Burkard Schliessmann - Live & Encores on 2 Super Audio CDs

Burkard Schliessmann - Live & Encores

With works by: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) , Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) , Robert Schumann (1810-1856) , Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Contributors: Burkard Schliessmann

2 Super Audio CDs

SACD (Super Audio CD)

The SACD uses a higher digital resolution than the audio CD and also offers the possibility to store multi-channel sound (surround sound). To enjoy the music in high-end quality, a special SACD player is required. Thanks to the hybrid function, most of the products marked "SACD" in our store can also be played on conventional CD players. In this case, however, the sound does not differ from that of a normal CD. In case of deviations, we point this out separately (non-hybrid).

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Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita BWV 826; Italienisches Konzert BWV 971; Chromatische Fantasie & Fuge d-moll BWV 903
+Felix Mendelssohn: Variations serieuses op. 54
+Robert Schumann: Fantasie C-Dur op. 17; Chopin aus Carnaval op. 9; Warum op. 12 Nr. 3
+Frederic Chopin: Walzer Nr. 7

Artists:: Burkard Schliessmann (Klavier)
Label:: Divine Art
Year of recording ca.:: 2023
Item number:: 11613091
UPC/EAN:: 0809730575525
Release date:: 17.11.2023

Diese Aufnahme besticht nicht nur durch ihre herausragende Darbietung, sondern auch durch ihren phänomenalen Klang. Die Aufnahme entstand vom 3. bis 5. April 2023 in der Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italien, in 5-Kanal-Dolby-Atmos-HD-Audio und wird als hybride Mehrkanal-SACD produziert und in einer wunderschönen 2-CD-Box mit 60-seitigem Booklet präsentiert.

Als Instrument dient ein Fazioli F278, den Schliessmann erworben hat. Die Aufnahme entstand live vor einem speziell eingeladenen Publikum und wird dank der großartigen Unterstützung der Familie Fazioli in Kürze auch in einem Konzert in Venedig präsentiert.

Der deutsche Pianist Burkard Schliessmann erhält weltweit höchste Anerkennung für seine Konzertauftritte und Aufnahmen, für seine Virtuosität und auch für seine individuelle und durchdachte Interpretation insbesondere der großen Musik des Spätbarock und der Romantik.

Nach fünf Alben, die allesamt außerordentlich gut aufgenommen wurden, bietet »Live and Encores« die Gelegenheit, in Einzelaufnahmen verschiedene Interpretationen eines breiten Repertoires zu präsentieren. Das Doppelalbum zeigt eine Vielzahl stilistischer Elemente von Bach über Mendelssohn (dessen frühromantisches Werk stark von Bach beeinflusst war) und die Hochromantik Schumanns bis hin zu Chopin, dessen einzelner Walzer hier den Höhepunkt der romantischen Klavierkunst darstellt.

Disk 1 von 2 (SACD)

Partita für Cembalo Nr. 2 c-moll BWV 826 (aus Clavierübung I)

1 Johann Sebastian Bach: 1. Sinfona
2 Johann Sebastian Bach: 2. Allemande
3 Johann Sebastian Bach: 3. Courante
4 Johann Sebastian Bach: 4. Sarabande
5 Johann Sebastian Bach: 5. Rondo
6 Johann Sebastian Bach: 6. Capriccio

Italienisches Konzert F-Dur BWV 971 (aus Clavierübung II)

7 Johann Sebastian Bach: 1. Allegro
8 Johann Sebastian Bach: 2. Andante
9 Johann Sebastian Bach: 3. Presto giocoso

Chromatische Fantasie und Fuge d-moll BWV 903

10 Johann Sebastian Bach: 1. Fantasie
11 Johann Sebastian Bach: 2. Fuge

Variationen d-moll op. 54 (Variations sérieuses)

12 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1. Andante sostenuto
13 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 2. Variation 1
14 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 3. Variation 2: Un poco più animato
15 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 4. Variation 3: Più animato
16 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 5. Variation 4
17 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 6. Variation 5: Agitato
18 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 7. Variation 6: A tempo
19 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 8. Variation 7: Con fuoco
20 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 9. Variation 8: Allegro vivace
21 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 10. Variation 9
22 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 11. Variation 10: Moderato
23 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 12. Variation 11: Cantabile
24 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 13. Variation 12: Tempo del tema
25 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 14. Variation 13: Sempre assai leggiero
26 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 15. Variation 14: Adagio
27 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 16. Variation 15: Poco a poco più agitato
28 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 17. Variation 16: Allegro vivace
29 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 18. Variation 17
30 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 19. Finale: Presto

