TRACK LISTING

DISC 1
1-15: Skizzen - Kleine Klavierstücke Op. 11 38:27
16-24: Legenden - Dichtungen für das Klavier Op. 18 21:40
DISC 2
1-10: Nachtbilder - Zehn Charakterstücke Op. 25 33:18
11-14: Notturnos Op.28
15-19: Ideale - Clavierstücke Op. 33 13:30
20-23: Vier Elegien für Pianoforte Op. 37 12:06

REVIEWS

“Lowell Liebermann is a prodigious and prolific composer and pianist who has written some 140 works in various genres and as a performer has released several acclaimed CDs…I’ve heard him perform and can attest to his virtuosity and sensitivity at the keyboard. Here he outdoes himself in an important release of forgotten 19th Century composer, Theodore Kirchner…This double CD, released in honor of the 200th anniversary of his death, presents his piano works…As Liebermann points out in his superb, unusually thorough notes (he is a gifted writer, in addition to everything else)…Liebermann plays it with sonorous intensity and warm tone…If you like 19th Century piano music, you should give this a try.” American Record Guide

“…speaking straight from the heart…If you were looking for hitherto uncharted piano music…from an unjustly neglected composer, you can’t do better than this. Thumbs-up to Lowell Liebermann and producer Sergei Kvitko at Blue Griffin for offering something new, different and yet traditional, for us to enjoy.” —— Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel

“Lowell Liebermann, himself a gifted pianist/composer, has done Kirchner a major favor by rediscovering half a dozen of his piano groupings and making them available in finely honed, thoroughly sensitive readings on the Blue Griffin Recordings label…this excellent recording is as fine an introduction to Kirchner’s music as is likely to be encountered anywhere.” ——-TransCentury Communications

“Liebermann’s performances are engaging here and captured in a rich sound that enhances the darker sonorities of the Steinway used in this recording. This release is a wealth of fascinating piano music of the 1870s…The somewhat reflective and improvisational feel of the pieces often feel as if we arre in a concert wintnessing their very unfolding as we listen. This makes the little surprises of Kirchner’s style and approach all the more fascinating in this welcome new release.”
——sakennedymusic.com

“Lowell Liebermann’s prowess at the keyboard usually takes a back seat to his prominence as a composer. He made up for lost time in 2021 with his debut piano release for Steinway & Sons, featuring works by Busoni, Liszt, Kabeláč, Schubert and himself. Then in 2022 he devoted an entire Steinway double album to works by the contemporary British composer David Hackbridge Johnson. Blue Griffin now presents a third two-disc set, this time devoted to the works of Theodor Kirchner (1823-1903)…Liebermann serves Kirchner’s cause admirably, and he provides extensive annotations that are both scholarly and musically insightful.” ——- Jed Distler, Gramophone

“While Lowell Liebermann is renowned as a composer, he’s also a pianist of considerable note whose three solo piano recordings are marked by inspired curatorial choices…Blue Griffen does the honors this time around with an equally strong release…The lyrical beauty of his melodically enticing music is conveyed vividly throughout…” ——— textura.org