Pianistin setzt virtuoses Glanzlicht
Mit recht energischem, in den raschen Passagen brillantem Anschlag fügte sich die junge Musikerin homogen in den Gesamtklang ein und setzte mit ihrer Zugabe, "La campanella" von Liszt ein virtuoses Glanzlicht.
Westfälische Rundschau, Unna, 19. Dezember 2007
Die Solistin garantierte ausnahmslos Ohrvergnügen: Caroline Fischer polierte die Literatur blank, blitzend und bravourös.
WAZ, Gelsenkirchen, 17. Dezember 2007
On 24 August, Stendal’s honorary citizen Eugenia Jütting would have been 100 years old. The festive piano recital held in her honour, given by the former Jütting scholar Caroline Fischer, would most certainly have lived up to her wishes, had she been there to experience it.
The event opened with works by Franz Liszt. The first piece, the Hungarian Rhapsody Nr 13 in A minor, was played by the internationally celebrated pianist with superior virtuosity, reminiscent of the style of the great artists of the 19th century. This work places enormous demands on the capabilities of the pianist in order to do full justice to the overflowing melodic content of the piece.
It was followed by "Valse Impromptu" and the "Mephisto Waltz". Here too, Liszt wrote highly expressive pieces that are reserved for only the most capable of pianists. Caroline Fischer interpreted them in a passionately expressive way.
The idea of encouraging friendship among nations through music was one which the pianist Eugenia Jütting was particularly attached to. The event was rounded off by works by the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, who was her favourite. Once again Caroline Fischer shone with 5 Etudes from op. 10. The emotionally moving climax of the evening was the "Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante" in E flat major, which was performed with great expression and devotion in a manner which was technically brilliant.
Volksstimme, 28. August 2007
At the piano, Caroline Fischer proved herself to be a spirited interpreter, at once both commanding and sensitive. She plays Grieg with her heart and soul, in a way which is powerful and superior, and which goes to confirm her interpretation as a mature musical statement. Pulsating energy flows through her hands from piano through to forte. In the very solemn Adagio, her velvety piano was full of intensity, just as elsewhere, too, the music was brought to life under her hands. In the Allegro marcato, the lyrical section was defined with great sensitivity. In the jubilant fortissimo, she imparted a great sense of tension.
Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 8. June 2007
Caroline Fischer played the solo part in the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor op. 16 by Edvard Grieg. Ms Fischer can look back on numerous first prizes and honours awarded at major competitions. At this concert too, her performance left nothing to be desired. Her perfect technique – coupled with emotional sensitivity – revealed the beauty and greatness of this Romantic composition.
Badisches Tageblatt, 8. Juni 2007
Nipping kitsch in the bud
The 22 year old Berliner Caroline Fischer takes her seat at the piano in the Chamber Hall of the Philharmonie and takes a brief moment to stop and think. After attuning her spirit and hands entirely to the music and her instrument, she begins to intone the accompanying figures of Beethoven’s Waldstein sonata. One feels at once that this pianist loves connectedness and closeness, she does not allow herself to become entangled in passages of highly emotive lyricism. Then comes the finale, whose frenzied figures she plays with an almost porcelain-like tone instead of crowing brilliance. After the break, she succeeds in making a bravura piece of Liszt’s Rigoletto paraphrase, which can often seem kitschy in other hands; meditative, performed with an almost stylised hesitancy. In Chopin’s 12 Etüdes op. 10, she gives an elegant account of the musically less interesting pieces of the cycle and imbues masterpieces such as the mysterious E flat minor Etüde, or the brilliant final piece, with wonderful accents. Ms Fischer is not one of those young pianists who are in danger of burning themselves out in the classical music business. We will still be hearing from her in ten or twenty years time.
Ulrich Pollmann, Der Tagesspiegel, 9. January 2007
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
An exceptional pianist’s keyboard pyrotechnics.
Caroline Fischer shines in castle ballroom/ immense technical reserves/ masters even Beethoven Sonata
At an astonishing concert in the castle ballroom, under the patronage of Alexander fürst zu Schaumberg-Lippe, the exceptional young pianist Caroline Fischer ignited a pyrotechnical performance on the keys of the grand piano.
