Whereas the current CD catalogue lists over 60 versions of Schumann's Piano Concerto, there are to my knowledge only four of the G major Concertstuck that followed just four years later in 1849, and none at all of the D minor Introduction and Allegro, Op. 134, of 1853—the year before Schumann's breakdown. So all praise to Dalberto and Denon for now giving us these three works on one and the same disc. Even if the G major Concertstuck might be thought just a little protracted, its ideas are as graciously romantic and fresh as its scoring is delicate. After a coolish reception at its Leipzig premiere, Clara Schumann soon won it the affection it deserved, and I've never been able to understand why it's so rarely heard today. Neglect of the more demonstrative D minor work is somewhat easier to explain. But it, too, has its reminders of the romantic Schumann of old (the pathos of the piano's introductory rumination, for instance, and the cajoling lyricism of the Allegro's second subject) to offset moments of laboured invention. Combining sensitivity with warmth, soloist and orchestra play both works with persuasive conviction.
In the concerto I was more frequently reminded of the boldly impulsive, excitable Florestan than the more tender Eusebius. With the keyboard much in the limelight it's a spirited performance that yet seems to lack an element of old-world mellowness and grace. In the Andante there's a touch of waywardness in Dalberto's phrasing, precluding the intimate interplay of piano and orchestra so memorable in that old, but ever fresh, recording from Stephen Kovacevich and Sir Colin Davis, still my own favourite. Denon's tonal reproduction is reasonably acceptable apart from slightly wan-sounding woodwind solos (in the Concerto's first movement) and string pizzicato in what the booklet describes as Op. 134's ''recitativic'' introduction. And please, translator, no more use of the word 'cadence' for 'cadenza'.'