“Pollack has taken on the subtle challenges of Schumann’s Carnaval and has recorded a revelatory view of the work that is balm for the jaded ear and a soul-satisfying achievement. There is little need to compare this Carnaval with the performance of other artists since along with the best of them it occupies its own unique special world. The great Schumann Fantasy is played with sweep and passion…(Pollack) plays all three sections with all the emotion, imagination and color necessary to make it sound like a disciplined, yet grand improvisation. Liszt’s two blockbusters (the Mephisto Waltz, Funerailles) only add additional incentives to acquire this outstanding recording.”
— Alan Becker, American Record
“Pollack plays in the great romantic tradition. He brings out enough fantasy in Schumann’s famous suite Carnaval, to renew the piece in the listener’s ear. He highlights the left hand and the harmonies and adds in here and there dreamy rubatos. He ends with another piece by Liszt, the first (and only well-known) of the four Mephisto Valses. This piece seems vulgar under the hands of virtuosos who drown the themes under torrents of arpeggios. Pollack avoids this excess and restores the picture with brilliant clarity.”
— Claude Gingras, La Presse, Montreal, Canada
Included on this Recording:
- Carnaval, Op.9: I. Préambule
- Carnaval, Op.9: II. Pierrot
- Carnaval, Op.9: III. Arlequin
- Carnaval, Op.9: IV. Valse noble
- Carnaval, Op.9: V. Eusebius
- Carnaval, Op.9: VI. Florestan
- Carnaval, Op.9: VII. Coquette
- Carnaval, Op.9: VIII. Réplique, Sphinxes
- Carnaval, Op.9: IX. Papillons
- Carnaval, Op.9: X. Asch-Scha
- Carnaval, Op.9: XI. Chiarina
- Carnaval, Op.9: XII. Chopin
- Carnaval, Op.9: XIII. Estrella
- Carnaval, Op.9: XIV. Reconnaissance
- Carnaval, Op.9: XV. Pantalon et Colombine
- Carnaval, Op.9: XVI. Valse allemande
- Carnaval, Op.9: XVII. Intermezzo: Paganini
- Carnaval, Op.9: XVIII. Aveu
- Carnaval, Op.9: XIX. Promenade
- Carnaval, Op.9: XX. Pause
- Carnaval, Op.9: XXI. Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins
- Funérailles: from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, no. 7
- Fantasie in C, Op. 17: I. Durchaus fantastich und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen
- Fantasie in C, Op. 17: II. Mässig. Durchaus energisch
- Fantasie in C, Op. 17: III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten
- Mephisto Waltz No. 1