news-2011-2020 - CarolineFischer

2019

Virtuosity That Leaves You Speechless

Udo Barth, Badische Neueste Nachrichten – Badisches Tagesblatt, 21. March 2019

The pianist turns up the tempo – Caroline Fischer impresses the audience at the Bürgerhaus Neuer Markt

Carl Maria von Weber’s famous “Aufforderung zum Tanz” (Invitation to the Dance) can only be tackled with self-confidence and gumption, both of which definitely run through the pianist’s veins. Her performance was not only virtuous and spirited but also lively, elegant and complete. Robert Schumann’s “Papillons” also rang with the same poetic spirit in which Schumann created his character piano pieces. Without turning it into a tear-jerker, Fischer still dealt with the delicate emotions of the music in a sensitive way. The pianist has already proven her virtuosity, but now she raised the bar even more by adding Franz Liszt’s “Gnomenreigen” (Dance of the Gnomes). She was energetic and began the performance with a delightfully rousing interpretation. Liszt would have really appreciated it. Even the second Liszt piece, which is no less demanding – the “Hungarian Rhapsody” – left nothing to be desired. Again Fischer dove into the depths and fascinated with unbelievable technique, and she paid attention to unusual phrasing and was able to maintain a wonderful dance-like momentum, especially in the rapid folkloristic motifs. The audience was enthusiastic and it showed. The pianist thanked the audience for their energy with two encores: first, “La Campanella”, the third of Liszt’s Paganini Etudes, a firework for ambitious pianists, and then, in contrast, in very quiet, poetic tones with the wonderfully played “Träumerei” by Robert Schumann.

Karl-Heinz Fischer, Badische Neueste Nachrichten – Acher and Bühler Bote, 21 March 2019

Trio Enchants the Audience

Bonner Generalanzeiger, 22. January 2019

2017

CD review – Opusklassiek.nl

On the ‘Pearls of Classical Music’ CD you will find, as the title implies, pearls or more correctly ‘little pearls’ of classical music. As parts of one piece, they are all miniatures. Whether or not they are considered pearls is a matter of (your) taste. For the pianist, there is no doubt. This is exactly how she plays these works – with fine touches of the keys and a crystal clear phrasing which is both brilliant and lyrical. This, combined with the dynamic build-up of tension and rhythmic finesse, bears witness to her great understanding of music. Of course, the majority of the pieces are not highly complex. However, from a technical point of view, they are demanding enough to be too challenging for less accomplished pianists. Fortunately, this cannot be said of Caroline Fischer. She is technically accomplished and interprets the works with the certainty of a musician who knows exactly what she wants before sitting down to play. Right at the beginning, she amazed me with her lively, almost frivolous Haydn (with a beautiful, expressively worked middle section). With Chopin and Liszt, she plays her cantabile style as her trump card. The recordings were made in May last year in the Mendelssohn Hall of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. I remember being in this same concert hall, hearing a Steinway with exactly the same sound. This speaks to the quality of this recording and the responsible person, Claudia Neumann. In short – an excellent production.

Aart van der Wal, Opusklassiek.nl, September 2017

CD review – Durch und durch leidenschaftlich – The New Listener

The title of the present CD wonderfully reflects the style of Caroline Fischer: Piano Passion. Passion is the maxim of the German-Korean pianist, who is driven by inspiration and intuition. It is exactly through these final gripping moments which are felt internally and make sense to the listener. On the other hand, leaving everything to intuition can result in shallowness and overwrought effects It is difficult to describe Fischer’s style as uniform. You can expect the unexpected, and for her to do something new. Crystal clear rustling and forward slanting booming can be heard in the outer movements. Fischer’s strokes remain lucid and light throughout. She delivers the finale of the Appassionata and Schumann’s Sonata in G minor with sensitivity. Only the opening movement from Beethoven’s Opus 57 seems flat and lacking in orientation in places In the Romance Variée Op.3 by Clara Schumann, she underscores the femininity of this work, which was written at the height of her success and included all the musical and pianistic challenges. In Beethoven’s and Robert Schumann’s music, she chisels away at the masculine and unflinchingly determined features. She lets the chords belt out powerfully (but at the same time, by emphasising the high notes, mellows the famous close knit deep chords of Beethoven’s sonatas) and lets the forte resonate with power. Caroline Fischer is able to bring out many a hidden detail and confronts the popular pieces in an individual way, giving them a personal and unique characteristic, which can result in something truly new.

