Schumann: Kinderszenen,... - CD

ENGLISH

Alongside the powerful concertos by Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Prokofiev or Chopin she plays all over the world, Lise de la Salle has a special link with Robert Schumann's early piano pieces. She chose the Abegg Variations op.1, Kinderszenen op.15 and the Fantasie in C major op.17 for her first recording dedicated to the German romantic master. A repertoire in which she has a lot to say and reveal.<br /> <br /> "Right from the Abegg Variations, his first work, you can feel everything, it's fascinating: his impetuosity, his urge to start writing, to express totally everything he wants to convey, the birth of passionate love like a sort of adolescent joy, very luminous, carefree, pure, free of torment. The Abegg Variations represent sheer desire at its purest. "<br /> "These three works offer a genuine journey, full of con-trasts, in which the listener can easily find wonder, surprise, and kaleidoscopic shifts from one emotion to another. I like it when you don't ever settle into a com-fort zone. I'm looking for emotions ' that's what guides me. These pieces aren't for children, but assume the character of innocence and candour that one finds in childhood. I'd even go so far as to say that they adopt the tone of late adolescence and early adulthood. "<br /> -- Lise de la Salle