“On three CDs, the pianist Burkard Schliessmann bundles piano pieces by Robert Schumann that can be categorised as ‘fantasy pieces’. As a renowned expert in the music of the German Romantics, Schliessmann’s interpretations open up completely new, surprising and unexpected horizons and lead into fascinating spheres of poetry, tone colours, expression and agogics.
An essay by the pianist in the trilingual booklet provides information about the special interpretation approach under the label ‘Phantasmagorias’. Since the release of the album, the reviews have been overflowing with enthusiasm, and one can only agree with this in every respect.
Schliessmann’s playing is richly coloured and multi-faceted, reflecting every required mood, captivating and with stupendous technique; no detail of Schumann’s scores goes undetected. The pianist plays on an unusual Steinway grand piano (D-612236), which is equipped with two keyboards including action and hammers (one lighter, one darker).
The recording technology in the Teldex Studio in Berlin with 14 microphones is also exceptional. All in all, this album is not only highly recommended, but really a MUST!”
“Affrontando l’analisi di questo corposo ed elegante cofanetto della Divine Art, che presenta tre SACD con opere pianistiche di Robert Schumann nell’interpretazione del pianista tedesco Burkard Schliessmann, non posso che essere subito d’accordo con l’artista bavarese quando afferma che non sono tanto le opere pianistiche schumanniane, quanto le composizioni per voce e pianoforte che, nella loro combinazione di letteratura e musica, contribuiscono alla comprensione decisiva di questo compositore romantico e del suo potere di pensiero riguardo all’associazione tra poesia, illusione e realtà.”
Availability worlwide:American Record Guide "The sound is perfect ... one of the most beautiful-sounding recordings I've heard recently ... this is a fascinating account of Schumann piano works well-known and not, and worth adding to a collection of recordings " —Rob Haskins
Fanfare-Magazine "As with his other recordings, Schliessmann contributes an extensive, thought-provoking essay. Without hesitation I recommend this recording ... there are many, many moments all through these pieces that repay careful listenings. This will certainly be my reference recording for all of the works here. " —James Harrington
Audiophile Audition "Without invoking the names of poets Coleridge and Poe, nor the contemporary musician Berlioz, Schliessmann raises the deliberate ambiguities, harmonic and structural, in Schumann's oeuvre that invoke the darker hues of imaginative expression ... Schliessmann's realizations of the Schumann scores, therefore, bear the agogic and polyphonic textures that invoke menace and uncertainty, even while an otherwise placid surface presents itself, as in the familiar Arabeske in C. The recording from Berlin's Teldex Studios, utilizing the Dolby Atmos process, has done Schliessmann's keyboard good service ... Highly recommended, both to read and to audition. " —Gary Lemco
Schumann-Portal "With Robert Schumann: Fantasies, Burkard Schliessmann has opened up new horizons for Schumann interpretation. His performances combine the intellect necessary to understand Schumann's music, the highest level of poetry and just the right instinct for timbres, agogics and tempo. " —Daniel Höhr
Fanfare-Magazine "Captured in superlative sound, his Steinway instrument is caught magnificently ... Underder Schliessmann's fingers, the music seems to strive for an unknown other, and yet the search emanates from a heart at peace. Burkard Schliessmann, in his finest offering yet, offers a homage to Schumann for the ages. " —Colin Clarke
Fanfare-Magazine "Burkard's pianism is, as always, a thing of beauty to behold, at once limpid and limned, while always equally as constant in attention to the demands and details of the score as to the emotions and expressive gestures the written notes imply. In my experience, Burkard Schliessmann's Schumann may be equaled by two or three pianists past—Richter, Horowitz, and especially Arrau—but he is not surpassed by any of them. " —Jerry Dubbins
“Un doppio SACD dell'etichetta discografica inglese Divine Art pubblicato qualche mese fa permette di conoscere meglio un pianista tedesco, Burkard Schliessmann, tra i migliori e i più interessanti a livello internazionale degli ultimissimi decenni, visto che nel nostro Paese il suo nome gira ancora quasi esclusivamente tra i soli appassionati di musica pianistica. Questi due SACD sono stati registrati dal vivo tra il 3 e il 5 aprile del 2023, quando il pianista di Aschaffenburg ha tenuto due concerti alla Fazioli Concert Hall a Sacile, eseguendo pagine di Bach, Chopin, Mendelssohn e Schumann, quindi mettendo in campo un compendio interpretativo con un preciso filo conduttore, che si può riassumere nel concetto dell'affiorare, tramite il Kantor, e del progressivo concretizzarsi del linguaggio tonale e della sua suprema affermazione pianistica attraverso quella triade di geni romantici, come lo stesso interprete bavarese ha voluto evidenziare nelle note di accompagnamento nel libretto in tre lingue (manca ovviamente l'italiano) ospitato nell'elegante cofanetto.”