The petite artist gave battle serenely. Thanks to her immense technical reserves, the national and international prize winner mastered the physically demanding movements and furious cadence with a cool, purposeful nonchalance. As if constantly regenerating her powers, the soloist took all challenges in her stride; Liszt’s cleverly illuminated “Hungarian Rhapsody No 13”, the infectious “La Campanella” and even his neck-breaking reminiscences of Mozart’s opera “Don Juan”. Her craftsman like ability bore her through the trials of this finger torture unscathed, without her playing ever seeming affected or pretentious .
In the meantime, this as “Piano-miracle” acclaimed artist presented us Chopin´s “Scherzo Nr 2 in b minor”. Her interpretation was tempestuous and let nobody doubt her virtuosity. Caroline Fischer crowned the performance with three colourfully textured Christmas Carols, climaxing with a particularly beautiful and sensitively performed “Silent Night”. The audience were astounded by the young artist’s performance.
Bückeburg, 13. Dezember 2005
Superlative piano notes
Caroline Fischer harvests enthusiastic applause for her phenomenal piano performance
Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Appassionata“ begins; a compulsory piece in a master pianist’s programme. The exceptional quality of the evening’s concert is tangible even after the first few bars.
The artist takes the audience on a 90 minute journey through the world of music. With the two pieces that follow, Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody” and “La Campanella” the pianist proves , that despite her youth, she is a genuinely gifted musician. Her brilliant rendition of Frédéric Chopin’s “Scherzo no. 2” showcases her excellent technique, her fingers gliding about the keyboard as if guided by a magical hand.
Liszt’s “ Réminisences du Don Juan de Mozart”, a piece avoided by many concert pianists because of its difficulties, was without doubt the climax of the evening. Caroline Fischer also soared over this “hurdle” in style and consequently harvested the enthusiastic applause of a fascinated audience.
Märkische Allgemeine, Rheinsberg, 10. November 2005
Magnificent piano playing in the church
“The Storkower Church has never experienced anything like this” enthused mayoress Christine Gericke, as she presented Caroline Fischer with a magnificent bouquet. The entire audience still seemed intoxicated by the performance of the 21 year old Berliner for whom critics have found such accolades as “ lioness of the keyboard” and “piano-miracle”. The petite artist merely gave a relaxed smile,, making it hard to imagine that it was she who had just ignited this pyrotechnical rendition of Liszt’s “Don Juan”; her powerfully hammered chords, runs and trills bringing out the ever changing variations on themes from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” such as the well-known lyric “Take my hand my life”
Liszt is notably challenging for pianists and many give the devilish difficulties of “Don Juan” a wide berth. However, in her hands, travelling so fast as to seem invisible, even the first movement of Beethoven’s “Appassionata” turns into a tempestuous chase.
Märkische Oderzeitung, Storkow, 7. November 2005
Glittering Piano Recital in the Konzerthaus Berlin
Every seat in the concert hall was taken, with good reason: the 20 year old pianist Caroline Fischer, without any doubt an exceptional talent, already has a loyal following and acquires new fans every time she appears. This evening she once again demonstrated her impressive qualities as a “lioness” of the keyboard. Equally breathtaking were her skills as a musical magician: bewitching landscapes of sound were conjured up with the self-assurance of a sleepwalker, yet with the greatest intensity.
The audience was captivated right from the start by Mozart’s sombre and moving A minor Sonata. Caroline Fischer’s romantic orchestral interpretation was thoroughly convincing. The slow second movement, which she transformed into a magnificent operatic aria, was especially impressive.
It was followed by four preludes by Debussy. Whether it be the fairy-like dreamscapes in the first piece, the forces of nature unleashed in the second, the trenchant character portrait in the third or the virtuoso fireworks in the last: it was a real joy to observe Caroline Fischer working her musical magic. She mastered the hair-raising difficulties presented by the score with a lightness and elegance bordering on the miraculous.
