Kathrin Schmidlin - Clara Schumann gewidmet (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

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. [..]

TRACKLIST

1. Kathrin Schmidlin - Drei Charakterstücke, Op. 8: I. Allegro appassionato
2. Kathrin Schmidlin - Drei Charakterstücke, Op. 8: II. Lento
3. Kathrin Schmidlin - Drei Charakterstücke, Op. 8: III. Allegro con fuoco
4. Kathrin Schmidlin - Zwei Klavierstücke, Op. 52: I. Impromptu
5. Kathrin Schmidlin - Zwei Klavierstücke, Op. 52: II. Tarantella
6. Kathrin Schmidlin - Rhapsodie "Zum Wintermärchen", Op. 40 No. 4: Allegro con moto
7. Kathrin Schmidlin - Zwei Tarantelles, Op. 85: I. Presto con spirito
8. Kathrin Schmidlin - Zwei Tarantelles, Op. 85: II. Presto
9. Kathrin Schmidlin - Variationen über ein eigenes Thema (Geistervariationen) in Es-Dur WoO 24
10. Kathrin Schmidlin - Acht Klavierstücke: No. 8, Allegro appassionato
11. Kathrin Schmidlin - Gavotte von C. W. Gluck: Grazioso
12. Kathrin Schmidlin - Fantasistykker, Op. 54: I. Allegro poco moderato pastorale
13. Kathrin Schmidlin - Fantasistykker, Op. 54: II. Allegretto capriccioso
14. Kathrin Schmidlin - Fantasistykker, Op. 54: III. Canto marziale religioso
15. Kathrin Schmidlin - Fantasistykker, Op. 54: IV. Allegro molto assai
16. Kathrin Schmidlin - Fantasistykker, Op. 54: V. Tempo di menuetto moderato, con espressione
17. Kathrin Schmidlin - Fantasistykker, Op. 54: VI. Andantino innocente quasi allegretto
18. Kathrin Schmidlin - Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: I. Andante espressivo, MWV U 185
19. Kathrin Schmidlin - Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: II. Allegro con fuoco, MWV U 181
20. Kathrin Schmidlin - Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: III. Andante maestoso, MWV U 177
21. Kathrin Schmidlin - Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: IV. Trauermarsch, Allegro con anima, MWV U 175
22. Kathrin Schmidlin - Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: V. Venetianisches Gondellied. Andante con moto, MWV U 151
23. Kathrin Schmidlin - Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: VI. Frühlingslied. Allegretto grazioso, MWV U 161
24. Kathrin Schmidlin - Drei Intermezzi, Die Libellen, Op. 10: I. Allegro giocoso e con leggierezza
25. Kathrin Schmidlin - Drei Intermezzi, Die Libellen, Op. 10: II. Con moto tranquillo
26. Kathrin Schmidlin - Drei Intermezzi, Die Libellen, Op.10: III. Allegro con grazia
27. Kathrin Schmidlin - 4 Sketches, Op. 4: I. Preludium
28. Kathrin Schmidlin - 4 Sketches, Op. 4: II. Idyll
29. Kathrin Schmidlin - 4 Sketches, Op. 4: III. Souvenir
30. Kathrin Schmidlin - 4 Sketches, Op. 4: IV. Persistent Endeavour



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