From the laudatory
comments plastered all over the box
and the über-flattering essay about
the pianist that takes up a full two
pages of the program book, one would
think that Burkhard Schliessmann was
the greatest pianist since Liszt. And,
I will have to confess that in certain
repertoire he is fine indeed, but this
presentation is long on plaudits and
short on product. The only half-interesting
hour-plus recital has nothing of great
visual excitement and some hit and miss
playing ranging from the very fine to
the utterly pedantic.
In an email exchange
with my colleague Donald Satz, I was
strongly encouraged to listen to Schliessmann’s
Schumann recordings, which Mr. Satz
found extraordinary. It was his advice
that encouraged me to give this set
a second and third listen, and I did
find some rather fine playing on a portion
of this disc. Alas it is not to be found
in the Godowsky/Strauss works, which
were played under tempo, lethargically,
and so haltingly as to make me believe
that Schliessmann was being entirely
too careful not to miss a note - read:
these pieces need more rehearsal. Since
the bulk of Strauss’s output was in
the form of a waltz - even Fledermaus
is a big set of waltzes with funny words
- I spent the entirety of this set trying
to dance, and being unable to do so.
The playing lacks the lilt of the dance,
the joie and spirit of old Vienna,
and well, it is just rather boring and
pedantic. Couple that with some completely
uninteresting camera work (really, how
much can you do with a guy and a piano
alone in a fancy room?), and Mr. Schliessmann’s
rather expressionless posture at the
piano and you get an end-result that
requires quite an effort to keep from
nodding off.
The Liszt Schubert
transcriptions are another affair. Mr.
Schliessmann here seems to be well acquainted
with the songs themselves, and portrays
the poetry, or at least a good representation
of it, in his playing. He is fleet of
finger and his handling of inner voices
is exquisite. Tempo choices are right
on, corresponding again with the spirit
of the poetry. Particular favorites
were the lovely rendition of Auf
dem Wasser zu Singen and the spirited,
yea riveting performance of Erlkönig.
A nice bonus is the
DVD audio disc of Chopin works, with
an encore video presentation at the
end. Borrowed from the Bayer label.
The playing of the four Ballades is
certainly elegant, particularly in the
slower passages, but I was a bit bothered
by what seems to be a lack of inner
rhythm and attention to the inner subdivisions
of beats. Once things get moving at
a faster pace, then Schliessmann is
all control and panache. I was most
impressed by the rich warm tone he gets
out of the piano, and how he manages
not to blur the more virtuosic passages
with an abundance of pedal. It is sad
though that when the music is at its
most poetic, Schliessmann is at his
most pedantic.
Production values are
fair, with an abundance of praise for
the artist, so much so that one begins
to have doubts about his abilities;
methinks thou dost protest too much,
perhaps. Notes on the music are informative
and concise, and the essay on Godowsky
is particularly worthwhile.
Since this is primarily
a video production, I recommend rental
over purchase. The music is somewhat
interesting, and at least worth a single
listen/viewing, but the investment of
buyer’s cash might be too much to risk.
Kevin Sutton
Burkhard Schliessmann, piano 
ARTHAUS
DVD 100455 [73:00] 
