Severin von Eckardstein Plays Robert Schumann Severin von Eckardstein

• Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Fantasiestücke, Op. 111:
• 1I. Sehr rasch und mit leidenschaftlichem Vortrag02:23
• 2II. Ziemlich langsam05:08
• 3III. Kräftig und sehr markiert03:37
• Fantasiestücke, Op. 12:
• 4I. Des Abend. Sehr innig zu spielen03:59
• 5II. Aufschwung. Sehr rasch03:07
• 6III. Warum? Langsam02:47
• 7IV. Grillen Mit Humor03:19
• 8V. In der Nacht. Mit Leidenschaft03:57
• 9VI. Fabel. Langsam02:34
• 10VII. Traumes Wirren. Äußerst lebhaft02:23
• 11VIII. Ende vom Lied. Mit gutem Humor05:26
• Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17:
• 12I. Durchaus phantsastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzu tragen12:38
• 13II. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch07:43
• 14III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten10:45
• Total Runtime01:09:46

Info for Severin von Eckardstein Plays Robert Schumann

The term “fantasia”, in music, mainly refers to a free type of structure. Throughout history, the genre has allowed composers to jot down their musical ideas directly, like an improvisation, just as they first spring to mind. The fantasia became a popular instrumental genre in the 1800’s, when it started to feature the dreamy, “phantastic” element even more prominently; the piano and its universe of polyphony likewise played an essential role.

The fantasia was thus an ideal genre for Schumann, whose music I view as the quintessence of German High Romanticism. Schumann’s music is full of expression and driven by passion; at the same time it is disarmingly honest and private. Its textural sonority is full of variety, yet it always remains decent and straightforward, never attempting to posture with easy, flashy, superficial effects or by adding purely virtuosic embellishments.

Severin von Eckardstein is fairly known, a highly regarded pianist and chamber musician of the younger German generation (30), travelling Europe and further afield.

Severin von Eckardstein, piano

Severin von Eckardstein
one of the leading German pianists of his generation, has an already lengthy record of solo concerts and concerto performances on major stages around the world.

He has delighted the public with many highly acclaimed concerts, for example in Berlin, Munich, Moscow, London, Paris, New York, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul. His talent could be enjoyed at great music festivals, including Klavier-Festival Ruhr, in Aldeburgh/UK, the Gilmore Festival in Michigan/USA, the renowned festival in La Roque d’Anthéron, France, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Miami International Piano Festival, where he played the opening concert in 2009. He has performed with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Philippe Herreweghe, Lothar Zagrosek and Marek Janowski, and made important debuts, for example with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Beethoven Piano Concerto Nr. 5) under Paavo Järvi in 2007 and most recently – in spring 2012 – with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Prokofiev Piano Concerto Nr. 3) conducted by Jaap van Zweden. Many of Von Eckardstein’s concerts have been recorded and broadcasted by major broadcasting corporations. As a repeat guest in the concert series “Meesterpianisten” in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, von Eckardstein opened the gala concert celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary. He has been invited to reappear in 2017.

Born in Duesseldorf, Germany in 1978, the pianist has won prizes at numerous noteworthy international competitions, e.g. “Ferruccio Busoni” in Bozen (1998), the “Leeds International Piano Competition” (2000) and “José Iturbi” in Valencia (2002), as well as winner of the ARD-Competition in Munich (1999) and the “Grand Prix International Reine Elisabeth” in Brussels (2003). On several occasions he has been awarded special prizes for the “Best Interpretation of Contemporary Music.”

Several foundations and societies, including the Mozart Society and the highly regarded German National Merit Foundation, have honored him with scholarships. In 2002 he received the “European Culture Prize” and in 2003 the “Echo Classic Prize.”

Von Eckardstein’s education in the musical arts was predominately shaped by his teachers Prof. Barbara Szczepanska, Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Prof. Klaus Hellwig, University of Arts, Berlin, where he also successfully completed his concert exams. In an additional course of study at the International Piano Academy Lake Como, Italy, he profited from further instruction and inspiration. He took private lessons from teachers such as Alfred Brendel and participated in master classes instructed by Vitalij Margulis, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Alicia de Larrocha, Leon Fleisher and Menahem Pressler, to name only a few. He himself has served as master class instructor in South Korea and Finland.

Chamber music also plays a significant role in his repertoire with performances at festivals such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Finland, and the Risør Chamber Music Festival, Norway, where he appeared with the cellist Heinrich Schiff. He has often given concerts with young but highly renowned musicians, for example Andrej Bielov, Barnabasz Kelemen, Franziska Hölscher, Judith Ermert, Danjulo Ishizaka and Nicolas Altstaedt. Together with Franziska Hölscher he recently founded a new series of chamber concerts named “Klangbrücken” in Berlin (Konzerthaus).

Von Eckardstein‘s comprehensive repertoire spans the baroque period up through music of the 21st century. As such, he has premiered the works of modern-day composers, in particular the American Sidney Corbett. One of his special focuses is the demanding late romantic piano music of some less known composers, especially Nicolai Medtner.

His CD recordings with compositions by Medtner, Skrjabin, Wagner, Schubert and others aroused great interest. A Schumann CD is being under preparation and will be published in 2016.

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