Disk 2 von 2 (SACD)

Fantasie C-Dur op. 17

1 Robert Schumann: 1. Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen
2 Robert Schumann: 2. Mäßig - Durchaus energisch
3 Robert Schumann: 3. Langsam getragen - Durchweg leise zu halten

4 Frederic Chopin: Walzer Nr. 7 cis-moll op. 64 Nr. 2

Carnaval op. 9 (21 Stücke für Klavier) (Auszug)

5 Robert Schumann: Nr. 12 Chopin

Fantasiestücke op. 12 Nr. 1-8 (In Callots Manier) (Auszug)

6 Robert Schumann: Nr. 3 Warum?

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Burkard Schliessmann - Live & Encores

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DIVINE ART, Ltd
176-178 Pontefract Road
S72 8BE Cudworth, Barnsley
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Ratings and reviews since 17.11.2023

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4,3

(6)

Booklet:: 4,4 of 5 (5)
Overall impression:: 4,2 of 5 (5)
Sound:: 4,4 of 5 (5)
Artistic quality:: 4,2 of 5 (5)
Repertoire value:: 4,2 of 5 (5)

4 of 5 (80%) would recommend this product.

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Counterpoint

Nov 9, 2024

Booklet:: 5 of 5
Overall impression:: 5 of 5
Sound:: 5 of 5
Artistic quality:: 5 of 5
Repertoire value:: 5 of 5

A superb solo piano recital all around

In Fanfare's March-April, 2015 issue (38:4), I interviewed Burkard Schliessmann, mainly in connection with his then new SACD Divine Art album of works by J. S. Bach. Among a couple of other items, that disc contained the Partita No. 2, the Italian Concerto, and the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, all three of which are duplicated here on this newly released two-disc Divine Art SACD set. I hasten to add, however, that these are not the same performances. It's impossible for them to be since they were recorded as recently as April 3-5, 2023 at the Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy, on Schliessmann's personally owned Fazioli F278 concert grand.

These works are near and dear to the pianist's heart and are part of his core repertoire, so it's only natural that he would want to go on record with them again. The same may be said of Schumann's Fantasie, which was included in Burkard's three-disc album, only released in September, 2021, but remastered from a much earlier recording that had been previously issued on the Bayer label. The Divine Art three-CD set, titled At the Heart of the Piano, received several glowing reviews in Fanfare 45:3.

As far as I can tell, this is Schliessman's first time on record with Mendelssohn's Variations sérieuses and Schumann's Carnaval, complete, though he does give us here the ninth movement of Carnaval, titled "Chopin," as one of his two encore pieces, and then offers a performance of Chopin's Waltz in CT Minor as the second of his encore numbers, both of which he has also recorded previously.

Schliessmann's new set at hand begins with Bach's C-Minor Partita, and I have to admit that the pianist's way with Bach is definitely his own, yet one that I find quite captivating. Take, for example, the manner in which he addresses the shift in tempo, texture, and musical content at the point in the score marked Andante that follows the Grave Adagio introduction to the piece. His left-hand, "walking bass," eighth notes are clearly articulated with a staccato touch, but not nearly with the martelé aggressiveness of, say, Glenn Gould's staccato.

Meanwhile, Schliessman's right hand remains remarkably free to follow the clues and bring out the notes that constitute the melody as it plays hide and seek among the mirrored maze of Bach's contrapuntal crossword puzzle. The melody notes are not necessarily contiguous in all of the running passagework. Somewhere in there is a singable line, because Bach always sings, and he teases the player's fingers to find the song in the line and the listener's ears to hear it. Schliessmann has a keen ear for those notes, and his fingers know how to make the line sing.

Next on the disc is Bach's Italian Concerto, which, being a piece for solo harpsichord, is not a concerto as we normally define the term. Nor, is there anything one can point to that identifies it as Italian. In fact, the original title of the piece was Concerto in the Italian Taste. The Italian Concerto plus the French Overture together comprise Book II of Bach's Clavier-Übung, the shortest of the three books in which the composer published what he considered to be his most important keyboard works.

With due apologies to all pianists, I will say that the Italian Concerto is one of those pieces specifically designed for a two-manual harpsichord that cannot be fully realized as intended on the piano. Bach achieves the concertino-vs.-ripieno "concerto" effect by juxtaposing passages of lighter and softer textures against fuller and louder ones. But he also designates the lighter—i.e., solo or concertino—passages to be played on the second manual, which through the use of different stops can be made to sound like a completely different instrument.

The piano can accomplish the first part of this, differentiating the textures through dynamics and touch, which, I have to say, Schliessmann is very, very good at, but not even he can make us believe we're hearing two different instruments. It's just not in the nature of the beast.

Following the Italian Concerto, Schliessmann gives us what is perhaps Bach's blockbuster, non-organ keyboard work, and likely his most popular, the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue. Believed to have been composed between 1717 and 1723, during the composer's time in Köthen, it dates from the period during which Bach was experimenting with various systems of tempered tuning that led to the first book of his Well-Tempered Clavier in 1722. The Chromatic Fantasia and the WTC (I) were written around the same time and possibly even overlap. It's now thought that the fugue was added to the Fantasia at a later date.

In the manner of its virtuosic, seemingly improvisatory style, the Fantasia part of the piece isn't entirely unique. Bach was certainly familiar with the toccatas, ricercars, and fantasias of Frescobaldi and Froberger, many of which exemplified the so-called "fantastic style" (stylus phantasticus), popular as early as the end of the 16th century.

What is likely unique about Bach's Fantasia is that it's thoroughly chromatic, and not just successively but consecutively or serially. In other words, it doesn't simply modulate freely from one key to another, it abuts diminished seventh chords by chromatic half-steps, one immediately after the other, thus sounding all 12 tones of the chromatic scale.

Some may be disappointed that the mathematically-minded Bach didn't come up with a 12-tone subject for the Fugue, but as noted earlier, the Fugue was most likely not composed at the same time as the Fantasia. There have even been suggestions that the Fugue might not be by Bach but by one of his contemporaries, and that it was only later tacked onto the Fantasia when it was finally published.

As can be guessed, the pair together require the utmost in virtuosity and control from the player. The Fantasia is extremely demanding for the duality of its requirements. On the one hand (no pun intended), it engages both hands simultaneously in equal oppositional playing, which requires enormous discipline and concentration; while on the other hand, the player must simultaneously display the virtuosic flair and sense of freedom that convey the impression of a toccata-like improvisational style. And that's just the Fantasia. Add to it the rigorous technique demanded by the Fugue, and you have quite an exhibitionistic tour-de-force. Little wonder that the work was a favorite of Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms, and other 19th-century virtuoso pianists, and still attracts keyboard artists and thrills audiences to this day. In Schliessmann, the work has found a modern-day master and magician.

To conclude disc one, the pianist turns to Mendelssohn's Variations sérieuses. Over 100 years and an entire historical era, the Classical period, may have intervened between Bach and Mendelssohn, but it was Mendelssohn, more than any other composer that we have to thank for ensuring and enshrining Bach's legacy in music history. Mendelssohn was a tireless advocate for Bach's music and an assiduous student of Bach's counterpoint and methods of composition.

Yet I couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't some deeper connection between the works on the disc by Bach and Mendelssohn's Variations sérieuses that led Schliessmann to include this particular Mendelssohn work.

The answer is a partial yes. That the Variations is in D Minor, the same key as the Chromatic Fantasy, is the least and most superficial of the similarities. More significantly, the theme on which the variations is based is highly chromatic. Within its first eight bars, each of the 12 tones of the chromatic scale is sounded at least once. It is no less difficult to write a set of variations on such a theme than it is to write a fugue on Bach's chromatic subject. Both are equally unpromising, yet both motivated their respective composers to produce some very extraordinary music.

Did Mendelssohn feel challenged to see what he could do working in the variations form with a thoroughly chromatic theme? Who can say? What can be said is that Schliessmann brings an expressive beauty to the slower variations and a dramatic intensity to the faster variations that I've rarely heard in this piece. For an example of the former, listen to Variation 14, and for the latter, to Variation 9.

Disc two is considerably shorter, consisting mainly of Schumann's Fantasie in C, op. 17, followed by Chopin's Waltz in CT Minor, the second number in the composer's set of Three Waltzes, op. 64. And finally, the two encore pieces listed in the headnote to this review.