The second half of the concert was given over entirely to Liszt, a composer who seems to have been made for Caroline Fischer. In her hands, poetry and virtuoso brilliance blend into a rare magical unity – in the Hungarian Rhapsodies as well as in the terribly challenging “Don Juan” fantasy. The latter work, a free variation on Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, epitomises the very pinnacle of virtuoso art. Caroline Fischer’s interpretation of this composition is all the more astounding on account of its supreme ease. It remains a mystery where this young pianist draws her never-ending power and energy from, in order to draw a concert programme like this to a close in such an effortless way.
Caroline played a fiendishly difficult encore, Liszt's "La campanella". The audience went wild with enthusiasm.
Felix Stephan, Berlin, 28. January 2005
Gartensaal: Dazzling Piano Recital
Brilliant playing by the young pianist, Caroline Fischer.
The young artist had prepared a programme of compositions with which world-famous pianists such as Rubinstein, Horowitz or Arrau once shone.
If Mozart’s great A minor Sonata KV 310, with which she opened her recital, demonstrated that Caroline Fischer has at her command flawless technical clarity, expressiveness and creative power combined with musical intelligence, then the following, highly virtuoso works showed that she also possesses that physical disposition which belongs to all great piano playing.
Whether it be the “Faux d’artifice”, with its immense challenges, the dazzling finale of Debussy’s 24 Préludes, which she performed with bravura, or the brilliant performance of the waltz fantasies from Chopin’s Scherzo Nr 2 in B minor op. 31, which she executed with vigour and vitality, Caroline Fischer is full of energy and breathtaking confidence.
Liszt’s highly virtuoso compositions “Rhapsodie espagnole” and “Hungarian Rhapsody Nr 2” were performed with temperament and intensity without showing any sign of fatigue. A Chopin Etude and Fantasie were played as an encore, bringing this dazzling piano recital in the Gartensaal to a close. The audience was brimming over with enthusiasm.
Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, Wolfsburg, 26. November 2004
Ms Fischer is a young artist of high professionalism and profound musicality. She is able to grasp the pieces she plays in all their depth and complexity, developing them into lively and intensive interpretations. Her piano playing, characterised by temperament, power of expression and technical expertise, captivates and delights her listeners. Her creativity and commitment invariably enable this highly talented young pianist to elicit convincing new dimensions from the works she performs.
The numerous prizes Ms Fischer has won are also testament to these qualities.
Inspite of her young age, Ms Fischer has already given a considerable number of international concerts. Her performances have always been enthusiastically received by both the audience and the press.
Prof. Paul Dan, University of Music and Performing Arts Mannheim, Mannheim, 25. December 2003
Caroline Fischer
Pianist shows the world
The audience were presented with a concert of extaordinarily high-quality
The pianist’s powerful, chord-laden and affecting performance left the audience speechless. Not a sound was to be heard between movements. “ This concert is a cultural highpoint for Wittenberg” “The concert is excellent – an enrichment”. Caroline Fischer gave numerous encores. Visibly moved, she bowed before the audience’s standing ovation.
Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, Wittenberg, 18. November 2003
Musical rendezvous in minor key
A piano evening with Caroline Fischer in Oranienburg Castle
An enthusiastic audience showed Pianist Caroline Fischer, their gratitude for the afternoon’s entertainment with resounding applause. With ease, Caroline Fischer’s fingers flew across the keys of the concert piano, ringing out compositions from Ludwig van Beethoven (Sonata no. 23 in f-minor “Appassionata”), Frédéric Chopin (Scherzo no 2 in b-minor) and Franz Liszt (Spanish Rhapsody). Fascinated, they listened, enchanted as much by the pianist’s gestures as with the melodies which she seemed to feel and bring to life.
A genuinely accomplished concert – class artistic appreciation of the first order. Not only was the performance note perfect but one could almost touch the melodies that filled the room.
Oranienburger Generalanzeiger, Oranienburg, 4. November 2003
Young Virtuoso Takes Audience by Storm
The 19 year old Caroline Fischer is no stranger, above all not in Berlin. Since the age of 13 - but already before then - when she performed at state visits and official receptions (in the main at the "Bellevue" palace in Berlin, but also at the Hanover EXPO, the ANUGA in Cologne etc) she has drawn the attention of enthusiastic audiences to her great talent. She has repeatedly claimed first prize at the annual Steinway Piano Competition, as well as at regional, state and federal competitions organised by "Jugend musiziert". In addition, she has, on many occasions, received the first prize at numerous international competitions both at home and abroad, has been the soloist in piano concertos by Mozart, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Grieg, has also appeared as a soloist in Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Korea and Mongolia. Probably one of the highlights of her young career to date was her assistance in organising the cultural programme surrounding the state visit of the Federal President Roman Herzog ret. to the Republics of Korea and Mongolia.
