Schu­man­n’s 200^th birthday is come and gone, and here are our esteemed critics recom­mend­ing the same old stuff. And admit­ting that they have “mixed feelings” (for a while I was friends with Clara Schumann on Facebook, who I believe was in an “It’s compli­cated” rela­tion­ship with Robert). Will Schumann forever be the “middle child” of German Roman­tics? Do we have to wait another century before people learn to love the piano trios, the Märch­en­erzäh­lun­gen, and the Gesänge der Frühe? I kind of feel as if this isn’t my job— to tell people to check out Robert Schumann, of all people— but here are some of my favorite recordings:

Actually forget the record­ings. Just buy this and sit yourself down at the piano (or find a friend to do it) and you’ll be happy.