''They are pieces depicting the approach and waxing of the morning but more as an expression of feeling than painting,'' was Schumann's own description of his five Gesange der Fruhe, completed only four months before his breakdown. Though the three central numbers betray signs of a tired mind, the slower prelude and postlude have a simple devoutness all their own which Daniel Levy conveys with a more judicious choice of tempo than Kubalek (Dorian/Conifer), who is surely too slow. In the more complex textures of the three central numbers, however, Levy's resonant recording venue does not allow him to achieve the clarity of Kubalek, an artist with a far keener ear for sound per se.
The nine pieces of Waldscenen are done with a nice appreciation of their forest lore. Again the simpler, lyrical numbers, like the first, third and last, fare best. More ebullient moods are not without their moments of roughness. Predictably we get playing of greater finesse from Arrau and Ashkenazy (Philips and Decca respectively), more mellifluously and truthfully reproduced. The Nachtstucke, like the other two works undershot with an element of the supernatural, completes this subtly planned Vol. 4 of Levy's complete Schumann cycle. Here I was amazed at his total disregard of rests in the first piece. Because of careless pedalling no one would ever guess that chords in the first eight bars are written as quavers followed by quaver rests, in contrast to the smooth-flowing crotchets of the next eight bars—and so on. The concluding number brings similar, even if not identical, instances. The more vigorous No. 3 in its turn has moments of total textural confusion attributable to Levy's right foot. How sad that someone so genuinely devoted to Schumann's cause seems to have so little concern for clarity and sheer tonal beauty.'