“You can hardly blame musicians for being eager to play Schumann chamber pieces not written for their instruments. Who wouldn’t want to visit, however briefly, the world of ‘Fantasy & Romance’ that cellist Emanuel Gruber and pianist Keiko Sekino inhabit on their new disc? … In Gruber’s mellow hands, everything else on the disc emerges as a deeply considered essay, often with touches of wise humour and even world-weariness. … Sekino is a discerning partner throughout the programme. She gives no hint that she objects to conceding to the cello the thematic material in Lothar Lechner’s transcriptions of two piano pieces – ‘Abendlied’ from Op 85 and the sublime ‘Träumerei’ from Kinderszenen. No wonder: Gruber treats it all with loving care.” —Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone

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