Oliver Fraenzke, The New Listener, August 2017

CD review Piano News Magazine

The German-Korean pianist Caroline Fischer has put together a range of colourful, well-known works on her record “Pearls of Classical Music”. Listeners who expect a “best of” edition are openly met by a confident pianist, as this selection gives her the opportunity to showcase her own diverse musical talent. She begins energetically and trenchantly with Haydn’s Piano Sonata no. 39, quickly followed by Beethoven’s “Rondo Cappriccio,” also known as the “Rage Over a Lost Penny”. Chopin softens and lightens the mood, and is followed by a virtuosic “Liebestraum” and “Konzertparaphrase” by Liszt. With Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Allegro appassionata” Op. 70, and Études from Sergei Lyapunov and Moritz Moszkowski, Fischer advances into the early 20th century. Caroline Fischer is known as an accomplished and spirited pianist.

A. Renczikowski, Piano News Magazin, Mai 2017

CD review – Klassik-heute.com

What power! What an elemental force! What an incredible emotiveness! And what’s more: What passion! This is also the title of the fourth and newest album from the pianist Caroline Fischer: “Piano Passion”. After paying homage in particular to the virtuosity of Liszt, the German-Korean pianist is currently dedicating her attention to passion, including the passion within love, and expressing it in music.

Passion is the driving theme behind Ludwig von Beethoven’s Appassionata Op. 57 and his Pathéthique Op. 13, both of which Caroline Fischer approaches with zealous fervour. She thunderously begins the Appassionata and develops a melodiously logical current through her full-bodied, rounded and simultaneously flourishing tone, which immediately binds her audience in its spell. The Appassionata’s unbridled final movement, the panicked and impassioned tempo of which was noted by Joachim Kaiser as evidence of “organised chaos”, is perhaps approached too logically by Caroline Fischer, who seeks order in its furious turmoil and finds it throughout. This approach is enabled by her stupendous virtuosity, and her interpretation is wholly convincing.

Caroline Fischer allows the “Grave” beginning of the Pathétique to end in a question, and brings psychological depth into the purely dramatic-pathetic. She is decidedly unsentimental toward the Adagio’s consecrated pathos, and as philosopher Ernst Bloch would phrase, approaches it with “an exact, correspondent logicality” as a sort of “melody of logic”.

Robert Schumann’s relationship with Clara Wieck was also characterized by agonizing passion from its outset. Clara Wieck’s “Romance variée” Op. 3 is a product of this passion. Clara modifies a theme once given to her by Robert, with love and pianistic brilliance. Caroline Fischer devotes herself to this rather more extrinsic music with equally loving dedication and commitment. Schumann’s Sonata in G minor Op. 22 is significantly weightier. Clara Wieck, Schumann by marriage, said once that one can recognize Robert’s “whole nature” in this Sonata. Caroline Fischer approaches this Sonata with quivering intensity, though she refuses to risk or give in to the final rushed instability of the fast movements – the “drunkenness of feeling” which Nietzsche so loathed – but even here remains logical and controlled, and emphasizes transparency. She indulges in the entrancing sound-world throughout the slower movements. This is supported by the sound engineers expertise, who emphasizes the piano above all else and thus creates a full, natural, and piano-dominated stereophonic sound.

Rainer W. Janka, Klassik-Heute.com, 7. April 2017

CD review – Aufbruch in die Romantik – European News Agency

Ludwig van Beethoven’s soundscapes are multifaceted and diverse. Born into the golden age of the First Viennese School, he may have been the greatest innovator in musical history. His piano sonatas are one of the central components of his works. They could certainly be seen as a musical autobiography.

As such, they clearly portray Beethoven’s musical development while simultaneously showing an interaction between his progress as a composer and his concept of sound at the time. The enormous differences between his works that are separated by only a few years show us just how avant-garde Beethoven truly was. It requires the interpreter to have a great deal of sensitivity in order to do each work justice, and this sensitivity is one of Caroline Fischer’s advantages.

