Reviews on Clara Schumann Scenic Recital and CD

 

Peter Schroeder
Saarbrücker Zeitung, Feb. 26th, 2002 >>>

 

Dr. Wilhelm Sinkovic
"About The Lonely Woman", DiePRESSE, Feb. 12th, 2001 >>>

 

@ cetera
Feb. 15th, 2001 >>>

 

Die Presse
(Austrian daily newspaper), Dec. 21, 2001 >>>

 

Walther Neumann
in "Fortissimo" April 2000 (4) >>>

 

Dr. Erich Vanecek
Head of the Music Psychological Department of the University of Vienna, Sept. 1999 >>>

 

Dr. Gustav Danzinger
ORF Austrian Radio Broadcast. Sept. 1999 >>>

Press Releases >>>

 

 

 

Reviews on Clara Schumann Scenic Recital and CD

Saarbrücker Zeitung, Feb. 26, 2002
Concert: European Parliament/Forum Europa, Saarbrücken, Germany

For the Clara Schumann Memorial Matinee the Forum Europa engaged the Viennese pianist, Elisabeth Eschwé, who has devoted much time to the study of the compositions of the piano virtuoso. She is an expert, who is also a trained actress. Her multi-faceted program served to acquaint the audience with Clara Schumann's music and biography. The interchange between the sound of the piano and recited word was very entertaining. Lovely Romances, Capriccios, Impromptus, Preludes, Fugues and Variations illustrated passages from Clara's diaries and letters with a light hand. The impression: a woman's life that was successful but by no means always happy.

This informative matinee acquainted us with the originality and creativity with which Clara Schuman expressed herself at the piano. Hearty applause, encores.

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About The Lonely Woman
Dr. Wilhelm Sinkovic, DiePRESSE, 12 February 2001

Clara Schumann is the central figure of a varied solo program: The idea of the Viennese pianist Elisabeth Eschwé has revealed itself as an interesting change in the city's usual evening events.

The small hall in the Austria Tabak Art Cult Center in Vienna's Porzellangasse, recently housed an extremely satisfying production which was created and staged by Elisabeth Eschwé, a Viennese pianist and trained actress. She pieced together quotations from letters and compositions by Clara Schumann into an exciting, entertaining, but never larmoyant solo performance.

One could discover the remarkable musical creations of the highly gifted partner of two great composers of the Romantic period: small, often delightful Romances, Capricci and Waltzes, in simple textured styles, but also contrapuntal Preludes and Fugues.

In addition, diary entries and letter excerpts that outline the life story of that precocious woman: her relationship to Robert Schumann and the younger Johannes Brahms, her sufferings as a wife and mother, who sees several of her children die in despair, who masters a career in a male-dominated society with bravura.

Elisabeth Eschwé has collected all this material and woven into a clearly textured plot line of which she presents in the same straight-forward style as her heroine. The unobtrusiveness of her performance makes many details of this story especially touching. Absolutely worthy of a repeat performance!

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@cetera, literary-cultural magazine, Feb. 15th, 2001Concert at Festspielhaus, St. Pölten, Austria

Elisabeth Eschwé earns our thanks for bringing this intelligent and sensitive woman (Clara Schumann sic.)back to life through her piano performance and recitation. She presents a picture of the artist caught between the burdens of household duties, frequent pregnancies, piano lessons, and concert tours, but also as an emancipated romantic and stern performer at the piano, who still maintained an aura of great dignity.

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Die Presse
(Austrian daily newspaper), Dec. 21, 2001
Review of CD recording: "Clara Schumann, A Life-Story in Word and Music"

Clara Schumann inspired and influenced two geniuses, her husband, Robert, and Johannes Brahms. The Viennese pianist, Elisabeth Eschwé, has studied the artist's letters and diaries thoroughly and formed them into a theatrical script that she brings to life through her dramatic recitation. To this she adds her interpretation of various piano compositions by Clara Schumannn, some of which are nothing short of brilliant. A welcome addition to piano repertoire.

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Walther Neumann in "Fortissimo" April 2000 (4)
Music University of Graz, Austria
15. EPTA Congress in Graz

"Highlights in a Pianistic Environment"

It is the European Piano Teachers' Association we have to thank for making the acquaintance with an extraordinary artist. In a scenic recital, entitled "Meeting Clara Schumann", Elisabeth Eschwé, a multi-talented Viennese pianist, personified the character of Clara Schumann on stage in a dramatically one-woman show which brought the modern aspects of this outstanding woman to the fore.

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Univ. Prof. Dr. Erich Vanecek Head of the Music Psychological Department of the University of Vienna, Sept. 1999

It is astonishing how Eschwé's voice recalls that of 16 year-old Clara, full of girlish enthusiastic love for Robert, how she makes the audience suffer with the wife and grief-stricken mother and how she shows us a sensible and prudent Clara at the end of her life ... The skilful selection of the letters and diary passages does not only throw light on Clara's relationship to Johannes Brahms, but also gives an insight into 19th century music and style, ist protagonists and cultural centres. An outstanding performance.

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Dr. Gustav Danzinger
ORF Austrian Radio Broadcast. Sept. 1999

The Clara Schumann program by Elisabeth Eschwé: a logical dramaturgical concept, an often haunting performance. It is one of the rare events that equally evokes intellectual and emotional response in the audience. Elisabeth Eschwé, a top professional reciter and pianist, thus achieves a degree of utmost concentration and identification.

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