Contrasting Performances
A debut could not contain two greater contrasts: Liszt’s inscrutable Sonata in B minor and Schumann’s enchanting Kinderszenen in performances by the young Swiss pianist Joseph-Maurice Weder. A bold program – since recordings of these two works are not in short supply. Weder nonetheless repeatedly discovers new things in these frequently performed works – with important support from the legendary “Manfred Bürki” Steinway concert grand piano of 1901, an instrument with a brilliant treble shining its supernatural light over the profound bass.
Creative Adventure
The mysterious beginning of Liszt’s sonata immediately attracts the listener’s attention, and when bass repetitions rumble after the short and just as enigmatic introduction, a spine-tingling experience is guaranteed. The highly expressive middle section is magnificent and offers Liszt and Weder rich musical sources on which to draw. The fact that the great virtuoso Liszt has his sonata conclude not with rushing cascades but in pianissimo with a reminiscence of the first measure is what makes this work so splendid – a compelling circle and one that Weder convincingly traces.
Childhood Reminiscences
Everything extroverted is entirely foreign to Schumann’s Kinderszenen. The thirteen little character pieces, certainly reminiscences of his much earlier days rather than observations situated in the present, nonetheless have what it takes. And within the briefest space Weder captivatingly demonstrates that what supposedly matters little to children has just as great an emotional significance as all of Liszt’s grandeur. The famous “Träumerei” thus is able without sentiment to become a genuine high point on this Super Audio CD.
Cultural Ambassador
Even though Joseph-Maurice Weder is not yet thirty years old, he can already look back on a distinguished career. The winner of many prizes, he represented his native Switzerland as the “Swiss
Ambassador” in Great Britain in 2013 with concerts at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall and in Edinburgh, Belfast, and Cardiff. He has also appeared as a guest at Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall and at Vienna’s Musikverein. His MDG debut of course has been produced with high-resolution SACD technology, finely balanced and as always in three dimensions – for true-to-life listening pleasure in the home.
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