Next to the works of Clara and Robert Schumann, her new album presents two Sonatas which were very characteristic for their time, and which today belong to the most valued piano compositions: the Sonata in C, Op. 13 “Pathétique”, written in 1799, and the 1804 Sonata in F, Op. 57 “Appassionata”, which is considered one of the greatest masterpieces in piano literature.

Two soundscapes, only connected by their composer – that is here, aside from the technical demands, the greatest challenge. Fischer brilliantly masters them, and is even able to bring to life the differences which originate from the development of the piano, given that the instrument was experiencing great strides in its development during the early 19th century. This level of subtlety and delicacy is truly extraordinary.

Clara Wieck was one of the most important pianists of her time, and her father Friedrich made every effort to promote her talent. She met and fell in love with Robert Schumann during her childhood, which was less pleasing to her father. He intended his daughter to have a career as a pianist, not as a housewife. Clara stayed connected to music her entire life, not always to Schumann’s delight. He supported her ambitions as a composer, and Caroline Fischer has contrasted the “Romance varié pour le Piano” Op. 3 with Schumann’s Sonata in G, Op. 22.

A highly emotional style of music developed here – often closely connected with the current events in the composer’s life – on the ground which Beethoven sowed. Clara Schumann appears to have inspired Fischer, and regardless of her analytical methods, her approach always originates from the music and returns to the musical essence of each piece. The music itself is always the centrepiece – that was and is the mark of a great interpreter.

Dominik Lepuschitz, European News Agency, 24. March 2017

CD review – Mut zum Standardrepertoire – The New Listener

To record a program that consists largely of every concert pianist’s standard repertoire requires courage – since one is immediately compared with all the greats of the classical music world – and, above all, a personal approach that suits the works without being arbitrary. German-Korean pianist Caroline Fischer achieves both, and publishes a colourful mix of works from Haydn and Beethoven to Moszkowski and Lyapunov on “Pearls of Classical Music”.

Fischer’s approach is unique and unmistakable, bringing together sharpness and mellow, almost fragile, caution. Caroline Fischer boasts an enormous spectrum and dynamic nuances, using them for piano and pianissimo to full effect. In this way, melodic lines come alive with reckless abandon and flow back together, with Fischer knowing when to place the right accent in the right place, and in general creating the right balance between excitement and relaxation.

Haydn’s Sonata in D major Hob. XVI: 24 is a playful and unpretentious sonata, especially in the marginal movements. With its dynamically reflective design, a stringent grasp of form is brought to the fore. In view of the measured tempo, the middle movement could tolerate more brilliance and fullness. As in almost every newer recording, Beethoven’s Rondo a capriccio in G major Op. 129 rushes through her fingers too quickly, although Fischer also reveals magical subtleties and presents an almost intoxicating voice. Weber’s Ronde brilliant E flat major Op. 62 enchants with its swing and dancing charm, and with ease and playfulness. When it comes to Chopin, Caroline Fischer is fully absorbed, does not drowse too much in the tender style, uses rubato wisely and lets a variety of intermediate shades of sound shine through. With Liszt’s love dream no. 3, this would be equally desirable – dreaminess and inner passion are not included enough (although her take is interesting, as this work is usually only performed “excessively dreamily”). The following four virtuoso works are at a high level, winning the audience over with their finger-breaking virtuosity and effortlessness.

“Pearls Of Classical Music” is definitely worth it, as the frequently heard works all have their own message and offer the listener the opportunity to experience other aspects of the music.

Oliver Fraenzke, The New Listener, Februar 2017

CD review by Dominik Lepuschitz – European News Agency: Fischer’s Pearls

No, this is not about Georges Bizet’s opera – rather about a very amazing young lady called Caroline Fischer. She is a pianist and has released a CD entitled “Pearls Of Classical Music”, which is many things, and is far from ordinary.

It is already clear after the first passages that in this artist everything is united, and this goes to create the perfect pianist. She is very familiar with the requirements of the style of the respective music and how it is to be transposed, has the courage to withdraw tempo, and when it needs to get to the point, every note gets the space it requires to sound, even in the most extensive runs, nothing is lost. This combination of power, precision, and sense of style, coupled with a great expressive range, enables her to be at home in all eras. This is truly exceptional.