Schumann's Fantasie, as a composition, needs no introduction. It's likely his greatest and most famous work for solo piano, not to mention one of his top contenders for most technically difficult. In fact, on a scale of 1 to 5, pianolibrary.org rates the second movement of it the penultimate entry in its category 5 list, edged out only by the Presto finale of the composer's Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Minor.

Such ratings, of course, are relative. What poses near insurmountable difficulties for one player, another player might find more tractable to his or her technique. If Schliessman is challenged by the piece, you wouldn't know it from listening to him play it. He has reached the plane sought and coveted by all players, which is to surmount all technical obstacles to the point where conscious awareness of them ceases to exist and all that is left is to dwell in the higher realm of pure music-making.

Burkard Schliessmann is in that class of musicians. His latest album is most assuredly a must-have for pianists and lovers of solo piano music, but also, I'd say for the general music lovers as an example of what musicianship at its finest is all about.

My product recommendations

James Harrington

Nov 5, 2024

Booklet:: 5 of 5
Overall impression:: 5 of 5
Sound:: 5 of 5
Artistic quality:: 5 of 5
Repertoire value:: 5 of 5

A great program from a great pianist. Every piece is worthy of many listenings

Schliessmann writes, "I feel how each listener in the audience is listening to me, and I feel its warmness, for example, and I give it back to the complete audience. I feel the intensity of hearing, of listening. This is like electricity, and this I give back to the audience." Schliessmann gives his audience here a generous program of pieces that are very close to him. This recording was made on April 3-5, 2023 at the Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy. Besides these incredible performances we are able to enjoy this program in state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos high-definition audio. The hybrid multichannel SACD is presented as a beautiful two-CD boxed set with a 60-page booklet, but is currently having some minor production problems and should be back in stock soon. In the meantime, I was able to enjoy the program via a download.

There is also a download of the booklet. Schliessmann provides an extensive and well-written booklet essay (about 20 pages each in English, German, and French). It gives the listener a good insight into the tremendous musical mind at work here. Divine Art's production values have been quite impressive in recent years, and never more so than on the Schliessmann releases that have come my way. From the very high-definition audio to the mixing and balance to the booklet design, pictures, and texts, I cannot believe any artist could ever hope for anything more than this label regularly delivers.

Special mention should be made of the various brilliant movements and sections, whether in Bach, Mendelssohn, or Schumann. Schliessmann never loses track of the melodies, and they are always shaped and given sensitive dynamic shading. While these are characteristics we expect in the slower movements, it is a revelation when they are applied to technically demanding, brilliant movements. I cite a few examples here: Bach's Capriccio in the Partita and third movement in the Italian Concerto, Mendelssohn's Variations Nos. 16 and 17, and the second movement of Schumann's Fantasie. A number of young pianists seem to take these movements as fast as possible, probably to show off their technical skills. Not Schliessmann, for he has no technical limitations, but finds and brings out the melodies here and keeps the level of excitement and virtuosity present without being overpowering to the music.

Part of the reason I have enjoyed listening to this exceptional program many times is Schliessmann's playing at any tempo is always rhythmically alive. Bach's Fantasia is full of virtuosic, quick passages that move into some slower chordal sections. There is always a forward rhythmic movement, even when Schliessmann is slowing down for a contrasting section. The slow movement of the Italian Concerto can be uninteresting if taken too slowly, with little sense of the flow of the melody. With Bach's ornamentation in the second half, this presents more rhythmic challenges. I have never heard a better performance of this movement than Schliessmann's on this disc: It is perfect. The long build-up to the climax of the third movement of Schumann's Fantasie, a glorious outpouring of Schumann's love for Clara, is another place where the rhythm must move the piece forward. This performance makes that inevitable moment eagerly anticipated and eminently satisfying as well.

The Bach pieces are a part of Schliessmann's repertoire that he recorded and released before (Divine Art SACD 25751; see the feature article in Fanfare 38:4, Mar/Apr 2015). These fully exploit the resources of the modern grand piano. As the pianist points out, if you are going to play Bach on the piano, use everything it is capable of. His ornamentation is always tasteful and appropriate. He also points out that the current performances are just the most recent in a line of performances going back to his youth. His artistry has matured over all these years, and the performances here are revelatory. Given that his forthcoming Schumann disc was recorded after this one, I anticipate more great and fascinating performances from Schliessmann in the near future.

