CD reviews about Caroline's Debut CD:

Caroline Fischer, already one of the very greats

Right from the very first bars, the listener is gripped by Caroline Fischer’s interpretation of Liszt’s „Campanella". The 21 year old pianist, already highly acclaimed on the concert stage, leaves an outstanding impression on us, which is confirmed in what follows. She is an exceptional artist, this much is certain.

Caroline Fischer’s interpretations are profound, powerful and expressive; in every respect they do justice to the spirit and score of the composers selected.

The Scarlatti Sonata in D minor, K 141 is imbued with precisely the form and quickness to which it is naturally entitled. The hammering chords and abrupt breaks are perfectly suited to Rodion Shchedrin’s „Basso Ostinato" dating from 1961, a work influenced by Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Caroline Fischer’s polished, luminously clear attack in Chopin’s C major Etude op. 10 Nr 1 leaves us hoping that she will expand her discography still further in this direction. Her Mozart interpretations are characterized by coherence and a youthful freshness. At every moment, the A minor Sonata KV 310 (1778) appears truthful. The singing, restrained Allegro at the start stands in convincing contrast to the ruthlessly open Andante con espressivo which, without losing any continuity, leads naturally into the Finale – a cheerful, lively and magnificently fashioned Presto. Caroline Fischer chose three Preludes from Debussy’s Livre II (1913), which she performed entirely in the spirit of the French composer, exercising a high degree of care with respect to tone colour, articulation and rhythmic cascades - for instance in "Feux d’artifice" (Nr 12). Without doubt, Caroline Fischer already counts among the very great artists of her profession.

Jean-Luc Caron, resmusica.com, 8. October 2006

Exhilarating piano playing

Following her notable successes at numerous international competitions and piano recitals, the young Berlin pianist Caroline Fischer now appears with a virtuoso recording.

The 22 year old pianist clearly demonstrates her artistic calibre with her first recording. She masters all the technical demands of literature in a most impressive manner, with the certainty of a sleepwalker coupled with a controlled attack. The heart of this collection is a touchingly simple version of Mozart's A minor Piano Sonata, Special mention should be made of the organic cantilena in the Andante which she plasy as if in a single breath. A high degree of Artistic sovereignty is also noticeable in Liszt's operatic paraphrase "Reminiscences du Don Juan": the interpretation possesses great depths, above all in those passages which quote he dramatic commander motif. The extended varations section on the duet "La ci darem la mano" at first patters pleasingly, before attaining great suggestive power as it develops.

The Liszt piece is preceded by a romanticizing interpretation of Scarlatti's D minor Piano Sonata K 141. The realisation of the rapid note repetitions is accomplished respectably. Liszt's "La campanella" and Debussy's "Feux d'artifice" are sparkling fountains, while Rodion Shchedrin's constant "Basso ostinato" reaches a rousing rhythmic apotheosis in Caroline Fischer's hands. Her interpretation of Liszt's 13 th Hungarian Rhapsody is marked by a directness of musical language and a natural bravura which is never superficial. The recording is characterises by the highly brilliant tone of the piano. The filigree acoustic of the Mendelssohn Saal in the Leipzig Gewandhaus is ideally suited to Mozart and Debussy.

klassik.com, 12. August 2006

CD review written by Peter Cossé at klassik-heute.com

The Genuin label is proud to sponsor the 22 year old Berliner Caroline Fischer, an interpreter whose performances decisively separate her from the mass of other talented, industrious pianists. She performs her programme, which contains a number of virtuoso masterpieces, not only with propriety, but also with a commanding degree of imagination which compels the discriminating listener to sit up and take notice. Caroline Fischer has something to say across the whole board of the musical literature presented here, she endows the "Hungarian" Nr 13 with flair and gypsylike pathos, not only in the short grace notes, but also in the dance-like, frivolous finale. She knows how to colour the dramatic vicissitudes of the Don Juan fantasy and to make them stand out from one another – this is piano playing of great solidity which, at decisive moments, also ignites with burning intensity.

She imbues the accompanying phrases of Mozart’s A minor Sonata with credibility – something which rises above mere mechanical precision! The note repetitions of the Scarlatti Sonata are executed in a whirl. The name Fischer is legendary in the musical wonderland of pianists and conductors: Annie, Edwin, Edith, Ivan, Adam, György. Caroline will claim her place among this family of Fischers, of that I have no doubt.

Peter Cossé, klassik-heute.com, 1. August 2006