This coupling may be well-tried but it remains a good and appropriate one, linking two lyrical Romantic concertos (of 19 LP versions of the Grieg in the Gramophone Classical Catalogue nine are with the Schumann); yet they are really considerably different, though very seldom treated so. The more succesful here is the Schumann which Zimerman plays with the right feeling and, especially in the finale, with great fluency.
When the Grieg started I thought it might be equally succesful, for the first theme is treated lightly and given its dance-like rhythm, thus avoiding the suggestion that Grieg never forgot his years at the Leipzig Concervatoire. That was not so, for his nationalistic feeling was all important to him.
So we start admirably; but before long we are into a slow and indulgent, over-romantic way of playing (at the piu lento). The slow movement is suited by its sensitive treatment; but the middle of the finale, where the flute solo is more than a little piu tranquillo, again has a lush treatment and lacks freshness, an intrusion into an otherwise admirable interpretation.
The CD sound is excellent; clear and well balanced between piano and orchestra. The BPO cellists, a famous group in their own right, sound at their best in the Schumann slow movement. The famous silence at breaks in CD is particularly notable on this record, not only when there are actually rests in the soloist's part but at those moments when Zimerman typically shades down a calando passage to a slight articulation before he continues.'