Maria Gabriella Mariani: Robert Schumann: Etica, estetica. Il sentimento
Da Vinci Classics

In notes accompanying her latest solo piano recording, Neapolitan pianist Maria Gabriella Mariani refers to Robert Schumann (1810-56) as a personal “lodestar, a partner in dialogue, a guide in my musical growth,” sentiments not exclusive to her but shared by countless others, performers and listeners alike. A primary reason why the German composer resonates so powerfully with Mariani is his humanism and a Romanticism that registers with her as genuine, authentic, and free of sentiment. For these and other musicological reasons, she decided to dedicate an entire release to his music (significant in itself given that Mariani recordings before this one couple her own compositions with those by others) and subtitle it with qualities that in her mind best capture his essence: “ethics, the aesthetic act, and the feeling that permeates his work and his life.”

Rather than present a histrionic, psychic turbulence-fixated treatment another might gravitate towards, Mariani opts for a poised presentation that while refined doesn't compromise on “Sturm und Drang.” Hers is a meticulous and methodical approach that suggests each gesture has been thoroughly considered but not at the expense of vitality or spontaneity. Mariani, who, among other things, studied with Aldo Ciccolini in Italy and made her debut at the Rimini “Aterforum” at the age of fourteen, brings a wealth of experience to the project, and it shows in every moment. Her deep connection to Schumann has manifested itself in writing too, specifically in a thesis she wrote on the composer, and by her own admission, many memories—her years at the L. Perosi Academy in Biella, piano competitions, and early concerts—are “inseparably linked with Schumann.”

Three works appear on the release, Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), Drei Romanzen, Op. 28 (1839), and Faschingsschwank Aus Wien, Op. 26 (1839), each reflecting distinct facets of the composer's soundworld. With its eight movements having been composed over four intense days in spring 1838, Kreisleriana finds Mariani bringing its emotional upheaval under control, the result a rendition that's composed but not dispassionate—balanced, in other words, and marked by clarity. Such qualities reveal themselves in the dazzling flurries with which the work begins, the pianist's flowing patterns crystalline and pure. The rising-and-falling figure that introduces the wide-ranging second movement is as entrancing as ever, but its impact is all the greater when Mariani calibrates her pacing and volume to maximize tension and lyricism. The delicacy with which she articulates the hushed parts of the mercurial third movement are exquisite, and the same might be said of the regal, almost Bach-like voicings in the fourth and the gentle supplications in the transporting sixth. Her virtuosity is called upon for the towering seventh and dramatic eighth, and throughout the work passages of intense urgency and dynamism alternate with others of languor and solemnity. The impression established is of an interpreter who is attuned to the work's arc and fully conversant with it.

Acting as an effective bridge between the first and third works, the compact Drei Romanzen proceeds with a florid opening statement (“Sehr Markiert”) and concludes with a spirited, march-animated third (“Sehr Markiert”). The work's most affecting moments arise, however, during its tender, at times transcendent central movement (“Einfach”). The romances cede the spotlight soon enough to the five-part Faschingsschwank Aus Wien, which the pianist reads as “a sparkling yet wistful glance back at a vanished Vienna.” Its melancholy inclinations are thus easily accounted for and audible, even during its more effervescent episodes. One detects undercurrents of it in the epic “Allegro” when reflective expressions emerge between an exuberant intro and fanfare-like outro. Its wistful quality's pronounced in the concise “Romanze” and audible too in the luminous “Intermezzo,” if more indirectly conveyed. Mariani's staggering technique impresses one more time when the “Finale” ushers the recording to a boisterous yet not undisciplined close.

Even though three Schumann works only are presented, the range of moods encompassed by the recording is nevertheless panoramic and emblematic of the composer's sensibility. Mariani's grasp of his music is never less than assured on this seventy-minute presentation and reveals an interpreter who's clearly spent many years immersing herself in his material and absorbing it deeply.

December 2025