Schumann / Schubert / Benjamin / Paganini - Lindemann Series 5 [CD]

Hartmut Lindemann very rarely records a CD. This new one is only his fifth in fifteen years, anxiously awaited by his fans. The meticulous care he devotes to the production is all the greater. He structures his programs as recitals in the old-fashioned sense, varied collections of witty, sensitive and virtuoso pieces; so it is no surprise that when he is asked about his artistic roots he only mentions a few role models from the early twentieth century. He plays the Arpeggione Sonata with guitar accompaniment instead of piano. This is not surprising, as the work was not composed for the viola, but for the arpeggione with piano. And his rendering of Schumann's D Minor Sonata is most unusual when played on a viola. This recording must surely overshadow many a violin version. The recital is rounded off by a little recording of Hubay's Zephyr, written in 1982 in strange circumstances.