MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


Support us financially by purchasing this from

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Fantasie in C, Op. 17 (1839) [49:31]
Bernhard Ruchti (piano)
rec. 2020, KKL Luzern Concert Hall, Switzerland
MUSICJUSTMUSIC MJM-CCK190 [CD: 49:31+ DVD: 131 mins]

The American-born Swiss pianist, Bernhard Ruchti, offers us a rather unusual and breathtaking rendition of Robert Schuman’s masterpiece, the Fantasie in C major, Op. 17. This recording belongs to Ruchti’s “A Tempo Project,” composed of selected works of Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt. Each CD is accompanied by a high-quality video recording in DVD format with a short historical, aesthetic, and performative introduction in both English and German languages. According to the pianist himself, “A Tempo Project” aims to bring historical tempos back to life. To do so, Ruchti reinterprets the metronome marks of early nineteenth-century sources in the framework of the whole-beat metronome practice (WBMP).

Without entering the heated debate on whether WBMP is musicologically accurate or not, Ruchti’s interpretation of Schumann’s Fantasie is a well-crafted performance, full of musical expression. With slower tempi, sustaining a unified phrasing can become an increasingly problematic task. Ruchti addresses phrasing with a very refined control of dynamics and agogics. This live performance of the Fantasie is full of soul, contrary to the numerous studio recordings which are perfectly edited in postproduction, but dead in the end. The liveliness of Ruchti’s version is mixed with a sense of artistic merit and musical splendor, for which it could be easily called a first-class performance.

Ruchti’s meticulous study of the score is manifested through innovative and bold choices. For instance, the coda of the third movement presents a well-constructed accelerando. The original arpeggios in octaves are eventually dislocated, forming an interlocked dialogue between the right and left hands. Another fabulous example of Ruchti’s sensitivity is the opening of the first movement. Texture builds up progressively, leading into a passionate melody that ultimately disintegrates into silence. It is the profound expression of musical silences that distinguishes this performance. During the transitional pauses, greatly magnified by the pianist, one can feel a sense of suspense, anticipation, and unearthliness that is hard to come by these days.

Prof. Dr. Bohdan Syroyid Syroyid
https://syroyid.com/



Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing