"The German pianist Lisa Maria Schachtschneider, who lives in Switzerland, has put together a program of well-known and lesser-known works on the theme of earth and nature conservation, with a focus on the element of fire. It is striking how well the lesser-known works fit into the program, be it « In Memoriam » by the Norwegian Ruth Bakke (*1947), an expressive protest against the destruction of a lake in a nature reserve, or the atmospheric Lake Shore Dream by the American composer Faustina Hasse Hodges (1823-1895), the beautiful soundscapes of From Grandmother’s Garden by Amy Beach, or the two miniatures ‘Shooting Stars’ and ‘Snow Flurries and Glimpses of Sunshine’ by the German composer, pianist, writer, and children’s book author Countess Sophie Wolf Baudissin (1818-1894). The sonata by Swiss composer Martha von Castelberg (1892-1971) is difficult to relate to the album’s theme, but the first recording of this immediately appealing work is to be welcomed anyway.
The program comes to a highly virtuosic close with Liszt, Scriabin and Stravinsky, where Lisa Maria Schachtschneider – after an infinite amount of sensitivity – also shows her virtuosic side in an appealing manner. But I will remember the album as valuable above all because of the discoveries described above."
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