| Review by Arthur June 19, 2007 (3 of 4 found this review helpful)
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I've owned this disc for at least a couple of years now. And since a) there are no other reviews, and b) it is one of those few discs that repeatedly get pulled off my shelf, I felt the time was right to give it a plug.
Tropp is a product of the Gnessin Institute which has produced some fine players over the years. But Tropp himself has not achieved a high level of noteriety. I believe he spends a good deal of his time in Japan and may even be based there. For a while some of his recordings circulated in the West on the Denon label. I recall enjoying a Scriabin/Medtner disc, but for the most part he is not that well known.
But he should be! Tropp is a major player. He knows how to achieve a beautiful legato with his fingers, but at the same time he enunciates: you can always clearly hear each voice in his playing. Most importantly, he knows how to shape a phrase. In Schumann my litmus test for a pianist is how he plays the trademark Schumann-syncopation BUM BUM DA DA BUM DA DA BUM DA DA BUM DA DA that are found in nearly every solo piece. Only a few pass this test: Arrau comes quickly to mind, and Collard in the Sonata Op. 14 is another. Many simply miss it and round off the corners playing everything evenly. By doing so the manic quality of the music is lost. And without the manic quality, Schumann ceases to be Schumann. Tropp gets it!
I've always liked the Fantasiestuecke, but the Symphonic Etudes would join my personal Pantheon. And Tropp would be right up there with the greats (such as Richter) in this piece.
How is the recorded sound? Currently I'm only listening in stereo; but when I first got the disc I listened in 4 channel surround which is how this is recorded. Simply put, this is one of the most realistic piano sounds I have ever heard on disc! The Traumerei is on the disc three times, once using the one point mike system, once using the Decca tree system, and once using the Philips system. I'm not any sort of technical expert, but to me there wasn't much difference between the one point system and the Philips system, but the Decca system was far bassier, and I didn't like this sound nearly as much. The Etudes are recorded with the Philips system, while the Fantasiestuecke are recorded with the one point system.
My one annoyance with this disc is that the 3 versions of Traumerei are one after another in the center of the disc. Perhaps the alternatives should have been included at the end.
But this minor complaint aside, this is one of the GREAT SACDs. Get it while you can!
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