. So there is no dynamic brilliance à la Richter in the Toccata. Instead‚ Schumann’s footnote to the first edition‚ allowing ‘as much latitude for the expression of the music’ seems to govern a yielding performance that will arouse controversy. So will Kinderszenen. In places‚ tempos are unexpectedly slow. But Endres has the composer on his side because there aren’t speed indications for any of the scenes. What matters is that this artist not only evokes their moods but also binds them into a convincing whole. Moreover‚ his tone control is always proficient and is shown in a recording that has a good balance between immediacy and concert hall ambience. ‘Perhaps my most melancholy work‚’ said Schumann about Humoreske. Endres uses the description as another starting point for interpretation that goes as far as to offer an unauthorised two­speed Hastig (track 2). This part only becomes hasty after the first 24 bars during which Endres’s calm gives presence to the ‘inner voice’ on a third stave. A disconcerting difference in approach‚ perhaps‚ but it works. What of Gesänge der Frühe? They were specifically called ‘an expression of feeling’ and Endres’s own expressive compass is fully up to the mark. Nothing controversial here. For the rest‚ drop preconceptions. An excellent disc.