Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Op. 53 No. 3 in G minor

“Initially I was not entirely convinced by the modern copy of an 1830 Pleyel...But soon I was relishing the clarity and sheer beauty of the sound and, for the most part, of Ronald Brautigam playing. He is, without any doubt, one of the finest pianists around, and his despatch of Mendelssohn's fastest pieces is thrilling.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2013 ****

“a rare opportunity to hear some of the composer's most beloved works as he might have heard them...There is, of course, much to savour and admire...but I miss the modern grand piano's sustained, singing tone” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013

“Ronald Brautigam’s Mendelssohn is so good it’s easy not to notice how good it is. That is, this playing feels so natural, so effortless, so perfectly songlike (cantabile!) that it’s tempting to think, “why wouldn’t the music sound like this?” ..This Mendelssohn breathes like a living thing...If you don’t think a fortepiano can sing, think again. A superb recital.” MusicWeb International, April 2013

“this sweeps the board in this repertoire.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Korstick - who has recorded extensively for CPO - specialises in romantic music, and is clearly completely at home in this repertoire...This is a disc that I cannot fault at all - highly desirable.” MusicWeb International, November 2012

“Realistically captured, with strong, sweeping accounts of the Variations sérieuses as the programme's centrepiece and the Andante and Rondo capriccioso with which Knauer rounds off proceedings, this is a distinguished contribution to the 200th anniversary celebrations.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2009

“One of the main reasons for the success of this disc is that instead of doggedly ploughing his way through a chronologically ordered selection of Songs Without Words, Sebastian Knauer has chosen only those which appeal to him and about which he has something individual to say.
At least, that is the impression one gets from his playing.
For Mendelssohn specialists there are the added bonuses of four world premiere recordings: the Songs in F sharp minor and F major (sans opus numbers) are heard here in the first edition of the 2001 Viennese Urtext; the Song in E flat is a completion by Mendelssohn's biographer Larry Todd (who also contributes the booklet here); Op 102 No 2 in D major is a 'recording of the dedicated original score' (no further information is given).
Realistically captured, with strong, sweeping accounts of the Variations sérieuses as the programme's centrepiece and the Andante andRondo capriccioso with which Knauer rounds off proceedings, this is a distinguished contribution to the 200th anniversary celebrations.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010