And now to the piano recital she gave to a full house in the chamber music auditorium of the "Konzerthaus" in Berlin; it was a highly demanding programme which, as was only to be expected, she showed herself to be capable of mastering in its entirety. The professional competence with which she approached the works she had chosen, bringing each one to a dazzling climax, left no-one in any doubt that they were in the presence of a truly mature artist who was able to delight her audience to the fullest extent. There was not a trace of complacency, no vain, showy affectation. Neither was there any hint of insecurity whatsoever. Rather, each item on the programme benefited from a natural, engaging gravity which was virtually ideal.
It was astonishing that her mature mastery, not only in matters of technique, but also - and above all - in the way she shaped the interpretative poetry of her recital, almost invited comparison with the highest achievements of internationally acclaimed, elite pianists. With regard to her fidelity to the score, and the precision of dynamics, articulation, phrasing etc, in short all the composer's performing instructions, it may be said that Caroline Fischer's interpretation has already attained an audible predominance over those of so many famous artists.
Beethoven's "Appassionata" op. 57 which opened the concert - certainly no comfortable curtain raiser - was approached with a furore, but at the same time with such concentration and a fanatical attention to detail that one was forced to consider at length whether one had ever heard the work in such a similarly fascinating way before. Equally gripping was the way she attacked Liszt's "Spanish Rhapsody", a highly virtuoso pastiche of Spanish dances and themes which has inspired both Romantic and later composers to produce some extremely well-known compositions. Chopin's scherzo Nr.2 in B flat minor op.31, which is so often trampled to death by competent as well as by less able interpreters, was in Caroline Fischer's hands "taken by storm" with such creative freshness and technical flawlessness that one could imagine one was encountering the work for the first time. Here, just as in the lyrical passages of Chopin's B minor sonata (op.58) which followed, there were so many magical nuances of touch to admire and enjoy that one could not help asking how a 19 year old person could have matured to produce such a lean, artistic performance full of profound emotional depth. Such astonishing mastery came to the fore in the numerous and considerable difficulties posed by the Chopin sonata, exemplified by the complex, imitative modulations of the development section in the first movement. The brilliance of the second movement (scherzo) and the finale (presto) took on a remarkably radiant and sustained splendour in Caroline Fischer's performance.
It is characteristic of the high degree of stylistic development that this young artist has already achieved that, for a second encore (following on from Chopin's Fantasy-Impromptu op.66), she chose neither an early nor a middle-period composition, but rather a demanding late work by the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, whose Etude Nr.3 op.65 she performed with remarkable resoluteness.
After the fabulous impression that this recital left, not only on me, but also on the overwhelming majority of the audience in the packed auditorium, an urgent appeal should go out to all concert organisers, orchestral managers etc; do not leave the public waiting too long for the next concerts of this wonderful talent!
Wolfgang Schaschowa (holder of the "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis" for piano), Berlin 27 May 2003
"I have followed Caroline Fischer's development ever since she passed the entrance examination of the University of Arts (as a young student) at the age of nine. In the years following this, Caroline Fischer has not only fulfilled everything that we expected of her, but has clearly exceeded these expectations. In competitions and concerts, in which I was present either as a member of the jury or as a listener, she totally succeeded in convincing the experts by virtue of her mature artistic and piano playing achievements. Since I am not able to estimate the boundaries of Caroline Fischer's artistic and professional progress, I am of the opinion that, in her case, the prospects of an artistic career are entirely likely and realistic."
Prof. Georg Sava, "Hanns Eisler" College of Music, Berlin, 7 August 2002
"Besides her brilliant technique, Caroline Fischer possesses a very natural musicality and a mature personality astonishing in one so young. Her interpretations are unique and yet at all times intimately related to the letter of the score. As a soloist, she communicates with the orchestra in an intensive way, thus creating an atmosphere which makes genuine co-operation possible."
