Follow the memories

An unusual compilation: Sergei Prokofiev and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, two established Russians, and Hermann Goetz, Martin Wendel and Alfred Felder, three little-known Swiss composers. Hermann Goetz (1840-1876) was a pupil of Hans von Bülow. He moved to Winterthur at the age of 23. He worked as an organist at the town church there, but also found time to compose his Loose leaves to compose. They are small romantic character pieces á la Dances of David by Robert Schumann; and Goetz dedicated it to Schumann's Clara, but she did not include it in her concert programs. She must have had her reasons. One could be that the pieces are not on the same level as those of her husband. They are pretty, these Loose leaves of the little master Goetz. But unfortunately without any surprise or depth.

The double CD gets going As if in flight only with the second album. Luisa Splett shows herself in the 2013 memoir - following a trace of my memory as a sensitive and empathetic pianist who breathes both life and credibility into the personal pieces of Alfred Felder, who was born in Lucerne in 1950. Luisa Splett, who comes from Winterthur, has gained a wealth of experience. She honed her skills at the renowned Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, which are particularly evident in Sergei Prokofiev's rarely performed Aphorisms Visions fugitives op. 22 and the much better known Flight of the bumblebee Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's.

Unfortunately, the booklet and the graphic design give the deliberately personal and committed crowdfunding production a bizarre touch. The picture of the young lady Splett with an umbrella on a grand piano flying between the clouds (the title is "Wie im Fluge") certainly doesn't do the music justice.