Schumann: Papillons - Davidsbündlertänze - Arabeske

SCHUMANN Davidsbündlertänze. Papillons. Arabesque • Denys Proshayev (pn) • PIANO 0057 (59:20) Davidsbündlertänze represents the high point of inspiration among Schumann’s sets of short piano pieces, as Dichterliebe does among his song cycles. The wit, variety, technical innovation, melodic inspiration, and artful, sometimes jolting segués between pieces (or songs) in both works make them Schumann’s finest collections. While Davidsbündlertänze may sound randomly kaleidoscopic, it’s actually purposefully structured, as 12 dances are balanced by six pieces of either lyrical or stormy character. Davidsbündler’s 18 pieces, like Dichterliebe’s 16 songs, cohere as a cycle and neither work can be successfully excerpted. The Belarus-born pianist Denys Proshayev is a sympathetic guide to Davidsbündlertänze ’s structure, slightly downplaying the speed and extroversion of a few of the pieces (nos. 9 and 10), and lavishing the longest, most introverted moveme