CD: Schumann: Piano Quintet; Piano Quartet

So far the 150th anniversary of Schumann's death this year has been more or less eclipsed by the Mozart and Shostakovich overkill, but these thoroughly musical accounts of his two best-known chamber works with piano are some compensation. The Schubert Ensemble's William Howard is not a flamboyant or tonally seductive pianist, but he is a directly communicative one, and his muscular, no-frills playing provides a sturdy framework for lively accounts of both works. Though not always as rhythmically purposeful as it could be, it's an approach that is marginally more successful in the extrovert Quintet than the Piano Quartet, where a degree more intimacy and mystery would have been welcome. The Quartet is a less straightforward piece, and not all its quiet poetry is revealed here.