It is impossible to find words to give this recording a higher recommendation. It has already earned a spot on my Want List for the current year, and I'll continue to listen to it regularly. 5*

My product recommendations

Klavierwerke "Fantasies" (SACD)

Daniel Höhr

Nov 4, 2024

Booklet:: 5 of 5
Overall impression:: 5 of 5
Sound:: 5 of 5
Artistic quality:: 5 of 5
Repertoire value:: 5 of 5

Künstlerische Integrität auf höchstem Niveau

Burkard Schliessmann ist mit diesem Livealbum in jeglicher Hinsicht der ganz große Wurf gelungen. Jedes Werk lotet er in seiner Tiefe aus, sowohl intellektuell als auch emotional. Dabei gelingt ihm, was nicht vielen Pianisten der Gegenwart gelingt: mustergültige Interpretationen, die Geist und Gefühl gleichermaßen ansprechen und das mit Stilsicherheit auf allerhöchstem Niveau. Durch sein einzigartiges Legatospiel, seine Artikulation und genialen Pedalgebrauch gelingt ihm bei jedem Werk eine Transparenz, die einzigartig ist.

Das umfangreiche Booklet enthält sehr viele Informationen zu den Werken aber auch, und das ist wichtig, zu Schliessmanns Interpretationsansatz.

Auch klanglich zeichnet sich Live & Encores aus. Der Fazioli F278 ist der perfekte Partner für Schliessmanns Spiel und erlaubt dem Pianisten eine selten zu findende Palette an Klangfarben.

Spätestens nach "Live & Encores" und seinem kurz darauf veröffentlichen Schumann-Album "Fantasies" sollte man Burkard Schliessmann als einen der großen Meister des Klavierspiels unserer Zeit auf dem Schirm haben, der sein enormes Können ausschließlich in den Dienst künstlerischer Integrität stellt -- eine Qualität, die man bei vielen seiner Kollegen leider vergebens sucht.

My product recommendations

Klavierwerke "Fantasies" (SACD)

Colin Clarke

Nov 4, 2024

Booklet:: 5 of 5
Overall impression:: 5 of 5
Sound:: 5 of 5
Artistic quality:: 5 of 5
Repertoire value:: 5 of 5

Schliessmann’s questing mind and solid technique present us with interpretations that convince at every level

From the grand, rolled chords of the "Sinfonia" of Bach's Second Partita, several things become clear: this is an interpretation of conviction and clarity, caught in ideal sound and performed on a phenomenally well-prepared piano. The piano in question is a Fazioli F278, and heard on home turf; it is unsurprisingly in peak condition.

It is in Schliessmann's use of gesture set against underlying harmonic/structural process that the genius of this reading of the Second Partita lies. The later section of the "Sinfonia" scurries along; there is real insight in the "Allemande", too, lines unfolding limply yet with each note perfectly weighted. Again, there is a close-knit relationship between the local (the touch itself) and the higher structural level (here, the phrase). The "Courante" breathes nobility, the relationship of anacrusis and downbeat clearly micro-analysed prior to performance, ornaments always stylistically applied. Similarly, Schliessmann's left-hand bass articulation in the "Sarabande", a mezzo-staccato as if the notes came from a bowed cello, is both carefully judged and perfectly executed. How teasingly Schliessmann articulates the "Rondeau". The final "Capriccio" is taken at a steady pace, granting it a patina of tranquility underneath the surface activity. This is a fascinating reading, and the live provenance only adds to its heartfelt veracity.

The well-known Italian Concerto also begins with an imperiously rolled chord. Ornaments once more adorn the musical surface with grace, and Bach's harmonic sleights are well realised, in particular interrupted cadences. The central movement is taken daringly slowly, each left-hand note placed carefully, over which the right hand sings. Clarity is once more the watchword for the finale, with a repeated marked emphasis on the opening downward leap. There is an impulsive side to Schliessmann's interpretation that is most appealing. The finest of the Bach performances, though, is that of the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, where gesture is all in the Fantasia. Fantasy is in the title and suffuses Schliessmann's performance, contrasting this with the stricter fugue. There are moments of real grandeur, as if this were a transcription of an organ fugue, yet linear definition is never once compromised. The final high treble statement of the fugue seems to stretch out to the Heavens. Remarkable.

