Discography

NACHTSTÜCKE

Schumann Nachtstücke op. 23
Holliger Elis – Drei Nachtstücke
Scriabin Sonata No. 9 op. 68 „Messe noire“
Ravel Gaspard de la nuit
Mozart Adagio in B minor K. 540
OehmsClassics OC 733

"... The rarely heard Schumann Nachstücke are given an idiomatic performance here. Influenced by the writings of E.T.A. Hoffmann, the movements were originally called 'funereal fantasies' as a group, with each movement also having its own title, appellations that were subsequently rejected prior to publication. Schuch brings out their quirky, darkness-obsessed nature. Holliger's Elis (1961/66), a work that depends on gesture an contrast, comprises three nocturnes of Webernesque intensity and makes use of silence similar to that of the great master. Schuch plays the music with real dedication - I look forward to hearing him in similar repertoire. ..."
Piano International, September 2009

" Herbert Schuch's provocatively programmed recital built around "Night Pieces" matches an perhaps even surpasses the extraordinary standards set by the young pianist's earlier Oehms Classics solo release. Few keyboard artists have conveyed the somber darkness and lyrical light that characterize Schumann's Nachtstücke (...)
One of the finest piano discs of 2009, for that matter, any other year."
www.classicstoday June 4, 2009  rating 10/10 points

 "(…) A potent programme whose concept is marked by a highly detailed interpretation. This results in manic note repetition in Skryabin, Ravel and Mozart – all three pieces share an insistence, a strict doggedness to express something which is apparently inexpressible, something which seems terribly threatening. It is also audible in the Schumann – despite the brisk virtuosity that Schuch is also capable of, though he never employs it to produce a release of tonal aura. That is because even in the heat of the moment, he is interested in the detail, in clarity (…)"
Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 25, 2009

"This brave conceptual album strides in a self-confident manner through musical eras: Schumann's manically obsessive Nachtstücke of 1839 are followed by three sketches by Heinz Holliger, Skrjabin's Black Mass sonata and Ravel's radical piece Gaspard de la nuit. The way that pianist Herbert Schuch (30) gives each work its due and closes with Mozart's matchless B minor Adagio is proof of real class."
Kultur SPIEGEL - April 2009

Schubert Piano Sonatas D 537 & D 894
Lachenmann Five Variations on a theme by Schubert | Guero
OehmsClassics OC 593

“What young pianist has the talent, the gift, to make room on
a Schubert CD for pieces by Helmut Lachenmann? (...)
The mysteriously hesitating, ‘whispering’ introduction to the
great G major Sonata is not temperamentally veiled with Schuch;
in rhythm and tone, it is set on firm foundations, and yet sensitively articulated. In the A minor Sonata too, Schubert appears as an energetic character who can still express himself freely and discursively. It shows a young musician’s mastery of his art when like Herbert Schuch he takes the internal and external time to bring the music to itself” (...)
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 16 May 2000

“The pianist who catches Schubert’s piano tone has proved himself
as an artist. But 29-year-old Herbert Schuch can do more than that.
His profound interpretation of the D 537 and D 894 sonatas is set
amid works by Lachenmann: the Schubert Variations (...) and the
cheeky anti-music ‘Guero’.”
Kultur SPIEGEL, April 2008

Ravel Miroirs Schumann Kreisleriana
OehmsClassics OC 541

(...) “Not the typical debut repertoire to show off pianistic prowess. Not an eccentric excursion in phrasing either. Instead, a maturity of expression, an interpenetration of compositional ideas and a vividly coloured portrayal that sooner or later will flourish only well away from chronic competition madness.” FAZ, 17 December 2005

Chamber Music with Mirijam Contzen, Violin
Brahms Sonata No. 3  op. 108
Schubert Fantasia in C Major,  D 934, op. 159
Zemlinsky Serenade for Violin and Piano in A major
OehmsClassics OC 596

(...) Even if there is so much difference in the style of the
three Viennese compositions, Contzen and Schuch succeed
even in the fierce, more brusque Brahms in tracing similarities
between them all.”
ensemble — Magazine for Chamber Music October-November 2007

more CD reviews at downloads
orders and snippets at www.oehmsclassics.de

Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr  Volume 18 12/2007
Beethoven | Liszt | Saint-Saëns

Herbert Schuch | Marc-André Hamelin | Alexander Lonquich
Chorakademie am Konzerthaus Dortmund |
Duisburger Philharmoniker | Bochumer Symphoniker
Jonathan Darlington | Steven Sloane

Beethoven "Coriolan" Overture in C minor op. 62
Fantasia for Piano, Choir and Orchestra in C minor op. 80

more information and CD orders at www.klavierfestival.de

Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr Volume 15  2006/07
NATIONAL-BANK COLLECTION III  Portraits

Dimitri Bashkirov | Herbert Schuch | David Fray | Robert Levin
Christian Chamorel & Sigfried Mauser | Vladimir Kharin

Works by Helmut Lachenmann, Franz Schubert,
Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann