Country : Canada Label : Analekta Genres and styles : Classical Year : 2023

National Arts Centre Orchestra – Atmosphere and Mastery: Clara, Robert, Johannes (Pt. 3)

· by Zenith Wolfe

The National Arts Centre Orchestra is not one to shy away from a challenge, but this album series is somewhat of an anomaly, both conceptually and in terms of scale; for the third instalment to resonate so strongly is nothing short of impressive.

The series began with Darlings of the Muses, named for the title Robert Schumann supposedly gave Johannes Brahms after first hearing Brahms’s music. Both of their love for Clara Schumann created a complicated dynamic that in turn influenced their music, the drama of which forms the basis of the NAC Orchestra’s years-long project. 

The series itself has its own fraught history. The first album came out during the pandemic – May 2020, to be exact, when the torrential scale of the plague began to make itself known to the world – and the second in December 2021, when recording would likely have been difficult due to lockdown restrictions. That alone marks the third release as a display of dedication.

As with these previous two albums, Atmosphere and Mastery contrasts a symphony by Brahms against the analogous, earlier symphony by Robert that inspired Brahms. Composed in around a month, the third symphony by Robert is a cascading exploration of his emotions, from the flighty second movement to the triumphant last movement. Though it’s not inspired by Clara, the strong feelings he had for her undoubtedly infused the romantic feeling of this work, as shown by the NAC Orchestra’s brilliant rendition.

Clara’s operas feel sudden after the emotionally adventurous symphony, but the singer’s soothing voice and the low intensity of the compositions makes it instantly comforting. Quatre pièces fugitives and Piano sonata in G Minor follow this calm pattern, helped immensely by the orchestra’s expert pianist. The initial intensity that seeks to ease the listener out of Robert’s compositions signals her grief at her husband’s mental deterioration, and the calm transition shows her continuing her work as a virtuosic musician despite his tragic death. Clara is more prevalent on this album than the two previous entries in this series, which only goes to show the degree of her fame in comparison to Robert and Brahms.

The piano sonata leads into the sweeping experience that is Brahms’s third symphony, which contains several motifs from Robert’s symphony. This composition puts much more emphasis on pairing the strings and brass instruments, giving it a deeper and more contemplative sound than the works heard so far as Brahms grapples with the drama of the Schumann family. It distinguishes him from Robert while still incorporating his melodies to reflect Brahms’s similar feelings for Clara. But his melodies don’t feel close to hers until her last composition on the album.The more romantic Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17 picks up the pace from Clara’s previously showcased works, and it emphasizes the violins more, which is the NAC perhaps demonstrating how Brahms and Clara became emotionally and musically closer as time went on. Yet her insistence on piano despite its absence in Brahms’s work suggests their fate of never truly being together. It’s a theme whose further exploration will be highly anticipated in the project’s final instalment.

Latest 360 Content

A party with post-punk Brooklynites TVOD

A party with post-punk Brooklynites TVOD

FIRE! Orchestra at FIMAV: Power Trio Meets Canadian Community of Avant-Garde Players

FIRE! Orchestra at FIMAV: Power Trio Meets Canadian Community of Avant-Garde Players

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

LMNL – Rainbow

LMNL – Rainbow

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Galan Trio – Embrace

Galan Trio – Embrace

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Hypercube – The Force for Good

Hypercube – The Force for Good

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

Duo AYA – Cycles

Duo AYA – Cycles

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Subscribe to our newsletter