Robert Schumann: Drei Fantasiestücke Op. 73

Sabine Meyer, clarinet.
Alexander Lonquich, piano

First, it's too bad the recording isn't cleaner because the performance is really interesting.  With Schumann it's always hard to know how far to go beyond the notated rhythm, because you can fail by not going far enough.  This performance is pretty free and, in my opinion, does an excellent job of being true to what would usually be called the tempo marking but which is more an indication of the nature of Schumann's conception of the pieces.  The two instruments play the music far more contrapuntally and more as a collaboration than most performances - being a piano player I'm always interested in the piano getting due justice and it does here.