Florian Ludwig, Assistant Director of Music, Bremer Theatre, Bremen, May 2002
"Caroline Fischer is an extraordinarily talented pianist. The limits of her talent, which has continued to develop in such a positive way, are not yet in sight."
Prof. Michael Vogler, Deputy Vice-Chancellor "Hanns Eisler" College of Music, Berlin, 8 October 2001
"Her playing left me with a lasting impression which only strengthened my conviction that this young pianist deserves every support."
Prof.em. Amadeus Webersinke, "C.M.v.Weber" College of Music, Dresden, 7 September 2001
"Caroline Fischer, as the oldest of the soloists performing in the afternoon, tackled the first movement of Grieg's piano concerto expertly. She subjected the technical, as well as the musical, details to a strict, very controlled grasp of musical structure. The many, virtuoso figures were executed with a vivid clarity which extended to uncompromising, thunderous double octaves. The performance itself avoided all kinds of romantic effusiveness, at nodal points of the work, tone colours were successfully brought out by realising the composer's performing instructions in an objective way."
Berliner Zeitung, Berlin, 21 March 2000
My wife first established contact with Caroline Fischer in 1998. After listening to a performance at Bellevue Palace, she was so enthusiastic about the artistic achievement of this German-Korean pianist, who was only 13 years old at the time, that she asked her to arrange the artistic side of a tea on 15 May 1988, that my wife was organising for the wives of the heads of legations who had been accredited to Germany. This was carried out in such an impressive manner that I decided to allow Caroline Fischer to assist in arranging the cultural programme surrounding my state visit to Korea and Mongolia in September 1998. She carried out this task magnificently in both countries, and it enjoyed great success with audiences. As a result of her performance in Seoul, she received an invitation to go to Korea, and in spring 1999 she gave a Mendelssohn concert with the Korean Chamber Orchestra in the largest concert hall in the Korean capital which aroused considerable public attention.
On 20 February 1999, on the occasion of the order of the Federal Republic of Germany being conferred on Hannelore Kohl, Caroline Fischer performed at Bellevue Palace for the second time, with great success. I know that Caroline Fischer has won first prize at numerous national and international piano competitions, most recently on 22 May 1999 when she took part in the federal competition "Jugend musiziert" in Cologne. In my view, she is such a promising talent that I have decided to continue supporting her in the future and - contrary to my usual practice - to place this letter of recommendation at her disposal.
The President Roman Herzog, Berlin, 19. June 1999
"Morning star (up and coming young talent). She is an important person, who attracts attention, since a trouble-free future awaits her."
Segye Times, Seoul, 13 March 1999
"The 15 year old Korean-German genius of the piano, Caroline Fischer. We became aware of the "child prodigy" Caroline Fischer in September last year, during the state visit of the President of Germany, Roman Herzog, to Korea."
Donga-llbo, Seoul, 22 March 1999
"Caroline, as regards her unbelievable talent for playing the piano, is looked upon as a "young genius"."
Choson Daily News, Seoul, 17 September 1998
"The German President, who came with his musical entourage, grabbed our attention with his concert, which he had organised to commemorate his visit. In his speech he stressed: "The 14 year old pianist Caroline Fischer, who is going to play for us this evening, is a symbol of the long-standing friendship which exists between Korea and Germany. One day she will contribute to the Korean and German nation's glory."
Auditorium, Seoul, October 1998
"Above all the 10 year old Caroline Fischer, who has already had many years experience with competitions, her fingers dancing rapidly and with incredible lightness over the keys."
Berliner Morgenpost, Berlin, 05. 1994
"The nine year old Caroline Fischer's Haydn performance is impressively clean-sounding"
Berliner Morgenpost, Berlin, 15 November 1993
"Sometimes speed seems like sorcery. For example when the seven year old Caroline Fischer performs a lightning piece from Ibert's "Histoires" with her deft little fingers."
Berliner Morgenpost, Berlin, 13 November 1991
"The little fingers of the six year old already attack the keys with great self-confidence and spirit. Caroline Fischer gave us performances whose sound was both beautiful and full."
Berliner Morgenpost, Berlin, 20 November 1990