Her new album takes the listener on an exciting journey through piano literature, where besides well-knowns such as the “Rage Over A Lost Penny” by Beethoven or Liszt’s “Liebestraum”, there is also a sonata by Haydn or the “Allegro Appassionato” by Saint-Saëns to be found. Chopin and C.M. von Weber are represented, as well as Sergei Lyapunov – today still a lesser-known Russian romantic – or Moritz Moszkowski, who has been apparently rediscovered by the young piano generation – much to the enrichment of the music world today.

Caroline Fischer presents here a representative cross-section through piano music, which will reach and delight music lovers of all types and demands, from the beginner to the acknowledged expert – and those who know nothing at all about classical music could find access here which then leads to new paths.

Dominik Lepuschitz, European News Agency, 23. February 2017

CD review Pizzicato Magazine

The German Korean pianist Caroline Fischer has recorded on her CD ‘Pearls of Classical Music’ a programm with miniatures by Beethoven, Weber, Chopin, Liszt, Saint-Saëns, Moszkowski and Lyapunov as well as Haydn’s 39. piano sonata. She performs the pieces highly agile and virtuoso, with much lightness and charm.“

Remy Franck, Pizzicato Magazine, 29. January 2017

CD review by Mr Stefan Pieper at klassik-heute.com

The German-Korean pianist, Caroline Fischer, has now reached global career status. When she entitled her newest recording “Pearls of Classical Music”, this was not meant to be taken as a commercial high-gloss label, but rather as a thoroughly honest working title for her latest project. So almost everyone, who has allowed themselves to be carried away by this CD of Caroline Fischer’s playful energy, should also experience in so many details her grandiose agility and technique, as well as diverse creativity. One feels aroused, refreshed, and touched – just by Caroline Fischer’s vibrant articulation skills on the black and white keys alone! And one is astonished how self-evidently and delicately this interpreter mobilizes all this potential.

Haydn’s Piano Sonata no. 39 is truly a “classic” prelude to such a range. Here Caroline Fischer shows her talent, vigorously accelerates the figurations in the first composition, allows much intimate sentiment in the slower composition, and then allows it to fall into a trenchant finale.

Caroline Fischer plays confidently enough that even extremely famous masterpieces not only sound beautifully polished, but also as if they have just been created: Beethoven’s Rondo Capriccioso, which is concerned with the “Rage Over a Lost Penny”, energises this pianist at an almost dizzying pace. The playful melody undergoes ingenious modifications, variations and adjustments. The whole renascent intriguing mechanics here make Caroline Fischer’s playing amazingly straightforward and vivid, and thus can be experienced without any issue (otherwise often more explainable by technical playing difficulty).

Then just immersing yourself with an effortless change into the stylistically safe “Chopin Feeling”, testifies once again that Caroline Fischer knows every trick. Maximum expressiveness and a further contagious ease are no contradiction. What is all this together: A breathing, often poignant agogic, pensive delirium, impulsive urges, at the same time a rhythmically drifting waltz shape, on top of which is a fragile singing voice.

Franz Liszt’s colossal virtuosity has already been addressed by Caroline Fischer on her previous CD “Lisztomagia”. If she has considered Franz Liszt for this latest work, then the more romantic and intimate facets of this music are the focus – somewhat in a nostalgically transfigured Rigoletto paraphrase.

Further repertoire discoveries make inroads in the early 20th century, whereby it is never about new tones, rather always about the musician and vitally progressive music. The “Allegro appassionata” opus number 70 by Camille Saint-Saëns at least shares this with the études of Moritz Moszkowski and Sergei Lyunov. The format of the étude is indeed much more than a piece of practice music. It almost seems as if this format had been invented just for Caroline Fischer – as a spacious playground for this spirited musician, who gladly “takes” her enthusiastic listeners with her wherever she likes.

Stefan Pieper, Klassik-Heute.com, 10. January 2017

hr2 Kultur CD-Tip ‘Pearls of Classical Music’ (broadcast with live moderation)
26. December 2016