Clara Schumann gewidmet Kathrin Schmidlin

• Woldemar Bargiel (1828 - 1897): Drei Charakterstücke, Op. 8:
• 1 Bargiel: Drei Charakterstücke, Op. 8: I. Allegro appassionato 03:45
• 2 Bargiel: Drei Charakterstücke, Op. 8: II. Lento 07:30
• 3 Bargiel: Drei Charakterstücke, Op. 8: III. Allegro con fuoco 06:08
• Vinzenz Lachner (1811 - 1893): Zwei Klavierstücke, Op. 52:
• 4 Lachner: Zwei Klavierstücke, Op. 52: I. Impromptu 06:01
• 5 Lachner: Zwei Klavierstücke, Op. 52: II. Tarantella 03:40
• Alexander Dreyschock (1818 - 1869): Rhapsodie "Zum Wintermärchen", Op. 40 no. 4:
• 6 Dreyschock: Rhapsodie "Zum Wintermärchen", Op. 40 no. 4: Allegro con moto 04:14
• Stephen Heller (1813 -1888): Zwei Tarantelles, Op. 85:
• 7 Heller: Zwei Tarantelles, Op. 85: I. Presto con spirito 02:22
• 8 Heller: Zwei Tarantelles, Op. 85: II. Presto 03:09
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Variationen über ein eigenes Thema (Geistervariationen) in Es-Dur WoO 24:
• 9 Schumann: Variationen über ein eigenes Thema (Geistervariationen) in Es-Dur WoO 24 10:46
• Elisabeth von Herzogenberg (1847 - 1892): Acht Klavierstücke:
• 10 Herzogenberg: Acht Klavierstücke: No. 8, Allegro appassionato 03:16
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Gavotte von C. W. Gluck:
• 11 Brahms: Gavotte von C. W. Gluck: Grazioso 03:26
• Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann (1805 - 1900): Fantasistykker, Op. 54:
• 12 Hartmann: Fantasistykker, Op. 54: I. Allegro poco moderato pastorale 02:10
• 13 Hartmann: Fantasistykker, Op. 54: II. Allegretto capriccioso 02:47
• 14 Hartmann: Fantasistykker, Op. 54: III. Canto marziale religioso 02:36
• 15 Hartmann: Fantasistykker, Op. 54: IV. Allegro molto assai 02:22
• 16 Hartmann: Fantasistykker, Op. 54: V. Tempo di menuetto moderato, con espressione 04:40
• 17 Hartmann: Fantasistykker, Op. 54: VI. Andantino innocente quasi allegretto 03:08
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847): Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62:
• 18 Mendelssohn: Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: I. Andante espressivo, MWV U 185 02:19
• 19 Mendelssohn: Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: II. Allegro con fuoco, MWV U 181 01:57
• 20 Mendelssohn: Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: III. Andante maestoso, MWV U 177 02:46
• 21 Mendelssohn: Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: IV. Trauermarsch, Allegro con anima, MWV U 175 01:21
• 22 Mendelssohn: Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: V. Venetianisches Gondellied. Andante con moto, MWV U 151 02:38
• 23 Mendelssohn: Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: VI. Frühlingslied. Allegretto grazioso, MWV U 161 02:25
• Eduard Bernsdorf (1825 - 1901): Drei Intermezzi, Die Libellen, Op.10:
• 24 Bernsdorf: Drei Intermezzi, Die Libellen, Op.10: I. Allegro giocoso e con leggierezza 03:02
• 25 Bernsdorf: Drei Intermezzi, Die Libellen, Op.10: II. Con moto tranquillo 07:14
• 26 Bernsdorf: Drei Intermezzi, Die Libellen, Op.10: III. Allegro con grazia 04:24
• Bedřich Smetana (1824 - 1884): 4 Sketches, Op. 4:
• 27 Smetana: 4 Sketches, Op. 4: I. Preludium 01:55
• 28 Smetana: 4 Sketches, Op. 4: II. Idyll 01:49
• 29 Smetana: 4 Sketches, Op. 4: III. Souvenir 02:31
• 30 Smetana: 4 Sketches, Op. 4: IV. Persistent Endeavour 02:27
• Total Runtime 01:48:48

Info for Clara Schumann gewidmet

Clara Schumann(-Wieck) (1819 Leipzig – 1896 Frankfurt am Main) was a widely travelled pianist – appointed as Imperial and Royal Chamber Virtuoso – composer, piano teacher, and editor; in this unique capacity, she embodied the most significant German female musi­cian of the 19th century. Having begun her pianistic career as a child prodigy, Clara Josephine Wieck con­tinued her path after marrying Robert Schumann in 1840. She subsequently appeared as a performer and composer under the name Clara Schumann, which is used in the following text.

With her virtuoso piano playing, the musician inspired around thirty composers to create works dedicated to her, although she incorporated only a few of them into her repertoire. She primarily championed the works of Bach, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Brahms; however, she regularly performed only a few piano pieces by her contemporaries Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Stephen Heller in her concerts.

This selection introduces partially forgotten works by ten Romantic composers and one female composer from Denmark, Germany, Czechia, and Hungary. The diversity of forms is reflected in character pieces, dances, songs without words, variations, fantasy pieces, and sketches.

Woldemar Bargiel (1828 Berlin – 1897 Berlin), Clara Schumann’s maternal half-brother, provides a familial opening to this stylistically diverse double album. Bargiel studied at the Leipzig Conservatory under Ferdinand David, Niels W. Gade, and Ignaz Moscheles, later himself becoming a sought-after composition teacher. In addition to Leo Blech, his students at the Berlin Music Academy included the American Charles Martin Loeffler and the Swiss Paul Juon. The Drei Charakterstücke (Three Character Pieces) Op. 8 begin with a stormy pathos reminiscent of Robert Schumann as a model. The composer also dedicated the Fantasie Op. 5 and the Drei Fantasiestücke Op. 9 for piano to his half-sister Clara Schumann.

Vinzenz Lachner (1811 Rain am Lech – 1893 Karlsruhe) gained far greater recognition as a conductor than for his compositional work. He appeared at the renowned Kärntnertortheater in Vienna, the National Theatre in Mannheim, and in London. He was the teacher of the conductor Hermann Levi and bequeathed 65 compositions with opus numbers, primarily smaller pieces in various settings, along with an overture and a piano quintet. It is by no means surprising that Clara Schumann apparently appreciated Lachner, given the brilliance of the two pieces Impromptu and Tarantella op. 52, published in 1874. [..]

Kathrin Schmidlin, piano

Kathrin Schmidlin
specialises in works by female composers. In 2021, she released the album Frauenstimmen, followed by Opus 1 feminin in 2022, both with Claves Records. These recordings earned her international recognition: Frauenstimmen was included in New York classical radio station WQXR’s list of The Best Albums of the Month. Opus 1 feminin was named Album of the Week by MDR, among other accolades.

In 2017, Kathrin Schmidlin performed Fanny Hensel’s complete piano cycle Das Jahr at the Museum am Dom in Trier. In 2019, to mark the 200th birthday of Clara Schumann, she gave multiple performances of her Piano Concerto in A minor.

Her concert appearances have taken her to prestigious venues, including the Great Hall of the Ludwig Maxi­milian University in Munich, Paris, the Steingraeber & Sons piano factory in Bayreuth, the Forum of German Music Academies in Gladbeck, Theater Basel, Sils Maria, and the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad.

Kathrin Schmidlin studied with Karl-Andreas Kolly at the Zurich University of the Arts, Wolfgang Manz at the Nuremberg University of Music, and Tobias Schabenberger at the Basel Academy of Music. She has won multiple prizes in national and international competitions and was a scholarship holder at the Ansbach Bach Week. She received further artistic guidance from Henri Sigfridsson, Aleksandar Madžar, Brigitte Meyer, Konstantin Lifschitz and Hartmut Höll.

Beyond her artistic career, Kathrin Schmidlin maintains a diverse professional portfolio. She previously served on the board of the European Piano Teachers Association Switzerland and was a faculty member at the Zurich Conservatory Music School. Since 2023, she has led a piano class in the Basel region while also working as an external examiner at Swiss cantonal schools.

Booklet for Clara Schumann gewidmet