Franz Schmidt was not only a brilliant cellist, but also a gifted pianist who mastered almost the entire piano repertoire with ease. Nevertheless, he had a kind of love-hate relationship with the piano. His great love was the organ. However, this did not prevent him from writing numerous works for the left hand (Beethoven Variations, Piano Concerto in E-flat major, Quintets). All of these were commissioned by the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein. For two-handed piano, on the other hand, Schmidt left behind only one composition. It is the melancholic Romance, which he dedicated to his English teacher Geoffrey Sephton in 1922. Karl-Andreas Kolly: 'The fact that I have nevertheless decided to set three of Franz Schmidt’s organ works for piano has primarily to do with my great passion for his music. And also a little with my hope that in a piano version, his organ works could possibly reach an additional audience.'
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Reviews
“… Kolly is a specialist in rarely played piano music … He plays with dedication and has been recorded in good sound…”
Bruno Repp – American Record Guide – July/August 2024
Carsten Dürer – Piano News (Germany) – May/June 2024
“…What is … evident is Kolly’s great technical ability, and especially the depth of his musical thought. The performances are well supported by the quality of the engineering and the acoustics in the Ehrbar Saal in Vienna. This disc is sure to make new friends for Schmidt’s music.”
William Kreindler – Musicwebinternational.com – 30 April 2024
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