Schmidt: tragic but marvellous
What a most tragic composer he was, Franz Schmidt! Before World War 2 seen as an excellent craftsman, after the war as a tragic collaborator. O.k., let's see that as ,,water under the bridge'': he was an excellent composer but a bad, misled, naive politician (not exactly the skill of composers...). And now we have this exceptional performance of his even exceptional quintet in A (for the left hand), a gift to his friend Paul von Wittgenstein, wounded during World War 1.
I am - o.k.: my secret - since long a fan of Schmidt, so I won't be ,,objective''. I have in my cd collection many performances of his famous Quintet in A. But this new CPO-record sets a (true) standard for the future. Excellent, 5 stars: the ensemble - understanding the composer ultimately! - , the performance and, at last, the superb recording. Do we want more, for the next future?
I don't, to be honest.