The Bach performances form a valuable appendix to Schliessmann's Goldberg Variations. In an interview around that release in Fanfare 31:3, Schliessmann articulates his thoughts around Bach performance, with especial reference to playing that piece on a modern piano. It is worthwhile remembering (and in a sense, the performances' integrity) remind us that Schliessmann was at one time a pupil of the great organist Helmut Walcha, whose emphasis on the independence of voices in Bach was clearly a lesson well learned..

The account of Mendelssohn's Variations sérieuses that follows reveals parallels with his Bach, most notably in the independence of lines (the very first variation is a clear example of this). One of Mendelssohn's most loved works, the Variations sérieuses emerges here as a pillar of the piano repertoire. The imagination of Mendelssohn's writing is emphasized (the fifth variation), while the sixth reminds us that Mendelssohn was perfectly capable of writing angst-laden music (think of the F-Minor String Quartet, too). The facility of the seventh variation is an object lesson in piano playing. The suddenly strict part-writing of the tenth variation is given with real sobriety of outlook, and that same analytical slant shines through variation 13. The whole coheres beautifully, leading to a finale shot through not just with dexterous energy, but with real beauty, so those final chords carry huge weight.

Over on the second disc, the Schumann Fantasie blazes forth. My review of Schliessmann's previous recording of this (from the disc At the Heart of the Piano) appeared in Fanfare 45:3. That was a performance of huge integrity; this, too, but this one is perhaps more human at heart. One feels the impetuous surges of emotion a touch more in the first movement. I have previously written on Schliessmann's chameleon way with the piano, that he adapts his sound appropriately to each composer. And so it is here, with Schumann as sonorous and as burnished as they come. The Fazioli supports this approach fully. The chords that close the first movement are just superbly judged, and how the recording reproduces the piano's tone perfectly. It is in the "song" of the finale that Schliessmann really shines though. Many pianists over-project when the line goes to the middle or lower voices, but Schliessmann gets it just right. There is a momentum to Schliessmann's finale that also feels entirely natural. Schliessmann's interpretations just keep growing in maturity.

It is a rather nice touch that the final piece on the program was Chopin's Waltz, op. 64/2, and the first encore is Schumann's "Chopin" movement from Carnaval. The waltz rhythm of op. 64/2 is maintained as in few other performances, and yet the poignant undercurrent remains intense. Nothing is rushed, and yet scales still sparkle, melodies sing, and the rubato is entirely convincing. Schumann's take on Chopin really does sound like a Schumannesque Chopin Impromptu; This is a dream of a performance: one revels both in the loveliness of the piano and in Schliessmann's playing. Finally, back to Schumann for "Warum?", at once a heart-led outpouring and a study in perfect part-writing: Schliessmann voices the individual lines so that it sounds like a conversation between several participants. A great way to end a fabulous recital.

An almost equal participant in this project is the sound engineer Matteo Costa, who works miracles in capturing the sound of an instrument Schliessmann is clearly besotted with (and rightly so). Detailed and expansive booklet notes by Schliessmann himself are the icing on the Fazioli cake. Schliessmann's questing mind and solid technique present us with interpretations that convince at every level. Highest Recommendation

Der Fuchs

Sep 25, 2024

Booklet:: 2 of 5
Overall impression:: 1 of 5
Sound:: 2 of 5
Artistic quality:: 1 of 5
Repertoire value:: 1 of 5

Fehlkauf, nicht zu empfehlen

Herr Schließmann hat mit dieser Einspielung ein Werk abgeliefert, das sich durch die vollständige Abwesenheit jeglicher Verve und Empathie auszeichnet, so dass der Vortrag fast als klinisch und steril empfunden wird.
Leider gibt es keine "Geld - zurück - Garantie"

One comment

Daniel Höhr

Nov 4, 2024

Wer Ohren hat zu hören...

Haben Sie sich die Aufnahmen angehört? Das Gegenteil von dem, was Sie hier schreiben, ist der Fall. Burkard Schliessmann (so schreibt er sich übrigens) lotet jedes einzelne Stück intellektuell und emotional in seiner Tiefe aus und liefert mit "Live & Encores" ein in jeder Hinsicht großartiges Album ab. Schade, dass es nicht bei Ihnen ankommt.

Burkard Schliessmann - Live & Encores on 2 Super Audio CDs